A frenetic trade deadline has passed in Major League Baseball, and without a waiver deadline, teams will have to stick with what they’ve got at this point. Will Zack Greinke help Houston win another World Series title? Will the Yankees regret not finding another starting pitcher? On the other coast, should the Dodgers have done more?
Only time will tell. But in the age of instant analysis, ESPN.com’s David Schoenfield posted his first reaction of winners and losers from the trade deadline, and we are extremely here for it.
Winners and losers of an unexpectedly wild MLB trade deadline https://t.co/EQSnb9n0Mo pic.twitter.com/RngnjSf543
— ESPN New York (@ESPNNewYork) July 31, 2019
Feeling happy
The first winner is the most obvious one: The Houston Astros, who got Zack Greinke from the Diamondbacks without giving up either of their top two prospects and even getting cash from Arizona in the deal.
Beyond that, ESPN likes the Nationals and Braves each making moves to bolster their bullpens and the Giants hanging onto Madison Bumgarner for one more unlikely run at a World Series title.
Oh, and then there’s the New York media, which gets to have a field day with the Yankees standing pat.
It’s not easy being a fan of a big-market franchise: pic.twitter.com/jdtnSbLAjm
— David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield) August 1, 2019
Not so hot
The flip side of the media’s field day, of course, is that the Yankees have to answer questions for why they didn’t do more (or anything, really). Also mentioned as deadline losers are the Red Sox and Dodgers. The former didn’t make a single trade while L.A. only swung two very minor deals for a bench player, Jedd Gyorko, and a left-handed specialist, Adam Kolarek.
Somewhere in between were the teams who made a couple of the most surprising trades: the Indians, Reds and Padres, whose three-team deal sent Trevor Bauer to Cincinnati, Yasiel Puig and Franmil Reyes to Cleveland and a top prospect in Taylor Trammell to San Diego. There was also the intriguing prospect swap between the Diamondbacks and the Miami Marlins.
#Dbacks sending No. 1 prospect Jazz Chisholm (#MLB No. 59) to Miami for #Marlins No. 5 prospect Zac Gallen.@Dbacks Top 30: https://t.co/spsILImudS@Marlins Top 30: https://t.co/zBML13HyGH pic.twitter.com/Fw32E8Uc5G
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 31, 2019
