MLB Trade Deadline: Assessing Key Team’s Strategies
The MLB Trade Deadline is on July 30, at 4 pm.
But, the Tampa Bay Rays already started every wannabe GM’s favorite time of year with the acquisition of Nelson Cruz. In years past, many teams waited until closer to the deadline to make trades, but since the Rays began bidding, nearly every other contender has followed suit. Earlier this week, the San Diego Padres continued their unorthodox acquisitions and traded for Pirate’s second baseman Adam Frazier. This trade was a head-scratcher as the Padres already have an All-Star caliber infield, so the acquisition of another infielder did not make much sense.
With the Rays and Padres clearly contenders, their decision is easy—they’re buyers at the deadline.
Other teams however have made moves this week that makes one question what their front office thinks they are.
On Tuesday, the Seattle Mariners traded one of their top relievers, Kendall Graveman, intradivision, to the Houston Astros. This move apparently aggravated Mariners players and rightly so. The Mariners are actively surging towards that second wild-card spot so for the Mariners to actively sell at the deadline is a curious sign. This, of course, is after they were rumored to be heavily pursuing Frazier. So, while Frazier may have been off the market, this interest clearly illustrated the Mariners’ desire to add and not subtract at the deadline.
Joey Gallo clobbers another ball to right field. Will his addition to the Yankees help them, or just add to their strikeout rates? (Stan Szeto/USA Today Sports)
As of now, the Mariners are still “very active” at the deadline, so perhaps the trade of Graveman was for other reasons. Regardless, trading a top reliever to a team within your division is never a good idea--especially when you are trying to end the longest active playoff drought in all of baseball. While many Mariners insiders are happy with this team’s progress, including their general manager saying they are “ahead of schedule”, the opportunity to make the playoffs is here now.
No one can guarantee future years of success. If the Mariners can even sniff a playoff opportunity right now, they should go for it. I expect the Mariners to continue to add, despite their initial subtraction.
Neck and neck with the Mariners in the Wild Card race are the mirror opposite, New York Yankees. While the Mariners aim to make the playoffs for the first time since 2001, the Yankees are hoping to not miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016. With the addition of Joey Gallo late Wednesday night, the Yankees clearly believe they can contend and make the second wild-card spot. To be honest, though, this acquisition does not make much sense. While Gallo limits the number of chances for a grounding into a double play, his offense just adds to the continuous woes of the entire Yankees offense. Yes, he is a left-handed hitter, but he strikes out at an alarmingly high rate of 32%.
This acquisition will help the Yankees in the power department, as he has more home runs than all Yankee left-handers combined, but this acquisition is likely to anger fans more than delighting them. Gallo is a great power hitter, something the Yankees currently have a monopoly on. But when the lineup continues to struggle to make contact, the addition of a high strikeout Gallo is not the answer to their problems. The Yankees, like so many others, need pitching. So, expect them to overpay for any of the elite pitchers on the market. Scherzer perhaps?
The trade deadline is always an exciting part of the season. Little moves can have big implications. Maybe that franchise-changing player trade has already taken place, or maybe it is being discussed right now. Either way, expect to see some exciting pennant and wild card races down the stretch.