Winners and Losers of the Trade Deadline

Now half a week removed from the trade deadline I thought we should take a look back at how baseball has changed with those trades.  Namely the winners and losers down the stretch run.

Winners:

1. Texas Rangers
Because of the sale of the franchise, the Rangers had limited payroll to work with.  However, they made the most of it.  The Rangers made an early splash by landing Cliff Lee from the Mariners for super prospect Justin Smoak in the majors and others.  Lee joined his fourth team in two years in the Rangers and brought his excellent control to a rotation that is stronger but will surely benefit from this addition.  Later, they brought it Bengie Molina at catcher acquiring a bat and stopping the revolving door at catcher (Jerrod Saltalamacchia, Taylor Teagarden, and Max Ramirez).  First base, a weakness all season for the Rangers with Smoak not hitting as expected yet and Chris Davis struggling with contact, was also solved by acquiring Jorge Cantu from the Marlins.  Cantu was a third baseman but has played plenty at first and will play there with Michael Young at third.

2. San Diego Padres
The Padres find themselves in first place, something they haven't been able to say for a while.  Not usually a team to be very active at the deadline, the Padres made some surprising moves to fill their holes.  Miguel Tejada was acquired from the Astros to become their veteran leader.  Tejada fits in the mix with Chase Headley at third and Everth Cabrera at shortstop, two young guys who could use an interesting veteran and good hitter around in Tejada.  Ryan Ludwick was also acquired in a surprising deal between two teams in a pennant race.  The Padres needed an outfielder badly because Scott Hairston isn't suited well for an everyday job.

3. Los Angeles Dodgers
Staying in the west, the Dodgers did a nice job of picking up people in a highly competitive division and the Dodgers realize they will need to slow down their streaking tendencies and win the game within the game to outplay their foes.  Getting Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot from the Cubs was great, putting in starters and giving little talent in return.  Scott Podsednik joined the team from the Royals and will man the area formerly known as Mannywood while he is (again) on the disabled list.  When Manny Ramirez returns, Podsednik will become the fourth outfielder in one of the best outfields in the major leagues with Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier.

Losers:

1. Detroit Tigers
The Tigers are in a desperate situation.  Not playing well of late with three of their core players having spent time on the DL (Johnny Damon, Magglio Ordonez, and Brandon Inge), Detroit needed more competent players in those positions for temporary fixes.  All they did was get Jhonny Peralta from the Indians, an above average yet unspectacular bat who can play third.  They had already been struggled when the deadline came around, and now they don't appear to be dangerous of anything as the Twins and White Sox are once again the powers in the division.  The bullpen help the Tigers need wasn't acquired either.

2. Chicago White Sox
I'm not hating on the White Sox here.  The fact is, they wanted a bat for insurance for their offense that has been relying a bit much on Paul Konerko's surprising play and Alex Rios' resurgence.  When Ken Williams traded Daniel Hudson for Edwin Jackson, he never thought he would end up with Jackson.  Williams, being the smart GM that he is, would want Hudson over Jackson and wouldn't do that move for keeps.  However, the Adam Dunn deal that they were hoping for didn't work out and they're stuck with Jackson.  What's disappointing here was that the Sox were linked to many big name players like Dunn and Dan Uggla even in late July and failed to make anything big happen, while the Twins seem to be gaining momentum as they typically do at the end of the season.  

3. St. Louis Cardinals
You hear the talk all time, blabber about how Albert Pujols needs protection in the lineup or no one will give him anything to hit.  That's why the Cardinals acquired Matt Holliday in 2009, but that isn't enough to conduct an offense.  A key part, Ryan Ludwick, was traded to San Diego in the middle of a pennant race having hit 37 homers two years back.  That trade made no sense because all they acquired was Jake Westbrook.  Considering the Cardinals like to brag about the 1-2-3 punch they have with Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, and Jaime Garcia, the need for another starter that badly I am skeptical about.  Trading away some of Pujols' beloved protection and an underrated bat just for another starter who is not really important for the Cardinals to win the division.