Trade Deadline Winners and Losers

The non-waiver trade deadline has come and gone, but that doesn't necessarily mean teams are done dealing.  Losing teams will continue to unload pieces through the waiver wire, but the biggest prizes are usually found before the deadline.  And there were some real sweet prizes this season for contenders.  The three teams that upgraded their team most effectively and least effectively, if at all, are listed here.

Winners:

1. San Francisco Giants
Although the Giants' acquisition of Carlos Beltran came at a huge price in what scouts are calling a future Cy Young-candidate in starter prospect Zach Wheeler, Beltran provides offense the Giants are absolutely desperate for.  It's not every year, or every decade even, where there's a team that 13 games over .500 and breaks even in run differential.  Entering today, the Giants have scored 384 runs and allowed 384 runs, a tribute to their penchant for winning close games and losing lopsided games.  While TV broadcasters Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow comically dubbed this penchant as 'Giants Baseball: Torture', the Giants offense has been nothing short of atrocious this season, especially since the loss of Buster Posey for the season.  In response, the Giants went out and got Beltran, Jeff Keppinger, and Orlando Cabrera.  Keppinger and Cabrera are definite offensive upgrades over scrubs like Mike Fontenot, Brandon Crawford, and even Miguel Tejada.  Beltran, who even earned a trip to the All-Star Game this year, has proven he still can produce this season.

2. New York Mets
The Mets weren't even a buyer at the deadline this year but this managed to nab the second spot on my list.  How?  By unloading Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez, two seemingly unmovable contracts, the Mets have already begun the process of improving for 2012.  The Mets will be big spenders this offseason, and these two deals saved them about $5 million in total which means more than it seems.  Although the plans for the future aren't totally clear yet, like if the team will retain Jose Reyes and David Wright for their next attempt at a contender, the Mets are giving themselves financial flexibility by dealing away two guys who definitely weren't going to be a part of those plans.

3. Atlanta Braves
Atlanta ranks 27th in MLB in stolen bases this season, uncommon for a playoff contender.  Michael Bourn, on the other hand, ranks first in the NL in steals, and has for the two seasons as well.  So when Bourn was acquired by Atlanta for Major League center fielder Jordan Schafer and three prospects, it was an understatement to say they improved.  Bourn's impact on the lineup should have immediate results in a lineup that had to use the miscast Schafer in leadoff for a while.  The 2011 Braves don't feature a star power hitter.  Although power-hitting Dan Uggla has recovered from an awful start back to respectability, the Braves are still more of a contact-hitting and line drive-hitting team, exemplified by fan favorite Martin Prado's 35 strikeouts in 371 at-bats.  All of this means that Bourn doesn't fit into the team philosophy, which in this case is a very good thing.  Bourn will be the instant spark plug the Braves will find to come quite in handy to get their rallies going.

Losers:

1. New York Yankees
The latest of the annual anarchy that is the Yankee rotation has begun to take in effect, as CC Sabathia remains the only fearsome starter in the entire borough.  The only reason the Yankees are in such a great position heading into the playoffs is their successful gamble on relying on a pair of washed up veterans in 34 year old Freddy Garcia and 38 year old Bartolo Colon.  The astounding performances of both at a time when the Yankees needed starting pitching so desperately (as they always seem to) have been nothing short of incredible, if not the backbone of how the Yankees are winning at all this season to support their high-powered offense.  But can the two be trusted down the stretch and all the way into the playoffs?  I wouldn't put my money on these guys.  Colon, who made only 19 starts in the three years combined before 2011, and Garcia, who made only 23 starts from 2007-09, will not continue this miracle run into the postseason.  The Yankees also severely overpaid for starter AJ Burnett in free agency, and Burnett is now just the mediocre starter that he was for pretty much his entire career before one season where he led the AL in strikeouts.  So the glaring necessity for starting pitching was there, and the Yankees did nothing about it.  Now Yankees fans will just have to pray that the arms don't fall off of Garcia and Colon before they get deep into the playoffs.  If only Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira could pitch....

2. Houston Astros
Obviously, a team at 37-74 is not in the position to 'buy'.  Clearly, this record makes them sellers.  And sell they did, leaving a team that won 86 games just three years ago without any stars or real impact players.  The best player remaining on the team might just be starter Wandy Rodriguez, whose contract was also one the Astros were trying to unload.  If he were traded, that would leave fellow starter Brett Myers as the team's best player.  But he too was being shopped by the Astros, and so on.  With the trades of Michael Bourn to the Braves and Hunter Pence to the Phillies, the Astros just single-handedly turned the heat up a few notches on the NL East pennant race.  The speedster Bourn brought fans to the ballpark and sold jerseys in Houston, while Pence was the heart and soul of the team who was a very productive run producer despite playing for a team where Bourn was the only real table setter.  But both are gone now, and Astros fans have to pay the price.  The team's lineup from its most recent win reads as such: CF Jason Bourgeois, 2B Jose Altuve, LF J.D. Martinez, 1B Carlos Lee, RF Jason Michaels, SS Jimmy Paredes, 2B Clint Barmes, C Humberto Quintero, and P Jordan Lyles.  Wow.  I never thought it would be so easy to make Carlos Lee look good.  If the Cubs really do resemble a Triple-A team as Carlos Zambrano suggests, the Astros resemble a Double-A team. 

3. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Halos have a solid rotation and closer, but need help in middle relief and on offense.  The offense has been carried a great deal by surprising first baseman Mark Trumbo, who came out of nowhere to replace Kendrys Morales' production.  Vernon Wells, the desperation move by GM Tony Reagins to settle down critics that he didn't get the big bat the Angels were looking for in the offseason, has been a complete bust.  And yet Reagins did nothing about it.  Unless Reagins has some big tricks up his sleeve, Angels fans can't be pleased with the effort of their GM over the past year.  Reagins didn't even pick up a reliever either, meaning that while the Rangers acquired the two best relievers on the market, the Angels did nothing to counter in an area that was already sort of a weakness.