The St. Louis Cardinals trade a 1997 4th-round pick (via Toronto) and INF Orlando Miller to the Arizona Diamondbacks for INF Jose Vizcaino. Welcome to that wonderful part of the calendar where teams suddenly realize they need one more middle infielder, and trades start happening that feel less like roster moves and more like administrative paperwork. This one fits the mold perfectly. St. Louis: Defense First,...
The San Diego Padres trade INF Craig Grebeck to the Florida Marlins for INF Mickey Morandini. A swap of veteran infielders currently worth a combined 0.2 WAR this season. If you’re looking for fireworks, you’ve come to the wrong place. If you’re looking for two teams lightly rearranging the bottom of their benches, welcome. Let’s dive in. San Diego: A Slightly Different Flavor of Mediocre At first glance, the fit in San Diego is a...
The Seattle Pilots trade SP Chris Haney to the Milwaukee Creams for SP Amaury Telemaco. At long last, the Chris Haney saga is over. After what felt like six straight months of Seattle posting “Chris Haney available” every other day, someone finally blinked. Congratulations to Milwaukee for ending the longest-running classified ad in DBL history. To be clear, Haney isn’t bad. In fact, he’s been one...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BOSTON, MA — In a bold demonstration of organizational consistency, the Boston Red Sox today announced that the club will fully embrace its role as trade deadline sellers, despite an inconveniently red-hot July that has briefly propelled the team into the general vicinity of playoff contention. “Look, we appreciate the enthusiasm,” said Red Sox leadership in a statement released moments after the team’s ninth win...
As we approach the trade deadline at the end of this week, the league waits with bated breath to see what deals will be made. Or perhaps the better question right now is: will any deals of consequence be made at all? So far, the marketplace has largely been filled with the same message repeated over and over again — teams looking to move players in exchange for draft picks. There is nothing wrong with that approach, of course. Sellers exist...
The March 13 trade deadline is approaching fast, and across the DBL the usual cast of characters is settling into their roles. You’ve got the “one piece away” contenders, who have finished 6th three years in a row but are convinced this is the season they should trade another first-round pick. Then there’s the pick hoarders, clutching their future selections like they’re family heirlooms that absolutely cannot be touched...
Every offseason, teams talk about “building through the draft.” It’s a wonderful idea in theory. Of course, the first step in building through the draft is actually owning a draft pick. And judging by the current landscape, several teams around the league appear to have skipped that part. With picks flying around in trades over the last few seasons, the first-round board now looks a little… redistributed. Some teams are holding...
The New York Yankees trade C Mike Lieberthal and P Andy Ashby to the San Diego Padres for a 1997 1st-round pick (via Milwaukee), P Mark Langston, OF Darryl Hamilton, and P Rich Loiselle. On the surface, this trade makes perfect sense. Bad team trades good player for a 1st-round pick.Aggressive team trades future assets for present talent while clearing salary. Baseball economics 101. And yet… this is the first deal in this entire series where...