There were three prominent starting pitchers on the trade market - Sonny Gray of the Oakland A's, Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers and Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers.
Two out of these three pitchers have new addresses.
The A's traded Gray to the New York Yankees for three prospects including Dustin Fowler (the young outfielder who sustained a season ending injury in his MLB debut earlier this month). In 17 starts for the last place A's, Gray is 6-5 with a 3.43 ERA. Gray is the second starting pitcher the Yankees have added in the past few days. Over the weekend, the Yankees acquired Jaime Garcia from the Minnesota Twins. (Earlier this month, the Twins acquired Garcia from the Atlanta Braves). The Yankees now having a starting rotation of Masahiro Tanaka, C.C. Sabathia, Luis Severino, Gray, Garcia and possibly Jordan Montgomery if they go with a six man rotation. Of course, the Yankees shored up their offense and bullpen with the acquisition of Todd Frazier and David Robertson from the Chicago White Sox earlier this month. Gray, 27, will be part of the Yankees' plans for the foreseeable future as he doesn't hit free agency until 2020.
Then shortly after the 4 p.m. deadline, it was announced the Rangers traded Darvish to the Los Angeles Dodgers. As of this writing, it is not known who the Rangers got in return for Darvish. In 22 starts for Texas, Darvish is 6-9 with a 4.01 ERA. His ERA went up sharply after what proved to be his final Rangers start when he gave up 10 runs in 3 2/3 innings against the Miami Marlins last Wednesday. But maybe Darvish getting a new coat of Dodger blue will revitalize him. After all, the Dodgers are 38-6 since June 7th. If that doesn't revive him then nothing will. If it doesn't, Darvish hits the free agent market at season's end. The Dodgers also augmented their bullpen with a couple of Tonys (Tony Watson from the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tony Cingrani from the Cincinnati Reds).
Two years ago, the Toronto Blue Jays were buyers with the acquisition of Troy Tulowitzki and David Price. Today they are sellers sending reliever Joe Smith to the Cleveland Indians for his second stint with the club and Francisco Liriano to the Houston Astros.
The Washington Nationals strengthened their bullpen by acquiring Minnesota Twins closer Brandon Kintzler. Earlier this month, the Nats got Jimmy Doolittle and Ryan Madson from the A's. The Twins, who were contending for the AL Central until fading this month, have now become sellers as evidenced with giving up on Jaime Garcia after only a single start.
The Boston Red Sox obtained the services of relief pitcher Addison Reed. As I stated in a post a short time ago, Reed might not like his new address.
The Arizona Diamondbacks added relief pitcher David Hernandez from the Los Angeles Angels for his second stint in the desert as well as Oakland A's utility man Adam Rosales. Yesterday, their NL West rivals added catcher Jonathan Lucroy from the Texas Rangers.
The Detroit Tigers did trade a pitcher named Justin. But they traded the other Justin. The Chicago Cubs added relief pitcher Justin Wilson and catcher Alex Avila from the Motor City.
The Chicago White Sox did not make any moves today, but were plenty busy this month. Gone are Jose Quintana, Todd Frazier, David Robertson, Tommy Kahnle, Anthony Swarzak, Dan Jennings and, as of yesterday, Melky Cabrera who returns to the Kansas City Royals. Chisox fans won't see the fruit of these deals for several years to come. But when they do that fruit will taste great.
Of course, clubs can continue to make trades. But now other clubs can block deals by placing waiver claims. So don't expect Justin Verlander to leave Motown until after 2017.
So at the moment the big winners today are the Yankees and the Dodgers. Will today's triumph continue into October? If it does it will mark the first time in 36 years the Yankees and Dodgers have faced off in the World Series.
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