The deadline for making MLB trades is fast approaching; as a matter of fact, it’s next Tuesday. After that date, any trades that are made would require major league level players to be exposed to waivers. It’s not out of the realm of possibility for trades to still occur when the calendar rolls over to August, but most of the blockbuster trades are agreed to while July’s hot sun still “beats down upon my face,” as Robert Plant once sang.
In recent years, baseball trades seem to get immediately identified by classifying each trading team as either a “buyer” or a “seller.” Buyers are teams that are in the thick of a playoff chase to either win a division or qualify for the post-season as a wild card entry.
The buying team is after major league players who usually are more experienced and often have expiring contracts with free agency looming. And conversely, a selling team is mostly those organizations that are far out of the playoff chase and are willing to receive younger, usually minor league players who are “prospects” that are bound one day to reach the big leagues.
Baseball is a game of mistakes
Baseball, frankly, is a game of blunders. Most games are won or lost based on mistakes. A multi-run error committed in the field. Or, poor decisions made on the basepaths. A pitch delivered in the wrong spot, right over the middle of the plate, that just screams “blast me over the fence with very little effort.”
Trades between ballclubs who are allegedly managed by smart, insightful, experienced individuals who should otherwise know how to navigate these personnel decisions, don’t always work out for one, or even both clubs.
Here are a few blunders of some epic proportions:
New York Mets receive Noah Syndergaard, Travis d’Arnaud, John Buck and Wuilmer Becerra from the Toronto Blue Jays for R.A. Dickey, Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas. It’s difficult to believe when looking at the grouping that the Mets were the sellers. R.A. Dickey had just won a Cy Young Award for the Mets and Thole was a major league catcher.
But Syndergaard has a nickname that baseball fans know instantly, “Thor,” and despite recent injuries has a brilliant career laid out now, far in front of him.
Toronto Blue Jays receive Jose’ Bautista from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Robinson Diaz. Bautista was kind of a bust at the time of this trade. He had been with Pittsburgh for 5 years and 3 other teams prior to that.
It all exploded in the Canadian metropolis when he showed his passport at the airport right after this trade.
Chicago Cubs receive Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Steve Feldman and Steve Clevenger. It’s nice that the Orioles felt the strong need to stock up on Steves. But Arrieta, who was barely serviceable as an Oriole, became a star pitcher at the Chicago corner of Addison, Waveland and Sheffield. Sweet success in 2016, breaking the 108-year curse, would you agree, Northsiders?
New York Mets receive Keith Hernandez from the St. Louis Cardinals for Neil Allen and Rick Ownby. Before Hernandez ever became a necessary acting staple on "Seinfeld," he was a very good, all round baseball player who was an integral part of the dominant World Champion Mets of 1986.
Boston Red Sox receive Pedro Martinez from the Montreal Expos for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr. Martinez is in the Hall of Fame and was an integral part of breaking the long Boston championship drought when they won the World Series in 2004.
There are many other trades of such infamy
As we speak, there is much number-crunching and spreadsheet formulating going on behind closed doors. Will the best-laid plans of baseball executives come crashing down in a heap of hurt based on similar brutal exchanges of talent in this baseball season? Stay tuned!
