The MLB Trade Deadline Fallout

The Pittsburgh Pirates Were Buyers!
The Pirates acquired Ryan Ludwick from San Diego for a player to be named later. No matter how you slice it, there is nothing negative to say here. Pittsburgh is within striking distance in the NL Central and did their best to improve the team. They even tried to land Beltran but there was no way he was agreeing to play there, even for just two months.

The Pirates Were Buyers More Than Once!
The Buccos traded minor league Aaron Baker for Baltimore’s Derrek Lee. I always like the addition of a veteran bat at the trade deadline but this guy spent seven years with the Cubs, a few minutes with the Braves, and then half a season with the embarrassing Orioles franchise. Not exactly bringing good karma.

The Indians Were Also Buyers. What Year Is It?
The Indians somewhat stunningly swooped in and landed Ubaldo Jimenez. In order to do so they had to part with four players: Drew Pomeranz, Alex White, Joe Gardner and Matt McBride. Still, if you’re an Indians fan you cannot dislike the move because Ubaldo’s contract is super friendly, some wild baseball analysts might even say it works the room like Bill Clinton. It’s not as if they picked up a free agent to be who will surely bolt at season’s end for big money elsewhere.

Hunter Pence to the Phillies
I honestly don’t know the truth to this one yet, but there are rumors Astros GM (in this case, it has to stand for Grand Mockery) Ed Wade turned down Domonic Brown as one of the players coming to Houston in return for Pence. If this is true, he needs to canned at once. The already awesome Phillies got better and didn’t have to part with anyone they didn’t want to part with. Painful for those whose favorite team resides in the NL.

Carlos Beltran to the Giants
Carlos Beltran is just 2-for-17 since joining the Giants while the Mets got a top pitching prospect in Zach Wheeler. If the Mets were on the other end of a deal like this, I would really enjoy the panic. Love this move for the Giants and look forward to a fantastic NLCS against the Phillies.

Cardinals Land Edwin Jackson, Blue Jays Get Colby Rasmus
As much criticism the Cardinals received for sending Rasmus away for the services of Edwin Jackson, a free agent at the end of the season, he went seven innings and allowed one run in his first start for St. Louis. Of course he did. Watch this one end up working out better for the Cardinals. Dave Duncan always wins.

Rangers Beef Up Bullpen
The Texas Rangers added Koji Uehara from the Orioles and Mike Adams from the Padres. Texas is only two games up on the Angels but it would be difficult to pick against them at this point. That makes two great trade deadlines in a row for GM Jon Daniels. Perhaps if Brian Cashman walks away this year the Yankees will send a gold 18-wheeler filled with cash to the home of Mr. Daniels?

Red Sox Add Erik Bedard to Starting Rotation
This one supposedly happened “at the last minute” mostly because a transaction taking place at 3:59 pm will make Theo Epstein look like an even bigger hero should Bedard come through for the Red Sox in these last two months. But perhaps Theo did scramble for his cell phone in the closing moment of the deadline considering Clay Buchholz is likely out for the season with a stress fracture in his back. Either way, the legend of Theo continues to grow.

Braves Get Bourn
All baseball fans should all be thankful for this trade because it brought us headlines like this one, keeping the dream of Costanza in the majors alive. At least at a quick glance it does:

Orlando Cabrera Must Be Traded
Another one of baseball’s unwritten rules is for Orlando Cabarea to be traded as much as possible. It’s a little strange because he’s a pretty good player, but this will be his seventh team in five seasons. Still like this move for the Giants. He’ll be good for a few hits the postseason, most likely in the late innings.

Diamondbacks Get Brad Ziegler from A’s
Guessing this won’t be enough to catch the Giants.

Jason Marquis to the Diamondbacks
Yeah, uh, guessing this won’t be enough to catch the Giants.

The Milwaukee Brewers acquired Jerry Hairston Jr.?
Did the Brewers really trade their 2010 minor league player of the year, Erik Komatsu, for Jerry Hairston Jr.? One question: WHY?

Fister for Furbush
Seriously, Fister for Furbush. I love general managers who refuse to depart from childish humor. Cheers to the Tigers and Mariners. All kidding aside, don’t let his uneasy win-loss record fool you, Fister has been pretty awesome. Great move for the first place Tigers.

Cardinals close to deal for Dodgers’ Rafael Furcal
Here’s Furcal: “I’ve been in nine playoffs. It’s part of my dream to win a ring. I think it’s the time to do it.” Consider me sold. He waived his no-trade clause in order for this one to go through. My question is, does everyone have a no-trade clause?

[Photo via Getty]