Losers From the 2018 MLB Trade Deadline

Baseball’s 2018 trade deadline has come and gone. Now it’s time to break down the teams that got hosed in their deals. Here’s a look at the biggest losers from this year’s MLB trading bonanza.

Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals decided to sell far too late and didn’t wind up getting anything of long-term value. If you’re going to sell off players then commit to it. This half-measure stuff isn’t going to cut it.

The Nationals have a $150 million-plus payroll and a .500 record. At that point a team needs to either go all-in or sell. The Nats did neither.

Yes, Washington hung on to Bryce Harper instead of selling low on him as a rental, but also didn’t do anything to improve the squad around him. All the Nats did on deadline day was ship Brandon Kintzler to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Jhon Romero.

After trading for Kelvin Herrera in June and not improving their fortunes after doing so, the Nationals also failed to flip him to a legitimate contender before the deadline. Now he’s an expensive rental on a team that desperately needs to wake up and compete.

There was just no coherent vision from Washington as the deadline approached. The Nationals seemed to ignore this team’s fundamental flaws for weeks and were surprised when they found themselves at .500 on deadline day.

Only William Cutting can truly sum up how I feel about the Nats’ front office today:

Yep, that’s about right.

Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles wound up trading Manny Machado, Brad Brach, Zach Britton, Kevin Gausman, Jonathan Schoop and Darren O'Day and in return they got one top 100 prospect (Yusniel Diaz). That’s a lot to give away for such a weak return.

The Orioles have one of baseball’s worst farm systems and they got a huge influx of 15 players before the deadline passed. That said, Jonathan Villar and Diaz are the only players acquired worth discussing.

Baltimore is in the midst of one of the worst seasons in recent history. The Orioles needed to get more in exchange for their legit major league pieces.

Houston Astros

The Houston Astros traded for closer Roberto Osuna who is currently suspended for assaulting a woman. Then general manager Jeff Luhnow went out and tried to justify the acquisition with awful results. Houston may have sold its soul just to land a competent reliever, which is absolutely not OK. It could come back to bite one of the strongest clubhouses in all of baseball.

The Astros also failed to get another bat or bolster their bench, though they did get Martin Maldonado to back up Max Stassi at catcher for now. They also added Ryan Pressly, another reliever under team control through 2019.

The Osuna addition is the big one here though and there’s almost no justifying it. Sometimes winning baseball games isn’t the most important thing to consider. By bringing Osuna in, the Astros have forgotten that.

Colorado Rockies

So, what exactly is going on here? The Colorado Rockies are just a half-game out of first place in the NL West and they did absolutely nothing to improve their roster. The team’s bullpen has the second-worst ERA in baseball and Colorado could have really used another bat. Instead, general manager Jeff Bridich decided to stand pat. Which makes no sense.

Boston Red Sox

With a five-game lead in the AL East, the Boston Red Sox must be secure in their position because they didn’t do much at the deadline.

Ian Kinsler was added but he’s posted a woeful .710 OPS in 91 games this season. He might be a nice reserve if Boston’s infield ever gets healthy, but at this point he’s probably not a great everyday option in the field.

Despite a need for another starting pitcher, Nathan Eovaldi was the best the Red Sox could do. Despite being a hard-throwing righty, Eovaldi isn’t anything more than an average starter.

I get that the Red Sox are in a great position and didn’t need to add anything, but it feels like a missed opportunity for them not to add a higher-end arm or bat.

New York Mets

The New York Mets are likely years away from being relevant and while they dumped Jeurys Familia and Asdrúbal Cabrera, they failed to do anything more. None of the prospects the Mets received rank among baseball’s elite.

While the Mets didn’t need to trade Noah Syndergaard or Jacob deGrom, they probably should have moved Zack Wheeler or Steven Matz. In a thin market for starting pitching, Wheeler and Matz could have both fetched a solid price.

Given the lack of quality around that starting rotation, it makes no sense to hang on to it so tightly. The Mets have a thin farm system and could have scored an influx of prospects for one or two of their starters. Standing pat on deadline day when you’ve got assets to trade is just puzzling.

Hey, Bill could you…

Appreciated.