Trade Deadline — Baseball Bench Coach

With just two months remaining in the regular season and the Trade Deadline looming this Friday afternoon, the clock is ticking for all 30 MLB teams. For the contenders, it is a time to assess team needs and land, or maybe the better word is “rent” for players who are pending free agents, the key pitcher or position player to seal playoff hopes or even bring a World Series title. Every buyer though must beware of the price to pay, since there are sellers, or non-contending teams, trying to steal a top prospect or two in any deal. The high drama over the next five days is certain to be MLB’s in-season version of its hot stove.

Aware that teams in the bottom of the standings might dump high salaried players to contenders and unfairly impact the overall competition, MLB first instituted a Trade Deadline of June 15. The Trade deadline was moved to July 31 in 1986. Since this year July 31 falls on a Saturday, this coming Friday, July 30, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, is when the clock stops. And beginning in 2019, it became a hard stop, since no players may change hands via trade after that date.

Prior to 2019, a player could be obtained after the July 31 Trade Deadline if he cleared trade waivers. If players were acquired by August 31, they could play in the postseason with their new clubs. As of 2019, the August waiver claim market has effectively dried up. The new rule is that if a player is indeed waived, the new team must take on the entire salary of the player’s remaining contract and no other players may be involved. The last week of July, 2019, was pretty wild. There were 25 trades consummated, including the Astros acquisition of Arizona’s ace pitcher Zach Greinke at the Trade Deadline buzzer.

It’s fun to review some of the past Trade Deadline deals and see how important a player acquisition was to a team’s success. With time you can better assess the winner in the deal – the buyer, the seller, or in some cases, both! Let’s take a look at five Trade Deadline deals that stand out:

BROCK FOR BROGLIO. June 15, 1964, is a crucial day in the storied rivalry between the Cardinals and Cubs. Hall of Famer Lou Brock and pitcher Ernie Broglio were the principal players exchanged in a six player deal at the Trade Deadline. Many thought Chicago got the best of the deal, landing a pitcher like Broglio who had been a success in St. Louis over the past few seasons, for a disappointing young outfielder in Brock. Wow, did their fortunes turn quickly! Brock batted .348 over the next three months and led the Cardinals to the 1964 World Championship, as well as another title in 1967 and a World Series appearance in 1968. Brock was a cornerstone of the Cardinals until his retirement in 1979. Broglio pitched in only two seasons for the Cubs, a 4-7 record, 4.07 ERA, and was out of baseball in 1966.

FLAME THROWER. The Cubs took a huge step forward in their quest for a first World Championship in over a century with the July 25, 2016, acquisition from the Yankees of Aroldis Chapman for four players. Chapman was coming off four consecutive All-Star seasons, and was known for an overpowering fastball (his 105.1 mph speed is still the fastest recorded pitch). When the deal was made, the Cubs had pretty well secured a playoff spot but needed a closer to take them over the top. In the words of then club president Theo Epstein, “if not now, when?” Chapman was an absolute workhorse in the 2016 playoffs with 4 appearances in both the NLDS against the Giants and the NLCS vs. the Dodgers. Chapman helped turned around the Cubs’ 3 games to 1 deficit in the World Series against the Indians by pitching multiple innings in the last 3 games. While Chapman was the key to bringing the Cubs the long awaited title, he indeed was a rental, returning to New York the next season via free agency. And the Yankees did well in the deal too, landing star Gleybar Torres as part of the package. It was a WIN, win!

CC. Those are the initials of lefthanded pitcher Carsten Charles Sabathia, a six-time All-
Star who pitched the first 7 ½ seasons of his career with the Indians. On July 7, 2008, with Cleveland falling out of contention in the AL Central, the Brewers obtained him for four minor league players (the group included Michael Brantley). Over the remaining months of the 2008 season, CC dominated the National League, with an 11-2 record, 7 complete games, 3 shutouts, and a 1.65 ERA. Talk about a workhorse! Sabathia threw an incredible 131 innings in 83 days. The result -- Milwaukee made the NL playoffs for the first time in 26 years. And it was another good deal for both teams, since Michael Brantley starred in the outfield for the Indians during the next 10 seasons. My guess is that the Brew Crew is looking for some CC position player magic this year!

GET ME SOME CLIFF LEE. Cliff Lee, another Indians’ lefthanded starting pitcher for his first seven seasons, will go down in Trade Deadline drama as being the key acquisition in not only one, but two, deals. On July 29, 2009, Cleveland traded Lee to the Phillies for four players. In his first five games with Philadelphia, Cliff went 5-0 with a 0.68 ERA. The Phillies knew they had stolen some gold, as they rode Lee’s back in the first two rounds of the NL playoffs and into the World Series. Lee won the only two games Philly could muster over the Yankees in New York’s 4-2 Series win. Lee had gone 4-0 in the playoffs. Remarkably, the Phillies traded Lee in the offseason to Seattle. The very next year, on July 9, 2010, the Rangers obtained Lee in a five-player deal with the Mariners. Texas steamrolled through the AL playoff rounds behind Lee as he compiled four additional postseason wins. The Lee luck ran out in the 2010 World Series, as Tim Lincecum of the Giants bested Lee in Games 1 and 5.

Seaver to Cincy. On June 15, 1977, I was attending a game at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati with friends when it was announced that three-time NL Cy Young winner, Tom Seaver of the Mets, had been traded to the Reds for four players. It was a celebration in the stands that night as the Reds had finally landed the ace pitcher that had for so long eluded them. Seaver went 14-3 with the Reds over the remainder of 1977, and in 1978 recorded his only no-hit game of his illustrious career. Indeed, in six seasons with Cincinnati, Seaver was 75-46, a 3.18 ERA, and had 42 complete games. Yet, he came to Cincy with the hope of securing another World Championship (the Reds had won in ’75 and ’76) and could not get an aging nucleus to win it all one more time under his leadership. Seaver did provide Reds fans, like me, with lots of wonderful memories.

Is your favorite MLB team going to be a buyer or a seller over the next five days? Stay close to your ESPN Trade Tracker this week and enjoy the wild ride. What’s your favorite memory of a Trade Deadline deal?

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach