Trading Places — Baseball Bench Coach

August 4, 1982. Yes, that’s me on the couch, really under the weather, and fading in and out of a Cubs game that afternoon on WGN-TV. I woke up much later, and about all I could remember was that the Mets’ Joel Youngblood had a key hit against Ferguson Jenkins in the Cubs’ loss. The next morning, still groggy, I did my usual scouring of the MLB box scores and came across an interesting note. Joel Youngblood of the Expos (what?) hit a pinch single off Steve Carlton of the Phillies in Philadelphia, the night before. Were the meds too strong? No, I wasn’t dreaming it. The Mets had indeed traded Youngblood to the Expos during the Cubs game. Youngblood had flown from Chicago to Philadelphia after the trade, appearing in two games with two different teams with a hit against two future Hall of Fame pitchers, all in the same day. Crazy, but true!

Baseball trades can be a dream come true for the players and teams involved and the fans who follow them. This past week we saw the July 31 trading deadline come and go, triggering much analysis about who were the winners and losers of the trades that were made and even the trades that weren’t. And this year the July 31 deadline was just that, a firm deadline! In prior years July 31 was only a non-waiver deadline, such that players could be traded in August if they first cleared revocable trade waivers. A 2019 MLB rule change no longer allows for trades to be made after July 31.

Let’s step back a moment and review the topic of trading players from an historical perspective. A key moment is in 1969 when 12-year veteran Curt Flood of the St. Louis Cardinals refused to accept a trade to the Phillies. Flood challenged the MLB’s reserve clause in player contracts, a clause which provided that the player was retained by the team at the contract’s expiration. In bringing a lawsuit against MLB (Flood vs. Bowie Kuhn, then baseball commissioner). Flood’s legal team argued that the reserve clause depressed wages and limited players to one team for life. While the Supreme Court in 1972 ultimately ruled against Flood, the challenge united the baseball players’ union and resulted in much negotiated change, including the “Curt Flood Rule”. This 10/5 rule provides that when a player has played for a team for five consecutive years and played in the MLB for a total of ten years, the player has to provide consent to any proposed trade. What also followed was today’s free agency landscape, complicating the strategies of baseball executives in positioning their teams for on-field success, short and long term.

So who won the battle last week at the trading deadline? Curiously, two of the bigger named pitchers traded actually landed on teams with losing records this year. The Mets added Toronto All-Star pitcher Marcus Stroman, as he returns to his home state to bolster a star-studded rotation, headlined by last year’s Cy Young winner, Jacob deGrom. By deciding not to trade Noah Syndergaard and/or Zach Wheeler, the Mets look formidable in 2020 with its starting staff. That same trade for next season philosophy was taken by the Reds in their acquisition of stud pitcher Trevor Bauer in a three-team trade with the Indians and Padres. The 2020 Reds will be able to roll out Bauer, 2019 NL All-Stars Luis Castillo and Sonny Gray, and Anthony DeSclafani, in their own version of a fearsome foursome of starters.

In terms of winning the July 31 Trading Deadline for 2019 success, most baseball experts have pegged the Astros as the clear winner, and I agree. Houston is an example of the rich getting richer. The Astros in the first four months of the season have survived numerous injuries to key starting players, yet found themselves with the second-best record in the AL at the deadline. All they needed was a key acquisition to put them over the top, and that dream became reality in the Zach Greinke trade with Arizona. Heading into the last two months of the season and the playoffs, the Astros have 4 of the top 14 starting pitchers in MLB ERA with Justin Verlander’s 2.73 (4th), Greinke’s 2.90 (9th), Gerrit Cole’s 2.94 (10th), and Wade Miley’s 3.06 (14th).

Another reason the Astros were winners is that the Yankees were perceived losers. NY failed to obtain a top starting pitcher at the deadline. New York’s offensive thunder has led them in a battle with Houston for the top spot in the AL, but they might not have the starting pitching to be a winner come playoff time. The Yankees are going to need to beat the adage “good pitching beats good hitting” in October. The Dodgers, who have all year been positioned to represent the National League in another classic NY vs. LA Series, also failed to address a significant need at the deadline, set up relievers to assist closer Kenley Jansen. The deep Dodger roster though still looks formidable down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Only two teams among the contenders in the AL and NL Central Divisions races took bold steps at the deadline. The Indians, in the trade with the Reds and Padres, improved its outfield dramatically with the addition of Yasiel Puig (Reds) and Franmil Reyes (Padres). The Twins sat back, and decided to continue to rely on a lineup that is at a record-setting home run pace. In the three-team NL Central battle, only the Cubs stepped up by filling some real needs – right handed hitting outfielder (Nick Castellanos); speedster infielder (Tony Kemp); and bullpen help (David Phelps and Derek Holland). It will be interesting to see if the stay put approach taken by the Cardinals and Brewers will decide the NL Central race this year.

There are other noteworthy trades and failed, rumored trades. The Atlanta Braves, who have led the NL East for much of the season, landed quality relievers for down the stretch, Shane Greene (Tigers), Chris Martin (Rangers), and Mark Melancon (Giants). The Braves hope to have enough to withstand the hard-charging Washington Nationals and their retooled bullpen with the likes of Hunter Strickland and Roenis Elias (Mariners) and Daniel Hudson (Blue Jays). Then there’s the San Francisco Giants, who have come from the back of the pack to second place in the NL West, resisting any trade overtures for their top guy, Madison Bumgarner, with the hope of securing a wild card spot in October.

One of my favorite sports slogans is “dance with the one who brought you”. I’m not an advocate of that slogan at the baseball trading deadline. You see, as a fan, I want my team to take some risks and find a dance partner to put my team in the best position to have a shot at a world championship. I want my dreams to become reality.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach