Execs weigh in on biggest Deadline moves that did -- and didn't -- happen
Mark Feinsand
@feinsandThe smoke has cleared from another frantic Trade Deadline, during which 26 deals were struck – and a handful of potential big moves weren’t.
MLB.com spoke with a number of executives in the hours after the Deadline passed to get their thoughts on the action that took place around the league on Tuesday and in the weeks leading up to Aug. 1.
Here’s a look at the moves – or non-moves – that stood out to some of the game’s decision-makers.
Mets trade Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander
New York’s decision to move its two pricy aces was the event that was most often mentioned, not only for the impact the two former Cy Young winners will have on their new teams, but for owner Steve Cohen’s willingness to pay down roughly $90 million of their salaries (not to mention the resulting Competitive Balance Tax implications) in order to bring back two Top 100 prospects.
One American League executive called the Scherzer and Verlander moves “by far the biggest surprise” of trade season, though a National League exec lauded the Mets for making a tough decision they felt was in their best long-term interest.
“It was the right thing to do,” the NL exec said. “But it’s amazing to think that they’ll potentially be paying the two of them $90 million over the next couple years to pitch for teams in the AL West.”
“The Mets did well to clear a significant amount of money off their ledger even if they didn’t receive top-tier prospects in return,” another NL executive said. As for the amount of money the Mets included in the deals, the exec reasoned that “from the inverse view, they save the salary and tax on every dollar they offloaded.”
The Mets landed infielder Luisangel Acuña and outfielder Drew Gilbert, who rank No. 44 and 68, respectively, on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list, bringing the Mets’ number of Top 100 players to five.
“It will be interesting to see how the concept of paying down salary for better prospects plays out over time,” an NL executive said.
E-Rod stays put
Perhaps the second-biggest story of Deadline day was a move that didn’t happen: Eduardo Rodriguez chose to veto a trade to the Dodgers, who were one of the 10 teams on his limited no-trade list.
“The biggest shock of the day was reading that Eduardo Rodriguez killed the opportunity to pitch for the Dodgers and chose instead to stay in Detroit,” an NL executive said. “Never could have predicted that.”
It was initially speculated that Rodriguez – who lives in Miami and has spent his entire career with teams on the East Coast – didn’t want to play out west, and he essentially acknowledged as much the day after the Deadline. Rodriguez can opt out of the final three years and $49 million of his contract, and while he’s expected to do so to become a free agent after the season, circumstances can always change with one injury.
“If something happened and he decided he didn’t want to opt out, he probably didn’t want to be locked in out west for three more years,” an AL executive said.
The opt-out clause in Rodriguez’s contract caused some teams not to pursue him – “Tough contract to work with,” an AL exec said – as there was no way to know if you were trading for a two-month rental or a controllable contract. Detroit’s asking price for Rodriguez was also said to be quite steep.
Multiple executives were baffled that the Tigers didn’t have a Plan B in place, knowing that the Dodgers were on Rodriguez’s no-trade list.
“How does that happen?” an AL executive said. “How do they not have a fallback for L.A.?”
Rodriguez has already received a qualifying offer, so if he opts out and leaves as a free agent, the Tigers will not receive any compensation in return.
All quiet on the Eastern front
When the clock struck 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, the Yankees had acquired reliever Keynan Middleton and the Red Sox had made a late deal to add infielder Luis Urías. For a pair of teams that were expected to do a lot more – whether as buyers or sellers – the inactivity came as something of a surprise.
“That spoke volumes about how those teams view their club,” the NL exec said. “It’s completely rational not to trade away prospects if you don’t love your postseason odds, but you have to try to deal away your expiring contracts in that case. It doesn’t make much sense to play it down the middle.”
“The Yankees’ inactivity only being a few games out of a Wild Card spot despite having played for so long without Judge was surprising,” an NL executive said. “It was strange to see them not make a couple of moves to try and position themselves for a run over the next two months.”
An NL executive added that Boston’s last-minute deal for Urías “felt like a panic move on their part after not having done anything else.”
While the Yankees and Red Sox were mostly sitting out the Deadline, the Blue Jays added reliever Jordan Hicks, while the Orioles traded for another former Cardinals righty, starter Jack Flaherty. The Rays dealt for Cleveland’s Aaron Civale, bringing yet another quality arm into the game’s most competitive division.
“There’s a long way to go,” an AL executive said. “That division is a cage match.”
Random thoughts
“I was surprised that the Giants and Phillies didn’t do more to add to their rosters. I expected them to both add offense, and they really didn’t add any true impact.” – NL executive
“I couldn’t believe the White Sox got Jake Eder for Jake Burger. Look at Burger’s home/road splits. I thought Eder was a lot to give up. That guy was a borderline Top 100 prospect before he had Tommy John.” – NL executive
“It was surprising to see the AL Central teams mostly sell. No one wanted to push in for the division.” – AL executive
“The Brewers did well to address their needs without giving up much.” – NL executive
“Texas pushed a lot of chips into 2023 at the expense of a handful of legitimate prospects.” – NL executive
“I liked the Rangers getting Austin Hedges as insurance. That might be underrated for their pitching staff.” – NL executive
“Miami reshuffled deck chairs and likely got a little better in the process. Their corner-infield defense could be very bad, though.” – NL executive
“I thought it was unique this year that some of the bigger returns happened earlier in the week vs. the end.” – NL executive
“My biggest takeaway was the huge hauls for sellers for not many – if any – impact players traded.” – AL executive