Breaking Down the July Deals

The 2010 MLB trade deadline has been one of the more interesting ones in recent memory. Teams engaged in a flurry of activity, making deals major and minor. Money changed hands in a number of deals, with the sellers helping pay the salaries of veterans under long-term contracts. It also seemed like every serious contender added a piece or two to help make their late-season runs. Here are some of the more significant deals that happened in July.

Rangers acquire Cliff Lee and Cristian Guzman

The Rangers made the biggest splash of the season a few weeks ago when they acquired Cliff Lee from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Justin Smoak. While that does open up a hole at first base that Chris Davis, their Opening Day first baseman, must fill, it also helps bolster the rotation, placing it among the strongest units in the American League. The move has all but guaranteed their place atop the AL West.

The Lee move also not only helps them upgrade their rotation, but it provides insurance in case a few other pitchers don’t work out. C.J. Wilson has had an excellent year in the rotation but hasn’t pitched this many innings since 2003. If he fades down the stretch, the Rangers can still lean on Lee. Same with Tommy Hunter, who has been pitching better than his peripherals would indicate (3.31 ERA, 4.77 FIP). If anything happens to them, Lee still gives the Rangers a good chance.

Phillies acquire Roy Oswalt

Two preseason contenders, the Phillies and the Red Sox, have sustained injuries to key players this year. The difference between the two is that the Phillies are still very much in the hunt. They solidified their position by trading for Oswalt just before the deadline, leaving them with perhaps the best top three starting pitchers in the National League. Oswalt, along with Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels, will help keep opponents off the board. The only thing missing now is the offense.

What makes this deal even more important for the Phillies is what it means when they get back some of those injured players. If rookie Domonic Brown can hit well and stick they’ll have a superb outfield upon Shane Victorino’s return. Then, later in August they’ll bolster their infield corps by replacing the light-hitting Wilson Valdez with Chase Utley. With an offense at full strength and a greatly improved pitching staff the Phillies might not only make a run at the NL wild card. They should challenge the Braves for the East.

Angels acquire Dan Haren

A week before the trade deadline it looked like the Diamondbacks were going to trade Dan Haren to the Yankees for a package centered on Joba Chamberlain. Instead they surprised everyone a few days later by trading him to the Angels for Joe Saunders and prospects. The Angels got an instant upgrade in the rotation not only in 2010, but also for the next two years that Haren is under contract.

The problem, as stated above, is that the Rangers have jumped out to a big lead in the West. With the Yankees and the Rays both having more than 60 wins by the deadline, the AL wild card looks unattainable at this point, too. The Angels had an outside chance of fighting their way back into it, but that all but evaporated when they learned that Joel Pineiro will miss significant time with an oblique injury. They couldn’t know that at the time, so the deal is still a win — but more so because of what it means for the 2011 Angels.

Yankees acquire Lance Berkman, Austin Kearns and Kerry Wood

The Yankees benefit from their financial might, but that didn’t appear to come into play. Both Berkman and Wood have a significant amount of money left on their deals for this year, but the Astros and Indians sent the majority of that to the Yankees. The Yankees picked up all three for two prospects not in their top 10, two players to be named later and minimal salary relief.

In Berkman the Yankees get a designated hitter to replace the injured Nick Johnson. His season numbers don’t look very Berkman-like, but that could be the lingering effects of the knee surgery he had this spring. Berkman is now four months removed from the procedure, and his OPS has increased in each month since his return.

While Kearns and Wood are smaller deals, both serve their purposes. Kearns gives the Yankees a fourth outfielder who can play the field and provide some value at the plate. Wood is a pure gamble. He just came off the disabled list and has a storied injury history, but if he can remain healthy and pitch out of the bullpen like he did in 2008 the Yankees will be a very happy team in October.

Dodgers acquire Ted Lilly, Ryan Theriot and Octavio Dotel

At the start of the day on July 31 the Dodgers sat in third place, seven games back in the NL West and 4½ games back in the wild-card standings. They faced an uphill climb for the season’s final two months, but made their lives a bit better by adding a starting pitcher, a second baseman and a late-innings reliever. All three could help them back into the wild-card race.

Lilly has been unspectacular this season, but a move to Dodger Stadium could give him a boost. His biggest problem has been his home run rate, which is always an issue for fly ball pitchers. If his new park helps tone that down he’ll be a bit better the rest of the way. With Theriot it appears the Dodgers are betting on a recovery, since he has a lower weighted on-base average (wOBA) than the man the Dodgers traded for him, Blake DeWitt. Dotel gives Joe Torre one more option when choosing a setup man for Jonathan Broxton.

Still, considering the Phillies’ moves it looks like an even tougher battle for the Dodgers, even with these acquisitions.

Cardinals acquire Jake Westbrook

The Cardinals had two needs heading into the deadline: a bat and a starting pitcher. They filled the latter by trading for Jake Westbrook. After missing all of 2009 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Westbrook has been unimpressive in his return effort, posting a 4.65 ERA with a 4.67 FIP to match. He should benefit from a move to the NL, and he seems like a natural fit with Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan. Westbrook is a sinkerballer, Duncan’s specialty, so a complete turnaround wouldn’t come as a shock.

The problem for the Cardinals is that instead of adding a bat they subtracted one.

Padres acquire Ryan Ludwick

Pitching is not a problem for the Padres. They might not have it in abundance, to the point where they could trade pitching for hitting, but they have enough to make them one of the stronger forces in the NL. Instead, they could use a boost on offense. They got that by sending two pitching prospects, the better to the Indians and the lesser to the Cardinals, for Ludwick.

Ludwick, who has a .358 wOBA for the season, gives the Padres another power threat to go with Adrian Gonzalez. He also plays very good defense, with a three-year UZR/150 of 4.7, which ranks fifth among MLB right fielders during that span. The Padres appear improved on offense and defense with this move, which should help them keep their spot atop the NL West.

White Sox acquire Edwin Jackson

Rumors were everywhere late last week that the Nationals coveted Edwin Jackson, and that any team interested in Adam Dunn would do well to acquire him as a possible trading chip. The White Sox, connected to Dunn for most of July, put together a package for Jackson that centered on rookie Daniel Hudson. But once the White Sox acquired Jackson, they found out that the Nationals were less interested in moving Dunn than previously thought.

Jackson does help the White Sox, in that he’s a veteran arm that gives them another useful starter. This is especially helpful with Jake Peavy’s absence. Jackson’s ERA is inflated due to a few poor starts early in the season, but his FIP sits at exactly where it was last year, 4.28, which is considerably lower than where it had been in the past. He might see his home run rate spike a bit with a move to the AL and Chicago’s hitter-friendly ballpark, but he provides a bit more reliability than Hudson.

Twins acquire Matt Capps

Could the Twins have used catching prospect Wilson Ramos to acquire a better player than Capps? That has been a debate among fans and analysts for the past few days. For his part, Ramos was having a poor year and is blocked by Joe Mauer, so he doesn’t provide much value to the Twins. Capps, however, does. He strengthens an already strong Twins relief corps, allowing them to slide Jon Rauch, who was effective as the closer, into a setup role. The Twins could have used a starter, but adding Capps was still a positive as a lone move.