The one resounding question from MLB's come-and-gone trade deadline remains: what on Earth were the Pirates thinking?
The trade for Matt Morris -- a mediocre, overpaid pitcher -- to the Pirates -- a notoriously finicky, tightwadded team -- continues to make no sense whatsoever, except to prove further that Dave Littlefield is really poor at his job. That doesn't mean some, including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Degan Kovacevic, can't try to explain all this silliness:
So, why Morris?
And why now?
To start, rewind to Tuesday morning, hours before Major League Baseball's 4 p.m. trading deadline. The Pirates, according to Littlefield, were frustrated by an inability to pry away one of the several targeted starters on his scouts' list.
Also, there is the job factor. If Morris fares well, he can help the Pirates finish strong this season and, perhaps, convince Nutting and the new CEO coming this fall that Littlefield deserves to stay for the final year of his contract in 2008. If nothing else, he could illustrate to Nutting that, for the first time in his tenure, he could acquire a big-money player with good results.
Those are just two of the several plausible, but still ridiculous, reasons Kovacevic proposes. Like the great scientists of our time, it is noble of Kovacevic to attempt to explain the unexplainable, but really, the more and more you think about it, the deeper the rabbit hole of stupidity goes. Best not to even try sometimes.
Two teams vying for the playoffs made deals for big names. Two last place teams swapped players. Guys you thought were gone ended up staying. Teammates weren't happy. But really, it was just a bunch of vagabond players switching uniforms.
Here are your winners and losers:
Winners:
Atlanta Braves
Sure, they gave up a top young player in catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia (that last name is just way out of control) but picking upMark Teixeira -- even though his power's a bit down -- brings a proven power hitter on board and a quality defensive first baseman to boot. If Andruw Jones can knock out of his season-long slump (which he seems to maybe be doing) the Braves have a shot at taking over the Mets in the NL East or at worst picking up the Wild Card. In the long run this might not work out in Atlanta's favor, but for the here and now it did.
Most people consider the trade deadline to be a time for contenders to stock up for the stretch run ... so what's a couple of last-place teams like San Francisco and Pittsburgh doing swapping players? That's what happened, as the Giants sent 32-year-old starting pitcher Matt Morris to the Pirates in exchange for 26-year-old backup outfielder Rajai Davis and the always popular Player To Be Named Later.
I suppose this makes sense for the Giants, who have a chance to get out from underneath Morris' contract. He signed a three-year, $27 million deal prior to last season and has responded with a 4.98 ERA last year and a 4.32 ERA thus far this season. He's not a bad back-of-the-rotation starter, but not a guy you want to give $9 million a year.
Davis may never be a star, but he's shown a proven ability (in the minors, at least) to hit for average, draw walks and steal bases. Plus, at 26 years old, he's 17 years younger than Barry Bonds, nine years younger than Dave Roberts and seven years younger than Randy Winn. Considering the Giants' lineup features six guys at least 35 years old (seven if you count the injured Mike Matheny), rolling the dice by trading a disappointing pitcher for a cheap kid who might compete for the team's leadoff spot within a year isn't a horrible idea.
What makes this so surprising? For one, the Red Sox really had no need whatsoever for Gagne: they already feature the best bullpen in the game by far, allowing a 2.74 ERA while hold the opposition to a .224 batting average.
Of course, there's a difference between not having a need for Gagne and not having a use for him, and the Red Sox will certainly enjoy using him in conjunction with All-Stars Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon to essentially shorten the game to six innings. Yeah, six innings: Gagne has a 2.16 ERA, Papelbon sits at 2.15 and Okajima sports an 0.87 mark. If you can't get on the board against the starter, you're certainly not going to against that trio.
Well, it's not quite the type of deal that's going to make anyone salivate. But on a trading deadline day with little value switching sides, we'll take what we can get. And so do the Phillies, who have traded for Julio Mateo from the Mariners for minor league shortstop Jesus Merchan.
Mateo, who turns 30 on Thursday, figures to replace righty Ryan Madson, who suffered a strained right shoulder Sunday. The Phillies' bullpen recently was bolstered by the returns of right-handers Tom Gordon and Brett Myers from injuries.
While the Phillies can retain Mateo in 2008 by exercising his $1.5 million club option, it is doubtful that this move will be judged only on its baseball merits.
Mateo was charged with third-degree assault in May after police said that he struck and bit his wife in a Manhattan hotel room.
And now he's on the same team as Brett Myers, who has had his own issues involving spousal abuse, meaning that the same people who criticized the Phillies for allowing Myers to pitch the day after he was arrested for hitting his wife now have more ammunition to blast the Phillies as an organization. As a baseball move, it just shows how desperate the Phillies are, along with most teams, to get help for the bullpen as they are taking a flier on a guy with good stuff, but has been buried at AAA Tacoma all season (albeit with good stats down there: 0.79 ERA, 29 K's and 2 walks in 34 and 1/3 innings).
All week Peter Gammons has been talking about how shocking it was that the Astros DFA'd Morgan Ensberg, how just two years ago he was fourth in the MVP voting with 36 homers and 101 RBIs, etc. etc. Today the Astros officially washed their hands of him and moved into the Ty Wigginton era by sending Ensberg to San Diego for either a player to be named or cash.
For the Padres, this gives them another bat to push Kevin Kouzmanoff with. They traded Josh Barfield for him this off-season hoping to see the great hitter the Indians saw in the minors (.332/.395/.556 as a minor leaguer). Instead, Kouz has put up a paltry .233/.290/.411 line. Of course, Ensberg has only hit .232/.323/.384 in a much better hitter's park in Houston, so I don't know what the Padres are really expecting here.
If the Astros are choosing Wigginton over Ensberg, it's pretty clear that they think that Ensberg's shoulder injury last year was career altering event. It certainly seems possible. When Ensberg went on the DL last year, he was hitting .236/.390/.500 when he went on the DL last year and only hit .234/.411/.369 after coming off (the lines are from BBRef's Ensberg page) so it's certainly possible that his power has been sapped by the injury. Still, there's got to be some of his 2005 form left, doesn't there?
The Padres, continuing the makeover of their bench, are close to acquiring outfielder Rob Mackowiak from the White Sox for a minor leaguer, according to major-league sources.
This move follows the Padres adding outfielder Scott Hairston to their bench in a trade with the Diamondbacks earlier this week.
Mackowiak will be remembered in Chicago mostly for all the balls he misplayed out in centerfield and left field the last year and a half. This move is probably good for him and the Padres because he really is a more valuable player in the National League than the American League.
He can play just about anywhere in the field, and has, so he'll be a valuable commodity for Bud Black to have on his bench during the stretch run.
The Red Sox are on the verge of winning the Eric Gagne sweepstakes, pending his approval and a review of his medical records, according to major-league sources.
The reason the deal hasn't gone through yet is Gagne has to approve it, and there's a question as to whether he'd rather stay a closer in Texas, or become a setup man for Jonathan Papelbon in Boston. There's also the possibility that Gagne and Papelbon could share the role, though I'm not sure that would be appealing to either side.
Other teams that the Rangers had talked to about Gagne are the Brewers, Mets, and Yankees and he could have been sent to either team without his permission.
Another way the Red Sox could convince Gagne to come to Boston would be by guaranteeing the $3.65 million Gagne can still make in bonuses based on his appearances.
The trade deadline is in less than three hours, so if there's going to be a blockbuster deal, we'll be hearing about it soon. Until then you're just going to have to deal with these small deals that are taking place. Deals like the Dodgers getting Scott Proctor from the Yankees for Wilson Betemit.
The Yankees are on the verge of acquiring infielder Wilson Betemit from the Dodgers for right-handed reliever Scott Proctor, according to a major-league source.
Betemit, 26, is a switch-hitter who can play multiple positions and possibly be the Yankees' third baseman next season if Alex Rodriguez departs as a free agent.
It's official! The Yankees are now poised to overcome the Red Sox in the AL East. July 31st, 2007 is a day that will live in infamy in Boston.
If you're a Yankee fan, how does that sentence make you feel? Replacing Alex Rodriguez with Wilson Betemit? Yikes.
As for the Dodgers, they wanted another arm in their bullpen, and now they've gotten one. If there's anything to be concerned about with Proctor, it's the fact he might be burned out. He made a 83 appearances for the Yankees last season, and has already made 52 more this season.
The Dodgers are also still talking to the Athletics about acquiring Joe Blanton, but they are wary of Blanton's recent performance and Oakland's desire for more prospects than the Dodgers are willing to give up.
Lohse has been mostly mediocre with the Reds this year, though his 1.33 WHIP and only 33 walks in 130 innings are more encouraging than his 6-12 record (which is certainly at least partially a product of the Reds' crappy season) and his 4.58 ERA. He will probably answer the question of whether it's better to have an unproven guy in the rotation (like JD Durbin or Kyle Kendrick) or a guy that's proven to be not very good. The Reds will gladly take Maloney in return, who's having a pretty good year in AA Reading after a great year in single-A Lakewood in 2006. I would assume this would also give them the opportunity to bring Homer Bailey back into the big league rotation.
As for the Teixeira question, don't search for any hidden meaning in this trade. In his six years in the AL, Lohse faced Tex eighteen times. In those eighteen at-bats, Teixeira stroked eight hits (including three doubles) and only struck out once for a hitting line of .444/.444/.611. Call me crazy, but I don't think he was brought in to get Teixeira out.
The one resounding question from MLB's come-and-gone trade deadline remains: what on Earth were the Pirates thinking? 
Two teams vying for the playoffs made deals for big names. Two last place teams 
Most people consider the trade deadline to be a time for contenders to stock up for the stretch run ... so what's a couple of last-place teams like San Francisco and Pittsburgh doing swapping players? That's what happened, as the Giants sent 32-year-old starting pitcher 
It's not a complete surprise -- we knew 
Well, it's not quite the type of deal that's going to make anyone salivate. But on a trading deadline day with little value switching sides, we'll take what we can get. And so do the Phillies, 
All week Peter Gammons has been talking about how shocking it was that the Astros DFA'd 
While we all still wait to find out what the 
A report from Ken Rosenthal over at Fox Sports says that the Red Sox and Rangers have agreed on a deal that would send closer 
The trade deadline is in less than three hours, so if there's going to be a blockbuster deal, we'll be hearing about it soon. Until then you're just going to have to deal with these small deals that are taking place. Deals like the Dodgers getting 
And you thought the blockbuster trades were done for the day! 
