August 3, 2009
By Jeff Landset
Baseball's trade deadline was this last Friday and several big-name players were on the move. However the biggest surprise might be that Roy Halladay didn't go anywhere. When Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi turned down an offer from Philadelphia of several top prospects, the Phils turned to Cleveland and got reigning Cy Young award winner Cliff Lee instead. Cleveland now has one of the best farm systems thanks to prospects like Carlos Santana, who came over in the Casey Blake trade to L.A., Matt LaPorta from Milwaukee, and Lou Marson and Carlos Carrasco from this Cliff Lee trade.
The Indians weren't done either, trading catcher Victor Martinez to Boston for Justin Masterson and two minor leaguers. The Red Sox were given the opportunity to then swap first basemen with Atlanta, sending Adam LaRoche back to the National League and getting defensively sound Casey Kotchman in return.
Pittsburgh Shakes It Up
LaRoche was one of the many players traded by Pittsburgh this year. The Pirates made a major trade with Seattle, trading starting shortstop Jack Wilson and disgruntled pitcher Ian Snell to the Mariners. They got four prospects as well as the versatile Ronny Cedeno. He should play shortstop for them. One of the most talked about deals was Pittsburgh getting a top prospect, right handed pitcher Tim Alderson, back from San Francisco for a former batting champ, second baseman Freddy Sanchez. Pittsburgh wasn't finished, they sent two lefties to the Cubs: John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny.
Playoff Contenders Shore Up Weaknesses
The Dodgers strengthened their bullpen, they sent two prospects to Baltimore for their closer George Sherrill. The Yankees were able to take from their organizational depth at catcher, thanks to players like Jesus Montero and Francisco Cervelli to trade Chase Weems to Cincinnati for super sub Jerry Hairston, Jr. And the Marlins got an on-base threat to hit in front of Hanley Ramirez, trading within the division to get first baseman Nick Johnson from Washington.
White Sox Plan for Peavy Return This Year
The most surprising deal of the deadline was, by far, the Jake Peavy deal. The deal was completed with only seconds to spare ahead of the deadline, sending the Padres' injured ace to the White Sox, where he had earlier blocked a trade, for several players including top prospect Aaron Poreda and lefty Clayton Richard. Chicago will be paying all of Peavy's contract, he's owed 56 million dollars through 2012 and another 18 million if they pick up his option.
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