Examining This Deadline's Lateral Selling Trend

 

One of the big aspects of this past trade deadline was watching to see where Joey Gallo would land. We knew the Yankees would be getting rid of him with Benintendi coming to town, we knew that maybe Gallo himself wasn't the problem, and we knew that teams still want a guy like him to compete. Very much like Sonny Gray a few years ago, the demand is there, and New York is happy to let a guy like that succeed. 

So when I found out the Yankees dealt Gallo to the Dodgers, I was a little puzzled.

I was kind of thinking the Yanks would unload Gallo in a deal for another piece, but perhaps he didn't wanna play for a rebuilding team again. Or maybe they would have given him to a mid-level competitor like Cleveland, San Francisco or Seattle. But...the Dodgers. A team that will likely be chasing the Yankees all the way up the league this year? The team that might even meet them at the World Series? THEY get Gallo? I mean, I'm not Brian Cashman, but...doesn't that seem like you're helping out the enemy?

This was a trend I would soon find wrapped around the league entirely this deadline. Teams on the same standing helping each other out and staying even, which isn't always the point of deadline deals to me. Some of these, like trading Josh Hader for Trevor Rogers, I kind of understand because there's looming contractual stuff on the horizon, but a lot baffled me. Here's a few of the others:

Luke Weaver hasn't really found much of a place for himself this year in Phoenix, so the Diamondbacks decided to deal him. It's WHERE they decided to deal him that confuses me- they sent him to the last place Royals, which means instead of the usual upgrade one would expect from someone leaving the Diamondbacks, Weaver somehow got a downgrade. And he was swapped for Emmanuel Rivera, who had been a pretty decent starting 3rd baseman in Kansas City and now is stuck behind Josh Rojas in Phoenix. I sort of get why the Royals would ship Rivera out, the prospects are coming up, Pratto's getting more starting time at first so Dozier's starting more at third, but...two low-rung teams trading with each other vexed me. It vexed me greatly.

Eric Hosmer, like Gallo, I figured would be dealt eventually. The Padres have been trying to get rid of that contract for years, and they tried to even get rid of it in the deal for Soto and Bell, but Hosmer said no. I was honestly expecting Hosmer to take the L, start at DH and ride out the rest of the season, but A.J. Preller decided to dump Hosmer in Boston. Boston is...sort of competitor, though they've been losing ground. And I suppose Hosmer could be an upgrade at first from Bobby Dalbec. But...Hosmer's the kind of hitter that could really work in Boston, and the Padres just sort of gave him away. If the Red Sox come back with the help of Hosmer, even if the Padres also do well...that's gonna look a bit odd. I understand, they needed to get rid of him, and he had 10 teams he didn't want to go to, but this still seems kind of lateral.

This one also confused me. The Astros were easing Odorizzi out of the rotation. The Braves were trying to give Will Smith less innings. I understand both these teams trading these players...but why for each other? Why do the Braves, who just frigging played the Astros in the World Series last year, want to help the Astros get better by handing them Smith? And why do the Astros, who just got BEAT by the Braves last year, want to give the Braves another starter who they can trust? Why are so many teams willing to pat each other on the back all while low-rung teams are tanking and selling? Is there a class metaphor in this?

The Cardinals, as they did last deadline, confused me the most. They hadn't been able to find room for Edmundo Sosa in the infield this year, and had wanted to bring up Paul DeJong again, so they deal Sosa, which is fine. But...the Cardinals also made deals for Jose Quintana and other players on competitors. Why didn't they deal Sosa to Pittsburgh or something? Why did they make a trade with their main NL Wild Card competitor the Philadelphia Phillies by giving them another infield piece they can work with in exchange for a reliever that, unless the Cards know something, isn't gonna really make much of a difference? I mean, I guess Sosa can work in Philly, he's flexible enough, but this mostly felt like an absentminded handoff.

But that's tame compared to what they did to finish the deadline:

This, folks, is the single most baffling deal of the deadline. And we're gonna talk about it.

About 10 minutes before the trade deadline ended the other day, it was reported, out of absolutely nowhere, that Jordan Montgomery had been traded to the Cardinals. The first words out of myself and my father's mouths were the same: "WHY?" Montgomery had been an extremely efficient starter for the Yankees, and it had become clear that, with Severino injured and Domingo German shaky, as well as J.P. Sears now playing in Oakland, we needed as many starter innings as possible.

So we traded him...to St. Louis...where there is currently a rotation of Miles Mikolas, Adam Wainwright, Dakota Hudson, Jose Quintana and Andre Pallante. That makes SIX viable starting options for the Cardinals, and it leaves the Yankees with 4 and a half. Closer to four now after what the Mariners did to Gerrit Cole. When we needed as many innings eaters as possible...Brian Cashman gives one away...

...in exchange for Harrison Bader. Who is currently injured.

Immediately, the Cardinals are going to reap the benefits of Jordan Montgomery, he's gonna be an excellent starting option for them, they may even just release Steven Matz at this point. He'll make the Cardinals even more of a playoff threat. Meanwhile, the Yankees have Bader as an eventual backup defensive outfielder. The Yankees are going with Judge-Hicks-Benintendi right now in Stanton's absence, and when Bader returns, he will likely usurp Hicks's spot, despite Hicks's improved play recently. Then it'll be what happens to Stanton when he comes back, who gets the DH spot, it'll get crowded, and it'll be a whole thing. Good news is we have one roster spot we don't need to devote to a friggin starter anymore, so that'll work.

Which brings me to the million dollar question. If the Yankees wanted Harrison Bader, and wanted to give them a suitable bounty to keep them competing without altering their immediate plans...why not just trade Miguel Andujar? He'd made it clear that he wanted to be traded. The Yanks haven't been doing anything with them. He'd fill an outfield hole, albeit not terribly well, and eventually be a DH after Pujols leaves. Why not do that? Did the Cardinals get too greedy and Cashman just shrugged? Come on.

As good as the Yankees have been, and as smart as they were this deadline, that deal made absolutely no sense and I don't know when it WILL make sense. If we lose in the playoffs because of starting pitching, it will go right back to this deal. Maddening. 

That is the last I'll be talking about trade deadline deals on the blog for a while. Back to regularly scheduled customs tonight.