Deadline Dud

This year's MLB trade deadline was a whisper in the night opposed to years passed as there were no major splashes made in baseball's trade-o-sphere. However, a few clubs managed to address their pitching needs without dealing for marquee names. Perhaps the biggest name dealt was starting pitcher Jake Peavy who relocated from the Chicago White Sox to the Boston Red Sox. Though Peavy, a 4-time All-Star and former Cy Young Award winner isn't quite the pitcher he once was with the San Diego Padres as he's had a hard time adjusting to the offense-friendly American League, he gives Boston a much needed arm in a rotation that's been without arguably its best pitcher in Clay Buchholz who's been idle since June 8 with a shoulder injury. The move also benefits the player as the 32-year old Peavy (8-4, 4.28 ERA) departs a last place Chicago team for Boston who currently sits atop the AL East with an MLB-best 66-wins. Peavy is under contract through 2014.

One team hoping to spoil the party and prevent Boston from making the postseason if not meet them there, are the Baltimore Orioles who answered their division-rivals with a move of their own, acquiring hurler Bud Norris from the last-place Houston Astros. Norris, who served as the ace for a Houston ball club that's had a torturous 2013 campaign, owning baseball's worst record at 36-71 in their first year in the American League, has gotta be as happy as anyone now that he'll be shifting from the race for the worst record in all of baseball for what's expected to be a pennant race in the AL East. Orioles skipper Buck Showalter who helped turn the franchise around in 2012, leading them to their first playoff appearance in 15 years, knows his squad has been highly dependent on its power hitting offense while the team's mediocre pitching staff has fallen by the wayside, putting up numbers near the bottom of the pack in almost every major pitching category. That's where Norris comes in and hopes to make his presence felt.

However, as far as importance goes, both of these deadline deals fail to match that of the Texas Rangers acquiring Matt Garza from the Chicago Cubs for Mike Olt, C.J. Edwards and Justin Grimm, which took place last week. Nolan Ryan and company hope the addition of Garza will help the Rangers catch up to and pass the Oakland A's who dethroned Texas for the American League Western Division title last season and currently lead the division by 3.5 games. Garza who's been surprisingly consistent despite playing a majority of his career in the powerhouse AL East while with the Tampa Bay Rays and in the hitter-friendly Wrigley Field, will now be given the daunting task of having to pitch in Arlington, Texas where the triple-digit temperatures are no friend to a pitcher's earned-run average. But who wouldn't sacrifice a few notches on their ERA to play for a contender that's made two World Series appearances in the last three years.

Another name or beard rather that is quite popular among baseball fans is Brian Wilson. The former All-Star closer for the San Francisco Giants has been M.I.A. from the big league stage since April of 2012 while recovering from a second Tommy John surgery. After watching his team win the World Series without his help in 2012, negotiations with the San Francisco ball club went sour when the team he compiled 171 career-saves for over seven seasons failed to offer Wilson a contract following his second surgery. Wilson didn't shy away from expressing his disappointment with the Giants front-office as his feathers were ruffled so much so that he chose not to accept an invitation to the team's ring ceremony back in April. And to spite them even more, the former ringleader of the 2010 Giants club which were best known as a band of misfits, signed with the team's arch rival -- the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Signing with the Dodgers gives Wilson a chance to prove he still has something in the tank as well as play for a contender as it appears the blue crew is primed to run away with the division, barring a setback of suckage like the 2013 Dodgers prior to Yasiel Puig's arrival. The deal which keeps Wilson under contract for the remainder of the season is a low-risk, high-reward type of signing for L.A. considering they didn't have to give up any prospects to get an arm that helps bolster the bullpen assuming he resembles the Brian Wilson that led the National League in saves in 2010 with 48. And if not, they won't be obligated to his services past 2013 which makes it a win-win for Don Mattingly and company. 

Last but not least is Alfonso Soriano, the lone position player acquired before the deadline worth mentioning. After beginning his Major League career in 1999 with the New York Yankees where he spent five seasons, two of which he made the All-Star team in while donning the pinstripes, Soriano was dealt to the Rangers for Alex Rodriguez who he'll now call his teammate. The Yankees began the season as one of the better teams in the AL and remained near the top of the AL East standings until just recently where they're now looking up at everybody in the division except for the Toronto Blue Jays who still can't get over the .500 mark and continue to disappoint. Soriano is due $25 Million over the remainder of 2013 and through 2014, with the Cubs picking up nearly $18 Million owed to the 7-time All-Star. Though Soriano's batting average has dropped drastically over the years and he no longer poses a major threat on the base paths, he can still pile up RBI's as evident in 2012 when he racked up a career-best 108 ribbies while swatting 32 home runs, his largest total since 2007 when he hit 33 homers with the Cubbies. But even the addition of the 37-year old Soriano doesn't look like it'll be enough to help the Bronx Bombers overcome the much younger and talented teams ahead of them in the division. At least not this season.

The limited action at this year's trade deadline is most likely an indication that teams feel more eager to hang onto key players since the MLB's adoption of a second Wild Card team in each league which was introduced for the first time in 2012, thus making teams that would normally be sellers at the deadline into hopeful contenders. That move may have forever altered the landscape of the trade deadline we once knew to be one of the more exciting week's of baseball. But that's not to say moves still can't be made as there's always the waiver wire that teams can resort to. The waiver deadline is a whole different ballgame though, which doesn't end until August 31. With that said, lets keep our eyes peeled for any forthcoming deals made through waivers. For all we know, they might be more groundbreaking than what this dud of a trade deadline offered.


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