Pierce and Courtney wrap about the sweeps throughout the Wild Card Series, the Cubs' failure to make the Postseason, and a look ahead to the Division Series.
Pierce and Courtney preview the final week of the MLB regular season, including the playoff and award races, whether the Braves' rotation can withstand injuries, the fall of the Yankees, and where Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout will be playing in 2024.
Pierce and Courtney recap the deadline, the demise of the New York baseball teams, the silly fight between Tim Anderson and Jose Ramirez, the new home run leader, bullying the Orioles, and much more!
Dante and Syd are back this week to discuss the MLB Trade deadline and the Mets decision to burn it down already.
Yesterday at 6pm E.T., the 2023 MLB trade deadline officially came and went. Now, Dante Miles and Mikey are here to tell you who our winners and losers are. Let’s kick it off with the American League.
Winners
Texas Rangers:
Two years after shocking the baseball world by cashing out second baseman Marcus Semien and shortstop Corey Seager, the Texas Rangers have once again pushed all their chips to the middle of the table. Although they are still ahead in their division, the Rangers have come back to the pack a bit due to injuries in their starting rotation.
So what’s better than one former Met? Two.
Texas went out and got Max Scherzer from New York to replace injured former Mets ace Jacob DeGrom at the top of their rotation. The best part of the deal is that the Mets will pay a large portion of his salary for the next two season, giving Texas even more cash to spread around.
Max wasn’t the only big addition, as the Rangers took a trip to the Cardinals yard sale and scooped up left handed starter Jordan Montgomery, who currently boasts a 3.42 ERA in 21 starts this season.
Baltimore Orioles:
The Orioles have quietly pulled off one of the best rebuilds in baseball and are finally reaping the benefits. They are currently first in the treacherous AL East while boasting one of the best farm systems in baseball, and instead of staying patient decided to bolster their roster for the playoff stretch.
The Orioles acquired Jack Flaherty from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for three prospects. There are many around baseball who shy away from trading prospects for “ok” pitching, but the fact that Baltimore filled a need while retaining the #1 prospect in baseball goes down as a win for me.
Losers
Houston Astros:
Did the Astros get the pitching help their rotation needs? Yes.
(David Shirley/MLB Photos)
Did the Astros overpay to get the pitching help they needed? Also, yes.
Houston sent its #1 and #3 prospects in OF Drew Gilbert and OF Ryan Clifford to the Mets in order to facilitate a reunion with Justin Verlander, when they could have simply paid Justin what he asked for this off-season and kept all three. Hindsight is 20/20, but this move is an overall net negative for Houston unless they win it all.
Chicago White Sox
The White Sox have been baseball’s most disappointing team for two years running, and this years deadline signaled that the front office was once again launching a rebuild.
Ironically, Two of the first dominos to fall were once considered building blocks to a new era of baseball on the South Side.
After trading for the two in 2016, Chicago packaged starting pitcher Lucas Giolito and reliever Reynaldo Lopez in a deal with the Los Angeles Angels for catching prospect Edgar Quero and left-handed starting pitcher Ky Bush. The White Sox weren’t done, as names like Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly, Kendall Graveman and Jake Burger were all moved yesterday.
Now, a team that just celebrated back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time in franchise history enter another “retool” led by the same front office that botched the last one. God bless.
National League
Winners
Chicago Cubs:
What a difference a week and a half made for the Northsiders. Long thought to be mid-season sellers, the Chicago Cubs bullied their way into buy mode by rattling off eight wins in their last ten games. Positioning themselves for a late summer postseason push, the Cubs were able to pry what many consider to be the best available bat at the deadline in Washington Nationals third basemen Jeimer Candelario.
Candelario, a soon to be free agent, is having a career year slashing with 16 homers 53 RBI, and a 128 OPS+. His thirty-one doubles this season which currently ranks fifth in all of baseball, should be a much-added boost in the middle of the Cubs lineup.
(Jimmy Simmons/Icon Sportwire)
Another huge win for the Cubs this deadline was not an external move, but the internal decision to keep Cody Bellinger. The 2019 National League MVP is having a monster resurgence in Chicago and is prime for a big-time payday this December. Outside of the unicorn that is Shohei Ohtani, there has not been a hotter hitter this summer than Cody. An argument can be made that the Cubs did not do enough in reinforcing the back end of the bullpen with a left-handed reliever.
Whether the Candelario move catapults them into the postseason remains to be seen, but the very public announcement that the Cubs are looking to field a competitive team is surely a welcome sight for Cubs fans. The Cubs currently sit four games back in the NL Central, 3.5 back in the Wild Card and have twelve games total left with the Milwaukee Brewers and the division leading Cincinnati Reds. Meaningful baseball is back at 1060 W. Addison St I am afraid.
New York Mets:
This may be a controversial take, but the Mets are winners this deadline. Look it is not easy admitting your failures, but kudos to New York Mets owner Steve Cohen for knowing when to pull the plug on a failed attempt at bringing the Metropolitans their first World Series championship since 1986.
(Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
After committing $498.1 million, yes million, on ten free agents this offseason, headlined by Cy Young winner and future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander, the Mets found themselves 18.5 games back of first place and seven games back of a Wild Card spot on August 1st.
The decision to rip the band aid completely off was the right decision. By trading Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, David Robertson, Tommy Pham, Mark Canha, Dominic Leone, Phil Blickford and Adam Kolarek, the Mets were able to reset their competitive window and boost the farm system.
The two most intriguing prospects the Mets brought back, Luisangel Acuña, the younger brother of Braves superstar Ronald Acuña Jr, and the Astros #1 prospect OF Drew Gilbert. Both players should be on a fast-track to major league roster by time the Mets are ready to compete for the NL East in 2025.
It would have been easy for Cohen to standpat and throw more money at the problem this upcoming Free Agency, but the calculated move in rebuilding the farm system for the next window should be commended. If only the White Sox operated that way.
Losers
Cincinnati Reds:
Hey Cincinnati, what are you doing? Without a doubt one of the best surprise teams of the whole season is the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds who currently lead the NL Central by 0.5 games decided to hold onto their young prospects and not bolster their rotation and bullpen.
There was plenty of smoke with the Reds and 2022 AL Cy Young runner-up Dylan Cease, but it seems the White Sox asking price was astronomical. It is always interesting to see how teams who have built through the draft operate once they are knocking on the door of contention. Do you trade the farm? Do you stand pat? Quite the dilemma.
The Reds, who have not won a division title since 2012, seem to be waiting on the internal additions of Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo. Both are expected to come off the IL later this month.
When taking a step back and looking at this team I get major 2015 Chicago Cubs vibes, a scrappy team who is one year early on truly contending for a deep playoff push. On the flipside, they are playing with house money this season and when the opportunity is there to pounce on a division title, you take it.
Los Angeles Dodgers:
Let me preface this by saying, the Dodgers are still incredibly good. They can hit the ball with the best of them, but their pitching rotation leaves a lot to be desired. The Dodgers made it clear: we need starting pitching help. Clayton Kershaw is hurt, Walker Buehler is hurt, Dustin May is hurt, and Julio Urias and Tony Gonsolin leave a lot to be desired this season.
The Dodgers were able to acquire Lance Lynn and his 6.3 ERA from the Chicago White Sox in the hopes they could help him get back on track. Lynn currently leads the majors in Home Runs allowed with twenty-eight given up. As I type this, Lance Lynn has given up three home runs to the lowly Oakland A’s in his first start, add three more to the stat sheet for the big fella. Good luck LA.
The Dodgers were also heavily involved in discussions with the Mets and Justin Verlander, but he opted to reunite in H-Town with Dusty Baker. They then turned their attention to Detroit Tigers ace Eduardo Rodriguez but in a shocking twist he enacted his no-trade clause to veto the Dodgers Trade.
The Dodgers are still my second-best team in the NL behind the Braves but come playoff time I’m just not sure what to expect from this underwhelming rotation with the lack of
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