10 MLB Trades That Should Have Happened at 2013 Deadline
10 MLB Trades That Should Have Happened at 2013 Deadline
The 2013 MLB trade deadline came and went with the sound of Georgia crickets in the summer night. All around Major League Baseball, there were fewer moves and less activity than there has been in years at the trade deadline. Obviously with the low activity come missed opportunities for several teams around both the National and American Leagues. This is a look at ten trades or possible trades that one or both teams involved should have made happen.
Not every team needs to make a trade at the deadline or before it. There is something to be said for a team that fills whatever minor needs they have from within the organization. Many times that works out just fine though other times it really backfires. To be sure there is no absolute need for every team to trade someone.
The problem comes in when a team has a need and the ability to fill that need but does not pull the trigger on the deal. This happens every year for one reason or another. Either the price of prospects was too high or the money is a problem. At times the team sending a player away doesn’t want to pick up as much of the remaining contract as the end team wants.
It goes on and on but the point of this slideshow is that sometimes there are deals that need to get done that aren’t completed. These are the type of trades that a team should be willing to raise or lower their price to make happen because it would fairly obviously be best for the team. The top ten made this list. Feel free to disagree, argue or let your voice be heard in the comments section below.
David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google Plus.
10 Philadelphia Phillies - Chase Utley to Various Teams
Some teams will show up twice on this list and the Phillies are one of them. They have a big problem brought on by holding on to too many veterans for far too long. Utley still has plenty of worth left but that would lie in a trade to a contender not in him staying in the second base role in Philadelphia for even longer. That just keeps the future second baseman from taking the spot. Every year they hang on to Utley the harder it will be to recover when he retires. The fact that instead of moving him they are talking extension is way too much.
9 San Francisco Giants - Hunter Pence to Various Teams
This was a very thin trade year all around but good position players that have decent offensive abilities were positively scarce. Pence was one of the better players left around the deadline and several teams were asking. The Texas Rangers were looking everywhere for offensive help. No matter what was asked the Giants didn’t get a deal done. Now Pence will likely move elsewhere this winter and give the Giants zero return if they cannot manage a more difficult waiver-dependent trade in August.
8 Seattle Mariners – Mike Morse to Baltimore Orioles
The fact that the Orioles closed a deal for Bud Norris is all the proof you need to know they were serious when asking about Michael Morse and either Joe Saunders or Oliver Perez. Morse is a guy that the M’s have won without while he was on the DL so they don’t need him to maximize their win total over the remainder of the season. He coupled with either of the other free agent veterans would have been a load off of the 2013 Mariners.
7 San Francisco Giants – Javier Lopez to Various Teams
This is higher on the list for the Giants because it was a worse decision. Everyone from the Detroit Tigers to the Boston Red Sox and others in between asked about Lopez. They also made offers at several points during the last few days before the deadline and especially on the day of the deadline. Lopez would have been an easy guy to unload as he is a free agent at the end of the season and a superb left-handed relief specialist. They could have gotten a good return here and might still try to get a waiver deal done. It will be much harder now though.
6 Minnesota Twins – Justin Morneau to Pittsburgh Pirates
Everyone and their brother knew that Morneau was going to be going this season. Finally during the last year of his contract, this was the year it was going to go down. The only issue was that Morneau hasn’t performed quite up to his normal all-star standard for the last year or so. That meant that the Pirates and the other teams that were in on Morneau weren’t willing to pay a ton for him in prospects. The Twins should have lowered their asking price to meet the Pirates where they were. Now Morneau will fade off into free agency and probably resurface with a huge comeback year and the Twins will have nothing to show for it.
5 Pittsburgh Pirates – David DeJesus or Nate Schierholtz from Cubs
The Pirates have the best record in baseball right about now so this might seem odd. They still have a hole in the outfield though. They are winning by doing all the right things at all the right times and they are lucky to have the St. Louis Cardinals falling apart for now. When things steady out a bit they might wish they had met the Cubs price for one of these two veteran outfield bats.
4 Toronto Blue Jays – Howie Kendrick from Los Angeles Angels
The Blue Jays aren’t really going to compete this year but they were looking for a solid deal that would help them for future seasons. The proposed deal between them and the Angels for second baseman Kendrick was a great get for them. Of course the Angels’ price was high because he is a great young hitter with a good bit of team control left in his contract. Kendrick is already underrated however and he is only going to improve over the next year or so. By the time he is a consistent all-star and his first free agent season hits, the price will be double what the Jays were unwilling to pay this year. They missed out on a guy that could have anchored second base for the next five to seven years at the very least.
3 Philadelphia Phillies – Michael Young and Carlos Ruiz to Yankees
This is a terrible non-deal for the Phillies. Their problem as stated earlier is that they have too many veterans that they bad need to unload. The Yankees came calling with a proposal that would have taken both Young and Ruiz off of their hands but the Phillies price was too high. I cannot believe they didn’t pull every stop they had to get this done. The Yankees offer was good enough without a doubt. I wonder how old the Phillies roster will have to get before there is a GM change there and how long it will take to fix the mess that is being created there.
2 Chicago White Sox – Alex Rios to Various Teams
Alex Rios is easily the most talked about non-traded player this season and maybe ever. Whether or not there will be as many possible takers for Rios during the waiver-dependent trade season is unknown but goodness knows the White Sox had plenty of offers for Rios before the deadline. He had a slump, so lower the asking price a bit. I’m not sure how the White Sox could do well on Jake Peavy and just get blanked on Rios. There should have been plenty of offers and plenty of time to get this deal done and the White Sox would be sitting as rich in prospects as their fellow Chicago baseball team.
1 St. Louis Cardinals – Dioner Navarro from Chicago Cubs
This one is just a matter of not enough time to get the decision done but it is certainly a big miss by the Cardinals. They were fine and sitting pretty until Yadier Molina went down with a knee injury. The moment that happened they needed a catcher badly. The only really good option out there was the Cubs’ Navarro. They were talking and trying to get the deal done but couldn’t zero in on it. Obviously the Cubs have been willing to work with most anyone this season so that wasn’t the issue. In the Cardinals position of near desperation they really couldn’t afford to haggle over the price. Their system is good enough and deep enough to have been willing to pay the Cubs price to get the deal done. Now they will have to settle for someone that is a free agent possibly but by the time Molina could return they might be totally out of the race. This was a huge no-deal for the Cardinals. We won’t know exactly how huge until we see what they do the rest of the season.
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