Notable August Trades in Major League Baseball History

The Yankees season is not over because the team did not make any notable acquisitions at the July 31st trading deadline last month. Earlier today I brought you my wish list for the August 31st trade deadline which included James Shields, Craig Kimbrel, Aroldis Chapman and Martin Prado and I almost immediately caught a ton of flack on Twitter about it. Apparently many fans don't think that big trades like this can happen in July so here are a few notable August trades in the history of the August 31st waiver wire trade deadline.


The Detroit Tigers acquired Doyle Alexander in August of 1987 in a trade with the Atlanta Braves. Who? Yeah, that is exactly what I said until I saw who the Braves got back in return for Alexander, a young right-handed starting pitcher by the name of John Smoltz. Smoltz at the time was just 20-years old and struggling in Double-A with a 5.68 ERA, but the rest, as they say, is history.


A similar situation happened in 1990 when the Houston Asteos traded relief pitcher Larry Andersen to the Boston Red Sox for a first baseman named Jeff Bagwell. Bagwell, then a 22-year old third baseman, quickly became a household name in Houston and eventually ended up in the Hall of Fame as a first basemen with Houston in 2017.

In 2003 the Pittsburgh Pirates sent one of their best players on the team, Brian Giles, to the San Diego Padres for a pair of prospects. You may recognize some of the names that were traded for Giles, Oliver Perez and Jason Bay.


On this day in 2008 the Toronto Blue Jays acquired a player who was not even on the Major League roster at the time. The most notable player at the tgime of the trade was the Pittsburgh Pirates newest player Robinson Diaz but the clear cut winner was Toronto who acquired some dude named Jose Bautista.


In 2000 the New York Yankees acquired a familiar face to complete their dynasty years, the team sent a prospect to the Pittsburgh Pirates for infielder Luis Sojo. Sojo was a big member of the 1996-1999 Yankees before leaving for Pittsburgh via free agency. Sojo was acquired for the playoff and World Series run and did just that with a four-hit game and the game winning hit to clinch the 2000 World Series over the New York Mets. This isn't exactly a notable trade as much as it was a stretch to include the Yankees on the post. We're a Yankees blog after-all.


And who could forget the mega-deal between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox where over $250,000,000 in dollars changed hands overnight. The Dodgers sent James Loney, Allen Webster, Ivan De Jesus, Rubby De La Rosa and Jerry Sands to the Boston Red Sox for Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett.




The Houston Astros acquired Justin Verlander last year before the August 31st trading deadline and the veteran right-hander led the team to the American League Championship and a World Series title. Verlander pitched in 11 games for Houston during the regular season and postseason combined, with the Astros winning 10 of them. Verlander allowed 13 runs total and a minuscule 1.66 ERA along the way.

Recent, Notable & Yankees Related August Trades in MLB

Just because the July 31st trade deadline has come and gone does not mean that the trades are done around the league. Trades can still happen, in fact trades can happen until the very last day of the season, but they get a little more complicated from here on out. Players must now pass through revocable waivers and can be claimed, and ultimately pulled back, or they can pass through waivers and be traded to any team. It gets complicated but it's not impossible so here are some of the more recent and notable August trades in Major League Baseball history. I even included a Yankees-related trade just because we are The Greedy Pinstripes after all and we need to see trades happen no matter what the calendar says. Don’t judge us. Love us.


In 2003 the Pittsburgh Pirates sent one of their best players on the team, Brian Giles, to the San Diego Padres for a pair of prospects. You may recognize some of the names that were traded for Giles, Oliver Perez and Jason Bay.


On this day in 2008 the Toronto Blue Jays acquired a player who was not even on the Major League roster at the time. The most notable player at the time of the trade was the Pittsburgh Pirates newest player Robinson Diaz but the clear cut winner was Toronto who acquired some dude named Jose Bautista.


In 2000 the New York Yankees acquired a familiar face to complete their dynasty years, the team sent a prospect to the Pittsburgh Pirates for infielder Luis Sojo. Sojo was a big member of the 1996-1999 Yankees before leaving for Pittsburgh via free agency. Sojo was acquired for the playoff and World Series run and did just that with a four-hit game and the game winning hit to clinch the 2000 World Series over the New York Mets. This isn't exactly a notable trade as much as it was a stretch to include the Yankees on the post but it what it is. We're a Yankees blog after all.


And who could forget the mega-deal between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox where over $250,000,000 in dollars changed hands overnight. The Dodgers sent James Loney, Allen Webster, Ivan De Jesus, Rubby De La Rosa and Jerry Sands to the Boston Red Sox for Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett.





Will there be any notable or Yankees related trades in August of 2017 to speak about next season? I guess you’ll just have to stay tuned.

Once Again, Brian Cashman is Right…

Photo Credit:  Brad Penner, USA TODAY Sports

And Thus Endeth the Cole Rumors…

The trade rumor that wouldn’t go away…did. The Pittsburgh Pirates finally traded their so-called ace to the Houston Astros for a package that included reliever Joe Musgrove (a speculated middle-of-the-rotation starter type), third baseman Colin Moran, reliever Michael Feliz, and minor league outfielder Jason Martin. Moran, former Major Leaguer B.J. Surhoff’s nephew, was the Astros’ seventh-rated prospect according to MLB.com.

If the Yankees did, in fact, offer Clint Frazier, Chance Adams, and Miguel Andujar to the Pirates, Pittsburgh GM Neal Huntington didn’t stop until he could find a much worse package for Steel Town. In reality, the trade shows that GM Brian Cashman never offered the much talked about packages for Cole. It’s been said that he may have only offered Clint Frazier OR Chance Adams. The Yankees were clearly not as high on Cole as the Astros were.  

I’m glad the page can finally be turned. I am in favor of adding a starting pitcher only if it upgrades the current starting rotation. After completion of the one-year contracts for all the arbitration-eligible players, the Yankees have approximately $22 million left before they hit the luxury tax threshold (which is, of course, a hard “salary cap” in the Hal Steinbrenner Universe) of $197 million. The Yankees will not use all of that money so to say that they have $22 million left to spend is a bit of a misnomer. They need to set aside $2 million in case CC Sabathia hits his bonus milestones and there’s no way that Team Hal will bring payroll (AAV) tightly against the threshold. He’ll want a buffer and of course there needs to be enough room to play at the trading deadline. Only the Yankees truly know how much money they have left to spend.

If the Yankees did sign a free agent pitcher like Yu Darvish or Alex Cobb, it is a certainty that the contract of Brett Gardner or David Robertson would be moved to make room. With the money the Yankees would have to include with Jacoby Ellsbury if they could entice him to waive his no-trade clause, I don’t think moving him would provide enough salary space for a big ticket purchase. They’d have to find a team willing to take at least half of his current salary and honestly I don’t think that team exists.

Chris Archer, we’re coming for you. With Cole out of the picture, the pitcher most likely to draw top speculation as the guy targeted for the Yankees, it is the talented 29-year-old righthander of the Tampa Bay Rays. Of course, it’s possible that we could start hearing Michael Fulmer’s name again but both men continue to carry high price tags. If he doesn’t get a viable role for the 2018 Yankees (i.e., trade of Gardner or Ellsbury to make way), Frazier would look very good in Detroit’s outfield.  

Even despite the current stagnant free agent market, I don’t think either Mike Moustakas or Todd Frazier will accept a one-year “pillow” contract regardless of what happens between now and training camp. I like the left-handed bat of Moustakas but I think he’ll eventually end up with the St Louis Cardinals.  

At this point, there is not really much left to do for the Yankees except make preparations to start training camp in a month. Now that long-time coach Rob Thomson (annual organizer of training camp) is in Philadelphia, third base coach Phil Nevin and others will have to step up and deliver for new manager Aaron Boone. I am looking forward to the results of their preparation and organization as they host the members and challengers for the 2018 New York Yankees.

Go ahead, underestimate Didi Gregorius…

The MLB Network has been reviewing their top ten lists at each position, but they blew it for shortstops. The omission of Didi Gregorius is wrong. There’s no way that I’d trade Didi for half of the guys on this list:

Tim Beckham over Didi is a joke. Trevor Story was struggling to hold his job last season and it’s only a matter of time until Rockies top prospect Brendan Rodgers pushes him out of the way.

That’s fine. Pitch to Didi like you think he’s an afterthought in the Yankees lineup and let’s see what happens.

Congratulations to Tyler Austin…

Tyler Austin proposed to his long-time girlfriend, Stephanie Dana, over the weekend and she said yes. Hopefully this is a sign that 2018 is shaping up to be a fantastic year for the young Yankees first baseman/outfielder. Congrats to Tyler and Stephanie!

The New York Mess…

The Mets are really going to sign free agent first baseman Adrian Gonzalez? It makes me appreciate every day that I am a Yankees fan. Nothing like pushing a young, promising first baseman (Dominic Smith) out of the way for an aged ‘has-been’. Jon Heyman’s argument is that A-Gon only costs the minimum and there are questions about Smith’s conditioning.  Viable arguments but I am glad that A-Gon is on their team and not mine.

Photo Credit: Orange County Register

Go Vikings…

Life as a Minnesota Vikings fan has not been as rewarding as life as a Yankees fan, but the best Vikings team in years takes the field today against the New Orleans Saints in the NFC playoffs. The winner moves on to the NFC Championship to play the Eagles in Philadelphia. I am hopeful and optimistic that the Vikings will be the ones traveling to the City of Brotherly Love.  

The Vikings will feature three active QB’s behind starter Case Keenum. Sam Bradford, who missed the majority of the season with a knee injury, was activated for today’s game. He’ll be joined by fellow QB’s Teddy Bridgewater and Kyle Sloter. With Keenum, Bradford, and Bridgewater all potential free agents after the season, I was very glad to see the Vikings waive backup TE Kyle Carter rather than Sloter to free up a spot for Bradford. Bradford was the starting QB in the season opener when the Vikings beat the Saints. My hope is that all three backups need to do no more than hold clipboards while Keenum continues his season of rejuvenation.  

Go Vikings!

And as always, Go Yankees!

Returning for a Championship Run...

Credit:  Andrew Theodorakis, New York Daily News

CC’s back!…

The reunion seemed inevitable but the longer time passed, I was fearful that another team would entice CC Sabathia to trade in his pinstripes. He spoke with the Los Angeles Angels (a team desperate for starting pitching) and the Toronto Blue Jays. He never expressed an interest in the Oakland Athletics or the San Francisco Giants but I always felt that if they reached out to Sabathia, the appeal to return to his native Northern California would have been very strong. In the end, Sabathia opted to return “home” for some unfinished business.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com broke the story first yesterday that Sabathia had signed a one-year, $10 million deal with the Yankees subject to a physical. Jack Curry of the YES Network reported later in the day that Sabathia had taken and passed the physical yesterday afternoon, thereby making the deal official. Welcome back, CC! We’re very glad to have you.

The move presumably does not alter the Yankees plans to add another quality starting pitcher although they now have five starters on staff. Realistically, I do not expect Sabathia to match his 2017 season when he went 14-5 with 3.69 ERA. He’ll turn 38 in July. But the veteran knows how to win and is a team leader. With an inexperienced manager and bench coach, the value of Sabathia’s leadership cannot be understated.  

It’s very interesting that the 2005 Cleveland Indians roster featured the Yankees manager (Aaron Boone), the Yankees Bench Coach (Josh Bard), the Red Sox manager (Alex Cora), and  a very young Sabathia. Boone was there for the early years (CC was only 24 during that 2005 season) and now he’s back for what may very well be Sabathia’s final year. If the Yankees win the 2018 World Series, I have no doubt that Sabathia will ride off into the sunset.  I cannot imagine a better Yankees career than starting and ending with World Series championships.

Competition for the 2018-19 Free Agent Market…

Yesterday, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ front office showed their brilliance when they unloaded the bloated contracts of Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy, and Adrian Gonzalez plus infielder Charlie Culberson on the Atlanta Braves. It is the same trio that the Dodgers tried to pawn off on the Miami Marlins for Giancarlo Stanton. Sure, they had to take back former Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp, but the deal effectively reduced Dodgers payroll for the coming season by approximately $23 million which helps the team get under the $197 million threshold to reset luxury tax penalties. Gonzalez will never wear an Atlanta uniform. As part of the negotiation to waive his no-trade clause, Atlanta will release Gonzalez tomorrow, making him a free agent. It is also very questionable if Kemp will ever wear the Dodgers uniform again.  

The move helps to ensure that the Dodgers will be prime players next off-season when Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Andrew Miller, Craig Kimbrel, Clayton Kershaw, Dallas Keuchel, Josh Donaldson and others hit the open market. Everybody had presumed the Yankees would sign Harper but the Dodgers have emerged as the leader for Harper’s services. Fortunately for the Yankees, they were able to acquire Giancarlo Stanton which gives them reason to pass on Harper and the $400-$500 million that it will take to sign the Las Vegas native. 

Credit:  USA TODAY Sports

Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi can thank Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos, who served in the Dodgers front office last season. From the Braves perspective, they are free of the two-year obligation for Kemp, and the heavy contracts they acquired expire at the end of the upcoming season (making Kazmir and McCarthy desirable “rentals” at the trade deadline next summer).

While I don’t believe that the Dodgers sudden emergence as a major player in the 2018-19 free agent market will adversely impact the Yankees desire to add Manny Machado (the Dodgers have great players at third and short, Justin Turner and Corey Seager), it will add significant competition for other players. I’d really love to see the return of Andrew Miller to the Bronx but the Dodgers almost certainly will be aggressive in their pursuit of quality bullpen arms.  

If at Third…

With no offense to Miguel Andujar and his questionable defensive skills, I remain hopeful the Yankees can find a way to bring back third baseman Todd Frazier. Andujar would benefit from another year at Triple A. Frazier was signing autographs in Toms River, New Jersey yesterday. Every time I see off-season pics of Frazier, it reinforces to me how much I’d like to see him back in Pinstripes.  

Hey Cash, make it happen!

Finally…

The MLB Network has been replaying past Home Run Derbys and I have to say…man, I love watching Giancarlo Stanton hit home runs.

Credit:  Denis Poroy, Getty Images

Go Yankees!

Recent, Notable & Yankees Related August Trades in MLB

Just because the July 31st trade deadline has come and gone does not mean that the trades are done around the league. Trades can still happen, in fact trades can happen until the very last day of the season, but they get a little more complicated from here on out. Players must now pass through revocable waivers and can be claimed, and ultimately pulled back, or they can pass through waivers and be traded to any team. It gets complicated but it's not impossible so here are some of the more recent and notable August trades in Major League Baseball history. I even included a Yankees-related trade just because we are The Greedy Pinstripes after all and we need to see trades happen no matter what the calendar says. Don’t judge us. Love us.

In 2003 the Pittsburgh Pirates sent one of their best players on the team, Brian Giles, to the San Diego Padres for a pair of prospects. You may recognize some of the names that were traded for Giles, Oliver Perez and Jason Bay.

On this day in 2008 the Toronto Blue Jays acquired a player who was not even on the Major League roster at the time. The most notable player at the time of the trade was the Pittsburgh Pirates newest player Robinson Diaz but the clear cut winner was Toronto who acquired some dude named Jose Bautista.

In 2000 the New York Yankees acquired a familiar face to complete their dynasty years, the team sent a prospect to the Pittsburgh Pirates for infielder Luis Sojo. Sojo was a big member of the 1996-1999 Yankees before leaving for Pittsburgh via free agency. Sojo was acquired for the playoff and World Series run and did just that with a four-hit game and the game winning hit to clinch the 2000 World Series over the New York Mets. This isn't exactly a notable trade as much as it was a stretch to include the Yankees on the post but it what it is. We're a Yankees blog after all.

And who could forget the mega-deal between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox where over $250,000,000 in dollars changed hands overnight. The Dodgers sent James Loney, Allen Webster, Ivan De Jesus, Rubby De La Rosa and Jerry Sands to the Boston Red Sox for Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett.

Will there be any notable or Yankees related trades in August of 2017 to speak about next season? I guess you’ll just have to stay tuned. 

Exploring the Trade Market for Rob Refsnyder

The New York Yankees have reportedly made one of their own available in trades if the right offer were to present itself. That player is Robert Refsnyder and as much as the fan in me doesn’t want to write this I want to explore the possible trade market and landing spots if and when Refsnyder actually is traded this spring. You know, so I can pre-order one of his jerseys in that team’s colors.

Refsnyder on paper knows a lot of positions including corner outfield, second base, third base and has even dabbled at the first base position but the problem for the now 26-year old is that he is seemingly blocked at every one of those positions going forward which explains why the Yankees organization would rather trade him now rather than have him toil in the minor league system. With that position skill set you would have to think a ton of teams could use him off their bench including the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants.

The Dodgers need backups for first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and second baseman Justin Turner while the Giants need a left fielder in the worst way right now. Refsnyder could start every day in San Francisco and get the consistent at-bats necessary to become that near .300 hitter again that he was in the minor leagues as an everyday player. In either deal the Yankees would want pitching back in the deal for Refsnyder and may have to include another player, more on that later, to facilitate a deal. Travis Wood may be an option from Los Angeles and someone like Ty Blach from San Francisco may be intriguing to the Yankees.

Everyone bone in my body tells me that Refsnyder will be traded before Opening Day though so stay tuned to see if it will be to one of these two teams I mentioned above. 

Recent & Notable August Trades in MLB

Just because the August 1st trade deadline has come and gone does not mean that the trades are done around the league. Trades can still happen, in fact trades can happen until the very last day of the season, but they get a little more complicated from here on out. Players must now pass through revocable waivers and can be claimed, and ultimately pulled back, or they can pass through waivers and be traded to any team. It gets complicated but it's not impossible so to end our Saturday night here on the blog I figured I would go through and touch upon some of the more recent and notable August trades in Major League Baseball history. Enjoy and we'll see you back here tomorrow.

• In 2003 the Pittsburgh Pirates sent one of their best players on the team, Brian Giles, to the San Diego Padres for a pair of prospects. You may recognize some of the names that were traded for Giles, Oliver Perez and Jason Bay.

• On this day in 2008 the Toronto Blue Jays acquired a player who was not even on the Major League roster at the time. The most notable player at the time of the trade was the Pittsburgh Pirates newest player Robinson Diaz but the clear cut winner was Toronto who acquired some dude named Jose Bautista.

• In 2000 the New York Yankees acquired a familiar face to complete their dynasty years, the team sent a prospect to the Pittsburgh Pirates for infielder Luis Sojo. Sojo was a big member of the 1996-1999 Yankees before leaving for Pittsburgh via free agency. Sojo was acquired for the playoff and World Series run and did just that with a four-hit game and the game winning hit to clinch the 2000 World Series over the New York Mets. This isn't exactly a notable trade as much as it was a stretch to include the Yankees on the post. We're a Yankees blog afterall.

• And who could forget the mega-deal between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox where over $250,000,000 in dollars changed hands overnight. The Dodgers sent James Loney, Allen Webster, Ivan De Jesus, Rubby De La Rosa and Jerry Sands to the Boston Red Sox for Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett.

Fantasy Baseball: The Undervalued & the Unappreciated

By now a lot of you have already had your fantasy baseball drafts but if you haven’t then I have some last minute crunch time additions for you to read over as you prepare. Over the course of the winter we have gone over the players that many don’t know about, many call them sleepers, but today we will go over some of the more recognizable names around the league. These names are recognizable in most households but in my opinion they are truly under-appreciated and undervalued as far as fantasy baseball goes. Well they were before today anyway. 

We begin with Justin Upton who has been playing in some of the most pitcher friendly ballparks in all of Major League Baseball over the past few seasons. While Turner Field in Atlanta is far from the spacious outfield in Petco Park it’s still tough to hit a home run there and Upton still has 26-plus home run seasons in four of his last five seasons. Him moving to Comerica Park in Detroit shouldn’t affect him too much in the power department and shouldn’t affect his 20 stolen base capability per season either. 

Like many positions the first base position is pretty top heavy but near the bottom of the upper tier is Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. Quietly A-Gon consistently puts up 20 home run and 85 RBI seasons every single year and not many people talk about it. Must be all those West Coast games. 

We’ve said it many times before and we’ll say it again, even the worst teams in the league that lose 100+ games per season will get you 30-50 saves in a year. While the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox are far from the worst teams in the league and while neither will lose 100 games in my opinion they will both struggle to compete in their divisions. That doesn’t mean Zach Britton won’t strike out another 10 batters per nine innings and save 35 games again and that doesn’t mean David Robertson wont strike out closer to 12 batters per nine innings and save you 40 games in 2016. 

Matt Wieters enters 2016 in his second year removed from Tommy John surgery. I know the surgery doesn’t affect position players the same way it affects pitchers but it also affects everyone differently. I truly believe that many of his struggles in 2015 were due to the elbow ligament replacement surgery and in his second year removed I think we see more of the 22-ish home run power we saw from 2011-2013 and less of the product we saw in 2015 going forward. 

Most people only spoke about the first half Yordano Ventura that struggled with his command and effectiveness and not enough people noticed his second half correction. Ventura went back to striking out guys at an alarming rate during the second half of the 2015 season due in large part to a spike in first pitch strikes. If he can harness some control and keep batters off the base paths his defense and Kauffman Stadium should help him finally harness that huge potential in 2016. 

The final player is Jason Hammel. Hammel is living in the shadow of Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester and now John Lackey but Hammel has all the makings of being one of the best fourth or fifth starters in the major leagues this season. He is a consistent 9.0 K/9 ratio and a below 4.00 ERA every single season with a ton of innings. With this Cubs offense behind him he may win 15 games, all he has to do is keep it close. 

Fantasy Baseball: So You Need a First Baseman?

So you want to build a snow… wait, wrong blog. Sorry about that. So you want to build a strong fantasy baseball team this year but you’re not quite sure who to choose as your first baseman? Don’t fret and keep reading as I try to rank and educate on the first baseman across the league much like we ranked the catchers around the league earlier this month. First baseman are usually a lot easier to find than catchers are but the right first baseman can give your offense and team the lift it needs when facing tough competition in a close week. 

Obviously at the top you have the Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt but if you’re not lucky enough to have one of the top two or three picks (FYI he should never fall to three) then you may want to consider, in this order, Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs, Edwin Encarnacion of the Toronto Blue Jays, Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers and Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox. Rizzo is something special and may be playing with one of the best offensive teams in the league giving him plenty of RBI and runs scored opportunities while the same can be said for Encarnacion. Encarnacion was fantastic last season and may only be the third best hitter on his team, let that sink in. Meanwhile I like Abreu better than Cabrera if I am building an All-Star team but Cabrera has the better offense and more protection around him while Abreu will get his fair share of intentional walks in 2016. For those reasons these are my Top 5 first baseman in the league.

To take that list one step further I would have to with Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles sixth, especially since he’s hitting in Camden Yard again, Eric Hosmer of the Kansas City Royals seventh, Joey Votto of the Reds eight, Adrian Gonzalez of the Los Angeles Dodgers ninth and Brandon Belt of the San Francisco Giants 10^th. I like Votto, I like him a lot actually, but he has nothing around him in Cincinnati and will likely receive a lot of the same treatment Jose Abreu will receive in Chicago. I also wanted to put Freddie Freeman on this list somewhere in the Top 10 but could not justify it for the same reasons leaving me to add Belt, Hosmer and A-Gon. 

If you miss out on any of these Top 10 or 11 first baseman there are still true options out there but the risk factors start to show their ugly heads. Players like Albert Pujols, Carlos Santana and Lucas Duda always have injury concerns following them around while Mark Trumbo of Baltimore and Byung-Ho Park of Minnesota come attached to huge question marks and unknowns. And then, for the Yankees fans reading, there is Mark Teixeira. Who knows what to expect out of Teixeira? Will he need a DL stint or three? Will he push for 40 home runs again or will he miss more games than he hits home runs? I have no idea so unless you just need a first baseman and need to take a chance it may be wise to stay away from Teixeira unfortunately.

And there you have it, your first baseball rankings from across the league. If you are unsure of what first baseman to take in your draft then keep this bookmarked as a point of reference. I hope it helps, enjoy!

Notable August Trades in Major League Baseball History

The Yankees season is not over because the team did not make any notable acquisitions at the July 31st trading deadline last month. Earlier today I brought you my wish list for the August 31st trade deadline which included James Shields, Craig Kimbrel, Aroldis Chapman and Martin Prado and I almost immediately caught a ton of flack on Twitter about it. Apparently many fans don't think that big trades like this can happen in July so here are a few notable August trades in the history of the August 31st waiver wire trade deadline.

• In 2003 the Pittsburgh Pirates sent one of their best players on the team, Brian Giles, to the San Diego Padres for a pair of prospects. You may recognize some of the names that were traded for Giles, Oliver Perez and Jason Bay. 

• On this day in 2008 the Toronto Blue Jays acquired a player who was not even on the Major League roster at the time. The most notable player at the tgime of the trade was the Pittsburgh Pirates newest player Robinson Diaz but the clear cut winner was Toronto who acquired some dude named Jose Bautista. 

• In 2000 the New York Yankees acquired a familiar face to complete their dynasty years, the team sent a prospect to the Pittsburgh Pirates for infielder Luis Sojo. Sojo was a big member of the 1996-1999 Yankees before leaving for Pittsburgh via free agency. Sojo was acquired for the playoff and World Series run and did just that with a four-hit game and the game winning hit to clinch the 2000 World Series over the New York Mets. This isn't exactly a notable trade as much as it was a stretch to include the Yankees on the post. We're a Yankees blog afterall. 

• And who could forget the mega-deal between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox where over $250,000,000 in dollars changed hands overnight. The Dodgers sent James Loney, Allen Webster, Ivan De Jesus, Rubby De La Rosa and Jerry Sands to the Boston Red Sox for Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett. 

Reviewing The Boston/Los Angeles Trade

When it comes to looking to free up money, the Sox did a great job. Adrian Gonzalez is set to make $127 million over the next 6 years, Josh Beckett's contract gives him $31.5 million over the next two years, Carl Crawford will receive $102.5 million between 2013 and 2017, and Nick Punto has 1 year and $1.5 million remaining on his 2 year deal. That's a total of $262.5 million, of which Boston will only pay $12 million, putting the Dodgers on the hook for $250.5 million.

But was the money well spent, and will it be well spent for either team? Let's take a look at the key pieces of the deal, all coming from Boston.

Raise your hand if you want to move back to the west coast.

When it comes to dealing Gonzalez I'm not really sure why Boston did that. I'm not saying it isn't a lot of money, but it's not as if Adrian hasn't been a big contributor to the team. For starters, according to Fangraph's, Gonzo was worth $29.5 million last season, well above the AAV of his contract ($22 million). This season hasn't been going quite as well, as he's only been worth $12.3 million, but he's still putting up pretty respectable numbers (.300/.343/.469 with 15 HR and 86 RBI). If the Sox were looking into the future, which I believe they are, then it would make sense if Gonzalez only had a year or two left on his contract, but as I've pointed out... that's not the case.

The Sox didn't have any first basemen on Baseball America's preseason top 10 prospect list, but perhaps they believe Mauro Gomez, who is hitting .310/.371/.589 in AAA Pawtucket so far this season, is the long-term answer at 1B. Or it could be Jerry Sands, who was acquired from Los Angeles. Sands hit well in the minors, batting .303/.380/.531 with 24 HR in AAA, although his 251 plate appearances in MLB haven't been "all that" (.244/.325/.376). But Jerry is only 24 years old, so maybe Boston has something here.

Adrian could have been a key part of the future, but now he'll be giving Giants fans headaches instead of giving me and other Yankee fans headaches (in 12 games against the Yankees this season his triple-slash is .375/.388/.667).

On the other hand I understand why the Dodgers traded for Adrian. Gonzalez dominated the NL West for 5 years prior to being traded to Boston before the 2011 season, putting up a triple-slash of .288/.374/.514 to go along with averaging about 32 HRs a year while with the San Diego Padres. Los Angeles had James Loney, who was dealt to Boston in the deal, at 1B this season, but James was putting up a paltry batting line of .254/.302/.344 at the time. So getting a a 30-year old that could hold down that position for the next 6 years makes sense. Although Adrian is earning his money so far, I'm sure that by the end of the deal Dodgers fans will be happy to see him go, just as Yankee fans will be about guys like Mark Teixiera and Alex Rodriguez.

Verdict: Good for the Dodgers, bad for Boston.

"No! Due to the time difference, watching sports on the west coast sucks!"

With Boston possibly thinking a few years down the road, it made sense to unload Josh Beckett. Last season Beckett finished 9th in Cy Young voting, after putting up an ERA of 2.89 and WHIP of 1.026 in 30 starts, last season. This season hasn't been going as well, as Josh's ERA has ballooned to 5.23 and his WHIP has gone up to 1.327. Although, according to Fangraph's, Beckett more the earned his salary in 2011, that won't be the case in 2012.

The Red Sox do have Justin Germano, who has an ERA of 2.40 and WHIP of 0.905 in 16 AAA starts, to go along with 4 other starters already in the Sox rotation that are all under 30 years old (Lester, Buchholz, Doubront, and Bard). And that doesn't include picking up Allen Webster and Rubby De La Rosa. Webster had an ERA of 3.55 and WHIP of 1.455 in AA Chattanooga so far this season, so he isn't blowing anybody away. De La Rosa was a surprise call-up to the Dodgers this season, having just come back from reconstructive elbow surgery 13 months before, but only lasted .2 innings after walking 2 of the 4 batters he faced. So I'm not sure what they have there.

The Dodgers though picked up a solid pitcher to put behind Clayton Kershaw in the rotation, and at $15.75 million a season, they aren't drastically over-paying. It doesn't look like the Dodgers have better choices within the organization for 2012 and beyond, as nobody in AAA is "killing it" out side of John Ely, and Ely has been lit up so far in MLB to the tune of a 5.35 ERA and 1.456 WHIP in 19 starts and 112.2 innings. Chad Billingsley is a good #3 starter, but he hasn't been able to replicate the great numbers he put up in his 2nd and 3rd years in the Majors.

Verdict: Good for both teams.

Picture this, but with Carl wearing a Dodgers uniform instead.

In his first two seasons with Boston Crawford has earned, again... via Fangraph's Dollar Value, only $2.5 million of the $33.5 million he's been paid. And now Carl's having Tommy John surgery, ensuring that he won't have a shot at making up for at least some of that the rest of this season, and possibly part of next season. So it was a no-brainer for the Red Sox to dump this guy before he cost them any more money, since Carl will be paid $102.5 million more dollars over the next 5 years.

But I have no idea why the Dodgers agreed to this. They recently extended the contracts of Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, and both players are doing pretty well (Kemp has an OPS+ of 168 and Ethier has an OPS+ of 121). LA also has a guy by the name of Alfredo Silverio, who was their #4 prospect in Baseball America's preseason Top 10 list, and is hitting .306/.340/.542 at AA Chattanooga this season. So why clog up an outfield spot with a guy making that much money, and only hitting .260/.292/.419 in his last 664 plate appearances?

Verdict: Good for Boston, bad for Los Angeles

In the end I really don't know how to feel about this trade. The good part about it for both teams, the swap of Josh Beckett, is the least cost-wise out of the key pieces involved. While both of the expensive parts of the deal, Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, are a wash (Gonzo good for LA, Crawford good for Boston).

But what really matters here is how it affects the Yankees. Initially I thought that it was not good for the Bombers, as the Red Sox now have a lot of money they can use on buying some good replacement players. But there's a big "if" there, in that one of Mauro Gomez or Jerry Sands would have to be a good replacement for Adrian Gonzalez's contributions, and remember that not only did Adrian hit well but he was a great fielding 1B too. So to be honest, the loss of Gonzo could cost the team more than half of what they just saved to replace. Couple that with the good possibility that the Sox bring back Jacoby Ellsbury, who is a free agent after this season, and that could be that as far as having more money.

The best thing that came out of this trade is that it made for some more exciting baseball stuff to talk about. Unfortunately I don't think the Red Sox front office is in the business of giving people like me stuff to talk about.

"I'm just trying my best to give Bryan more things to write about at The Greedy Pintripes."

Red Sox Close To Blockbuster Mega Deal With LA Dodgers

UPDATE:

7:47
The deal is being held up because the Red Sox have not got permission from Josh Beckett, who has 10 and 5 rights, or Carl Crawford, who has a partial no trade clause. 

7:46
The "top prospect" looks like it is going to be Allen Webster from the Dodgers 

7:20
The deal would include the Dodgers sending Rubby De La Rosa (as a PTBNL since he did not clear waivers), James Loney, Jerry Sands, Ivan DeJesus, and another top prospect to the Red Sox

7:15
MLB rules stipulate that the only way Carl Crawford can be traded, since he is on the DL, is as a Player To Be Named Later. 

7:14 
Nick Punto is now attending a clubhouse meeting with Adrian Gonzalez

7:03 
Adrian Gonzalez has been scratched from tonight's start for Boston

6:58 
James Loney has been scratched from his start tonight in Los Angeles

6:55 
Adrian Gonzalez does NOT have the Dodgers listed on his No Trade List.

6:48 
The Dodgers are talking of including Rubby De La Rosa, Jerry Sands Allen Webster, and Zach Lee in some sort of combination. I do not see all of them going but you never know. 

The Red Sox are close to agreeing  to trade SP Josh Beckett, 1B Adrian Gonzalez, INF Nick Punto, and LF Carl Crawford to the Dodgers after being awarded waiver claims on them. The Red Sox have agreed to send cash to the Dodgers and the Dodgers will be sending prospects to Boston.


The Dodgers new website name is TheGreedyDodgers.com and we are currently in a legal battle for the domain #sarcasm.

Circumventing The Luxury Tax

The Greedy Pinstripes is going to be making some minor changes when the 25-man/Active Roster is announced later today (it's due to 5:00pm EST). While getting ready for that change I decided to do some digging to figure out some things regarding the team payroll.

You see, I wasn't 100% sure about how options and extensions affected the average annual value of a player's contract. For example, when CC Sabathia signed the extension at the end of last season, then what was the new AAV? Over at River Avenue Blues they believed that the new deal just took over, meaning you'd go by the 5 year/$122 million contract. But that didn't seem right to me, as that doesn't make the new contract an extension at all. If CC had opted out and the Yankees re-signed him to that 5 year deal, then it would make sense. What about the options for Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano? Is the option year treated as a whole different contract, or is that option year simply added onto the current contact as I believed? After all, if the buyout to those option years was figured into the AAV before, why wouldn't the option year be included into that contract when it was picked up? Well, I ended up stumbling upon information that was very interesting.

For starters, it turns out that option years are included with the rest of the contract. Therefore, Nick Swisher's AAV is not $10.25 million, it is $6 million, based on his deal now being 6 years and $36 million. This is what happened to Marco Scutaro's contract with the Boston Red Sox, which you can read about here. Also, Robinson Cano's AAV is not $14 million, it's $8.8 million, based on his deal now being 5 years and $44 million.

Something I hadn't expected to find dealt wiith Derek Jeter's contract, and average annual value. I figured all options were treated the same, meaning that the year of the option didn't count until the option was exercised, however the buyout for that option was figured into the AAV. It turns out different types of options are treated differently according to how it affects the Luxury Tax. While club and vesting options are figured in like how I originally thought, player and mutual options are treated as "guaranteed years". So we are to treat Derek Jeter's 2014 player option as a guaranteed year, therefore it's not an AAV of $17 million based on a contract of 3 years and $51 million, it's an AAV of $14 million based on a contract of 4 years and $56 million ($51m - $3m buyout + $8 million 2014 salary).

Now we get to my favorite part.

Luxury Tax rules stipulate that if an extension is signed before the current deal expires (the expiration date is Opening Day of the last year of the contract), then the years and money "spent" from the old deal are consolidated into the years and money of the new deal. Here are two of the bigger examples I ran into...

Philadelphia extended Ryan Howard before the 2010 season started, thus making it so his old deal affected the AAV of his new deal. Howard's deal before the extension was agreed to was for 3 years and $54 million (an AAV of $18 million), for the years of 2009 through 2011. Howard's new deal was worth 5 years and $125 million (an AAV of $25 million), for the years 2012-2016. Therefore, according to the Luxury Tax, his current contract is now a 6 year deal worth $153 million (The old deal made the AAV of 2010 $18m, plus the years of 2012-2016 at an AAV of $25 million each, and finally add the $10 million buyout of the club option for 2017). This ended up costing the team more towards the Luxury Tax threshold in 2010, but less towards the Luxury Tax threshold in 2011-2016. This made sense for the team as the Luxury Tax threshold was $170 million in 2010, while the team was only at $142 million on Opening Day. Therefore they had no reason to worry about the AAV of Howard's contract being a bit higher in 2010, as they wouldn't reach that $170 million mark anyway (unless they made a huge splash during the season with a signing/trade). Philly could instead look and see that the AAV for Howard's contract would be lower in each of the remaining 5 seasons, making it a bit easier for them.

The case of the Boston Red Sox and Adrian Gonzalez is the opposite of the Phillies and Ryan Howard. Boston extended Gonzalez after the 2011 season started, thus making it so his old deal did not affect the AAV of his new deal. Adrian's old deal, which he signed with the San Diego Padres, was for 4 years and $9.5 million, which is an AAV of $2.375 million. This was important to the Sox because of the Luxury Tax threshold for 2011 being $178 million, and the team already looking at an Opening Day payroll of $161 million. Boston didn't want to sign a new deal that would dramatically raise the AAV of Gonzalez's deal, because that would mean they reached the threshold and cost themselves a lot of money in luxury tax penalties. Adrian's new deal with Boston was for 7 years and $154 million, an AAV of $22 million, so you can see why the team did what they did... waiting until after Opening Day of 2011 to make the extension official. The move ended up making the AAV of Adrian's deal more for 2012 and beyond, but they would cross that bridge when they came to it, rather than taking the sure hit in 2011.

This is exciting as it shows us how the Yankees could re-sign Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson, while keeping each player's AAV down a bit.

Robbie's current AAV is $8.8 million, which is an absolute steal for the Yankees as Fangraphs put Cano's value the last three years at $19.1 million, $26 million, and $25.2 million. However Cano is due for a contract of like 8 years worth upwards of $184 million (an AAV of $23 million), and that may be a low estimate. The AAV of Cano's deal would go from $8.8 million to $23 million. That could hurt. But if the Yankees sign Cano before Opening Day of the last year of his contract (which would be 2013, assuming the team exercises his 2013 option at the end of this season), then that old AAV would affect the new AAV. So say Robbie and the Yankees agree to an extension worth 8 years and $184 million (no options), and it's done before Opening Day of 2013 (after the option was already picked up at the end of the 2012 season). That would make the new deal worth 9 years and $192.8 million ($8.8 million for 2013, added to the $184 million for 2014-2021), which is an AAV of $21.42 million. It's not a huge difference in AAV, but every little bit is going to matter when it comes to the $189 million threshold in 2014 and 2015.

What about Curtis Granderson? Well say Granderson and the Yankees agree to an extension worth 4 years and $68 million (no options) before Opening Day of 2013 (he has an option for 2013 that would need to be excercised at the end of the 2012 season). That would make his new deal actually 5 years and $74.05 million ($6.05 million for 2013, added to the $68 million for 2014-2017), which is an AAV of $14.81 million. Only a little more than Cano's extension would save, but again... every little bit counts.

If you add up the savings by extending Cano and Granderson before Opening Day of 2013 (and after each of their options were exercised), the team could save a total of $3.77 million towards the Luxury Tax threshold. Not a lot of money, but since the team is going to be cutting it close already, that $3.77 million savings could make a big difference.