The most active trade deadline in DTBL history saw five deals completed in the final two weeks before the August 15 deadline. From what I heard, many other deals were discussed as well. Some of the deals were made by the top three teams who are in an extremely tight race for the league championship. Others were made by teams looking to the future.
The activity began a little more than a week prior to the deadline. On August 9, the three time defending champion Darkhorses completed a pair of trades. First, they acquired catcher Ryan Doumit from the Kings for starting pitcher Ervin Santana. The Darkhorses ran into a bit of a problem right before the deadline as both of their regular catchers suffered injuries (Russell Martin and Geovany Soto). Martin’s injury was especially problematic because he will miss the remainder of the season. Doumit took Martin’s spot in the Darkhorses lineup. The Darkhorses released Martin who was a key member of their three championships. Doumit has been mostly disappointing following a third round selection by the Kings. He was recently replaced in the Pirates and Kings lineups by Chris Snyder. He is getting time at other positions though, so he does have some fantasy value. Meanwhile, Santana gives the Kings a little more depth to a starting rotation that has been mostly disappointing this season. For now, Santana is on their bench, but the Kings had little to lose in this deal since Doumit was no longer part of their plans.
The Darkhorses second deal on the 9th was a minor one. They acquired second baseman Alberto Callaspo and a 10th round pick in exchange for a 9th round pick to the Mavericks. The Mavericks had little use for Callaspo once Brian Roberts returned from the disabled list. so they were happy to move up a round for next year’s draft. Callaspo does have value for the Darkhorses though. Injuries to Martin Prado and Rafael Furcal have left the Darkhorses a little short handed in the middle infield. In fact, all of the deals made by the Darkhorses were primarily to shore up spots vacated by injuries. So far, they are still hanging on at the top of the standings, but their lead is tenuous at best.
Three more deals were completed in the final weekend before the deadline. The first was a pretty significant trade between two teams still in the championship hunt. The Jackalope made their first trade in years, acquiring second baseman Kelly Johnson from the Kings for starting pitcher Max Scherzer. The Jackalope have had the best pitching staff in the league all year, but their offense has kept them out of first place. Johnson has had a very good year for the Kings, but was expendable due to a log jam in their middle infield. Johnson should give the Jackalope an immediate power boost. Meanwhile, Scherzer may have been the most talented pitcher sitting on a DTBL bench for most of the season. He was stuck behind the Jackalope’s five superstar aces. The Kings have had their eye on him for quite a while. He provides them with a power arm. Until earlier this week, the Kings were buried in last place in strike outs. The Kings have a lot of ground to make up, so this trade may not be enough. However, Scherzer will probably be part of their future plans.
Perhaps the biggest trade was between two teams near the bottom of the standings. The Mavericks traded DTBL home run leader Adam Dunn and a fourth round pick to the Cougars for a first round pick in next year’s draft. So the Mavericks will have two of the first four or five picks in the draft again next year. Hopefully for their sake, those picks will pan out a little better than they did this year. On the other hand, the Cougars know exactly what they are getting in Dunn. One of the most consistent power hitters in the league, Dunn will give the Cougars a huge power boost. He clearly would have been a top five pick in the draft if he had been eligible next year, so trading the pick made sense for the Cougars.
Finally, the Mavericks weren’t done with their fire sale. The last trade before the deadline saw the Mavs deal veteran catcher Jorge Posada to the Darkhorses for relief pitcher Daniel Bard. Posada fills the other injury hole in the Darkhorses catching duo. Bard is a likely closer of the future, although if the Red Sox don’t make a decision soon on him vs. Papelbon, the Mavericks will have a difficult decision to make when roster cut time comes. This deal also leaves the Mavericks very shorthanded for the remainder of this season. They are out of free agent signings, so they will have to go with one catcher the rest of the way. On top of that, they had to activate Magglio Ordonez to fill Dunn’s spot. Ordonez probably won’t return until late September. So the Mavericks are playing two men short at the moment. Clearly, the Mavericks don’t have any particular desire to move up the standings.
So what do these deals mean as far as this year’s pennant race is concerned? The Darkhorses made a bunch of moves to cover up for injuries. They weren’t necessarily big improvement type deals, but filled needs. They are obviously still the team to beat, although they did lose their first place spot for one day earlier this week. The Jackalope held first place for that one day. It was their first taste of the top of the standings since early in the season. Johnson should give the Jackalope offense a boost, but will it be enough? The Jackalope pitching is so strong that they should be right in the running until the end. As of today, they are just two points out. The third team in serious contention is the Naturals. Although they did not make any deadline deals, they still have as good a shot as anybody. They continue to dominate the batting categories, but have some pitching issues. Essentially, they are the exact opposite of the Jackalope. Meanwhile, the Darkhorses remain strong in batting and pitching. The Kings bolstered their starting pitching, but 11 1/2 points will be difficult to make up in a month and a half. The moves they made were not just about this season though. They hope to keep their strong offense in tact, while improving the starting pitching.
The other six teams have very little hope of making a run this year, but the Cougars and Mavericks both made moves with an eye to the future. The Mavericks have suffered through a miserable year full of injuries and disappointments. With the picks they have acquired, they hope for better results next year. The Cougars gave up their first round pick for ’11, but picked up a first round caliber player in Dunn.
With three teams within four points of first place, the next month and a half should be very entertaining.