Crucial questions for MLB's stretch drive in wake of trade deadline
With a dizzying 18 deals made in the final hours before baseball's non-waivers trade deadline, the stretch drive gained clarity and context -- but plenty remains unresolved.
As we take a look at the new baseball landscape, these questions emerge:
Can the Rangers start making October plans?
Why not? The 4-15 slide that trimmed their AL West lead to 2½ games has faded behind the brilliance of general manager Jon Daniels’ maneuvering. Not only did the Rangers improve behind the plate, at DH and in the bullpen, but they did it without sacrificing talented youngsters like Nomar Mazara, Jurickson Profar and Joey Gallo.
Daniels did not add another starting pitcher as he had hoped, but with Yu Darvish back and throwing well, and a deeper bullpen, the Rangers have more than enough weapons to fend off the Houston Astros, who remained strangely silent. Plus, injured starters Derek Holland and Colby Lewis are due back for the stretch run.
Do the Cardinals still have a chance?
They do, as long as they’re aiming for the wild card. The division title is out of their reach. St. Louis largely stood pat at the deadline, adding only lefty reliever Zach Duke to a club that trails the Chicago Cubs by eight games in the NL Central.
The Cardinals expect to get Matt Carpenter, Jhonny Peralta and Brandon Moss back from the disabled list this week, which should soften the blow of losing stellar rookie shortstop Aledmys Diaz for a few weeks because of a fractured right thumb. But they didn’t add any new arms to a rotation with only one starter – Carlos Martinez – who has an ERA below 4.15. Barring a drastic improvement by the starters, the Cardinals have no shot at catching the Cubs.
Can the Indians prosper without a frontline catcher?
Lucroy’s decision to veto a trade to Cleveland, which eventually led to the Milwaukee Brewers sending him to Texas, may have shifted the balance of power in the AL. The Indians still made a major acquisition in closer Andrew Miller, and they picked up a useful outfielder in Brandon Guyer, solidifying their status as the AL Central frontrunners.
Adding Lucroy, a strong receiver and accomplished hitter, would have significantly upgraded a catching corps that currently relies on Chris Gimenez and Roberto Perez in the absence of the injured Yan Gomes, who was having a brutal season (.165 average) anyway.
Provided Danny Salazar’s recent elbow issues are minor, the Indians have the dominant pitching to carry them to October. They just don’t have an elite catcher to pair with those golden arms.
Who’s the favorite in the NL West?
The first-place Giants and Dodgers, the only two teams in the division with winning records, took turns one-upping each other with their moves Monday. After Los Angeles dealt for Josh Reddick and Rich Hill, San Francisco swung trades for lefties Matt Moore and Will Smith, which cost them two of their top five prospects.
Significant as those swaps were, the biggest factor in who wins the division may be the status of Clayton Kershaw’s back. If Kershaw returns to his Cy Young Award-winning form fairly soon, he could tilt the scales in the Dodgers’ favor, especially if he can face San Francisco two or three times in the nine matchups the clubs have left against each other.
Otherwise, a rotation headed by Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Moore gives the Giants the edge.
How does the seller role suit the Yankees?
Surprisingly well, especially given their inexperience at it. For public consumption, the New York brass tried to straddle the fence between moving valuable assets like Aroldis Chapman and Miller and attempting to stay competitive. Such pretense was gone after the Yankees unloaded their best hitter in Beltran.
But it’s hard to argue with the results. The Yankees, 5½ games back in the race for the second wild card and in desperate need of an infusion of youth, tied for the most trades with five and hauled in three of MLB.com’s top 100 prospects in shortstop Gleyber Torres, outfielder Clint Frazier and lefty pitcher Justus Sheffield. That gives the Yankees seven of the game’s top 100 prospects, enough to get that rejuvenation started.
Is Toronto the team to beat in the AL East?
The Blue Jays’ moves were nowhere near as sexy as last year, when they picked up David Price and Troy Tulowitzki to launch a playoff drive that ended their 21-year absence from the postseason. Francisco Liriano, Scott Feldman and Mike Bolsinger will not set the hearts of Canadians’ fans aflutter.
What their addition does is provide Toronto the pitching depth to shift AL ERA leader Aaron Sanchez to the bullpen, a move that has been in the works for weeks as a way to minimize the innings pitched for the prized right-hander. With a potent offense and starters J.A. Happ and Marco Estrada providing quality innings, the Jays appear best suited to prevail in the East, even if Sanchez (11-1, 2.71 ERA) is only able to contribute a couple of innings at a time.
Is Wade Miley the answer for Baltimore?
If he continues to pitch as he did in his last outing, when he allowed one hit in seven innings, Miley would be a major boon for the shaky Orioles rotation. But the lefty starter has seen his ERA climb each of the last three years, to his current 4.98, and he’s yielding 1.4 homers every nine innings. That doesn’t bode well for a pitcher moving from the cavernous Safeco Field to the cozy Camden Yards.