MLB Trade Deadline Winners and Losers + Miami Marlins are ON FIRE

MLB Trade Deadline Winners and Losers + Miami Marlins are ON FIRE

Monday, August 4th, here on the Just Baseball Show. You got the three of us. That’s Jack McMullen, Arm Leighton, and I am Peter Apple. And on today’s episode, trade deadline winners and losers, plus some trade deadline awards that I think are really funny. Well, it’s because I made them up. And it’s all brought to us by the Sportsbook Born in Vegas. Remember folks, download Bet MGM, whether that be on iOS or Android, and use promo code just baseball. Why? First bet offer up to $1,500 back in bonus bets if your first wager loses. But remember, gambling problem call or text 1800 gambler must be 21 years or older. Terms and conditions apply. Unfortunately, no weekend roundup because we got to break down the fallout from the trade deadline. But I want to start with the hottest team in baseball. hashtagfishfam hash the Miami Marlins are coming off an incredible sweep of my New York Yankees. It was horrible for me, but it was incredible for the rest of baseball, including our guy Jack McMullen. Jack, floor is yours, Fish Fam. It was really fun this weekend. 101,000 people at that ballpark. It was 32, then 34, then 34. That place was absolutely alive. And it’s so much fun to watch number one like this team actually receive the national recognition that they deserve and number two watch the Yankees implode in a bunch of different ways and watch face running errors and watch a ball get under Cabayro’s glove and then poetically during the mound visit right after that Trent Gisham walk over and put his arm around Cababayro and it’s like hey man I know a thing or two about E9 on a ground ball that gets under and everybody scores. Uh, listen, like this weekend was amazing. And I don’t want to harp on the Yankee thing, although we can talk about it if you guys want. It was just a ridiculously cool weekend to be a fan of the Miami Marlins and be a part of this Marlins thing because if you’ve been paying attention to this team since the beginning of June, honestly, that Rockies series felt like crap. Getting swept by the Colorado Rockies at home felt terrible. And since then, everything has flipped upside down. Can I quantify June? Can I quantify that for you real quick? Or do you have the numbers as well? No, I was just going to say that they were 24 and 40 on June 11th. So, since June 11th, they’re 31 and 15 and now back up to 500. Yeah. So, I was going to say since June 13th, that’s kind of like the one date that everybody’s IDing right now. Since June 13th, they are 30 and 14. 30 wins tied for the most in baseball with the Milwaukee Brewers. And there’s just something about the way these guys show up to the ballpark every single day. Friday was the ridiculous game. That was the best game I’ve ever had the privilege of calling, being in attendance for watching live. It was absolutely insane. That 13 to2 walk-off win for the Fish. If they’re going to win a game like that, there’s no game that they can’t win at this point. That was my big takeaway there. Arum, I have a question for you. You’ve been a Marlins fan your whole life and you’ve seen plenty of GMs come and go. Plenty of bad plans routinely repeat themselves. And now and now you could say no plans as well, but now there’s clearly a plan here. And everybody thought, oh, the Marlins should just sell, but Peter Bendix didn’t. Can you just speak to the difference in the plan with the Marlins from previous years as you’ve been a fan all your life? I think sticking to it, you know, like I every team has their their internal model, right? And and well, I would say every team, maybe not the Rockies. I don’t know what the Pirates are doing, but and the Marlins in the past have been in that same conversation, right? But just just knowing like, okay, there there was a case to be made for trading a couple of these guys if you could get a franchise altering hall that sets you up for success for the next five plus years. But if you’re looking at it from an asset value perspective, they were not willing to sell low for the sake of trimming payroll and and just continuing to add prospects, which I think is encouraging. It’s something that I haven’t seen in a little bit of time. Uh, and the times where they did spend money in the past, it was without any plan or or really organization or I would just say thought behind it other than this is a player we can afford and he’s probably the best that we can get for this amount of money, so let’s do it. Allah Avi Garcia, Allah, we Chen, like I could go on. Gene Sigura, I could go on and on. So, that part of it is really encouraging. But, I think the thing that stands out the most to me is like for a team like this to succeed, yes, one, you need to create your own assets. And I think they’re doing that in a lot of different ways from the development side of things. But two, you got to get the most out of every player. And I know Jack can speak to this too and just seeing, you know, what’s happened this year in terms of the preparation and things like that. Guys are getting up there and they’re succeeding. And that’s not something that people have seen with the Marlins in a while. Even the top-notch prospects would get up there and struggle. And now you’re getting guys that are overlooked even that are good players, but you know, maybe not expected to be stars. I think everybody would have had Jacob Marcy as a fourth outfielder and we’ll see what happens long term, but a fourth outfielder type of prospect is probably not going to come up and just go crazy right away, but he is. Roberto Hernandez was striking out 35% of the time. He’s come up and filled a really important role for them. Um, I can talk about Griff and and him making the leap and getting better from TripleA. Kyle Ster is obviously doing what he’s doing. Um, you have Augustine Ramirez instantly making an impact. Then you even have some guys that have been around a little bit that are seeing things click like Otto Lopez. Like I think there’s a lot to be said about the process here. Uh the the way that they’re approaching hitting, swing decisions, all of that stuff, arming their players with information, preparing them for success, and and you’re seeing the results. So that’s the most tangible difference for me is like there’s cohesion from top to bottom of like hitting philosophy, their approach, and the players are buying in. And I I mean I’ve known it’s not just Grip, like I’ve known people in the organization for a while now, players on the player side. There hasn’t been this type of buyin in a long time. So, I think that side of it is really exciting, too, is that you’re getting that buy in because there’s a plan and when you see that as a player, I it’s a little bit easier than just being told, “Oh, this is the Yankee way,” or whatever the hell they’ve been told through the years. So, um that’s the part that I’m really excited about. And I’ll be honest, I still didn’t really expect the results to be like this, but um it’s it’s explainable through that. And I think that’s out of its fun. and the fact that they kept the the squad together is is even more encouraging uh now that you’re seeing these results. So my last question on the Marlins before we move on to trade deadline winners and losers spending more time on the Marlins than this five more follow-ups this this question might lead you into more pleasant surprise for the Marlins and it doesn’t even have to be a certain player. It could be anything within the organization, the manager, the GM, their plan at the deadline, a player. It could be whatever whatever pops into your mind first. Jack, I’ll start with you. The pleasant surprise. So, I’ll answer this and then I want to circle back on a couple things that Arm said because the the answer for me is a player. It’s Cabrera. It’s Edward Cabrera. Like six innings of two hit, one-run ball and the only run was a leadoff homer from Trent Gisham. fourth pitch of the game was taken 412 feet to straightaway center and I’ve heard plenty I’ve heard from tons of people the cabbie of old may just pack it in at that point and like oh that’s the start of a bad day but after that two base runners in six innings two hits one walk he punched out seven after a leadoff homer on the fourth pitch of the freaking game so for me it’s Cabrera and there are a couple things that I want to circle back on with Arm because he mentioned guys coming up and performing right away I don’t know if it’s like this incub incubator that they have in Jacksonville or if it’s just purely coincidental. And I do think that part of it is coincidence. Like there needs to be a pure there needs to be a perfect storm for like all these guys to come up and do exactly what you were hoping they would or better. Typically you see a subdued version of guys when they first come up to the major leagues like Baltimore’s been dealing with that. The Cubs have been dealing with that. Everybody around the league deals with that. But Eric Bberto Hernandez, you mentioned Augustine Ramirez is a top NL rookie ranks in like everything. We knew he had a good bat. Did we think he was going to be this good already? I have no idea. Kyle Sters was a forgotten man. He was worried he wasn’t going to make the team in spring training and he’s got 25 homers on August 3rd. Uh Jansen Junk was signed to a minor league contract. They call him up and Junk just goes what, six, five innings of two-run ball or something on Friday and he’s been nails. Ronnie Enriquez was DF8. He looks like a freaking closer. Otto was DFA twice. He looks like a shortstop. So, it’s like they find all these guys and it’s almost bad news bearsish, but there are data points that jump out about literally all of them that made them endearing like risks to take and they’re all paying off. But for me, like looking at their deadline, it’s cool that they didn’t budge on their asking price for two guys in particular, Cabrera and Sandy. They feel like Sandy is turning a corner to be that frontline former Sai Young award winner again. So if somebody wanted to call him a glorified salary dump, hey, we’ll give you this guy and we’ll take the money off your hands. No, like they value him way more than that. And at some point in this 15 start stretch for Cabrera. He turned into a front line arm. It went from enticing project to wow, that’s the frontline stuff and it’s happening to oh damn, he might just be a frontline starter now. and they wanted a return that was frontline starteresque and if nobody was gonna meet that that they weren’t gonna trade him. It it was really cool that they stood pat on their asking price for two guys and now Marlins fans are reaping the rewards of that. And I’d say the last thing I’ll add is just the the pleasant surprise for me is creating the assets because that’s where the analytical like the analytic side is is huge. And if you’re not going to spend with the big boys, which we’ve always talked about, the Marlins, it’s just that’s just not not going to happen. They’re not gonna they’re not going to be top five in payroll. I it’s just never going to happen. You need to find another edge, right? That’s where the Brewers and the Rays and all these other organizations do that. And I I can’t tell you the last time I’ve seen the Marlins play the waiver wire like this and and ID. It’s not just Iran and Enriquez. These other bullpin arms, man. like they are claiming and grabbing different bullpen arms that are way better than they’ve had in the past. In the past, they’re signing Janichi Tazawa and Brad Ziegler, you know, on their deathbed. Uh Ber’s been gross since coming back from TripleA. They optioned to come back and it’s nails. But they’ve changed everything from pitching philosophy to hitting philosophy to front office philosophy and it works and like we’ll see if it it turns into a World Series or playoff appearance or whatever it may be, but it’s a hell of a lot better and more watchable than it was in the past. And um that’s where the analytics are, I think, becoming an edge for the Marlins. And I think they’ve done a good job of balancing it because Jack just had Kri’s dad, Jeff Conine, on on the broadcast today. And Jack asked him, you know, what stands out about this team? And Jeff, old school guy, he’ll tell you that himself, said they play the game the right way. They do all the little things. So, you can be analytically driven, but you can still have a team of players that play the game the right way and do all the little things. So, I think that’s the fun part, too, where they found that balance, and that’s what it’s all about. Beautifully said, boys, and I’m glad my uh trash favorite team could aid in that happiness for the both of you. Can I can I ask you, what were your emotions when Jazz got picked off on that double play on the pop up to second? because his his response postgame fascinated me. He I I know exactly what he was trying to do because he’s seen Xavier Edwards do it where like he just lets the ball bounce right in front of him and then you know we’ll get a fieldielder’s choice to get the quicker guy off base. Nico her also did it like two weeks ago I think and it went viral. So Jazz was thinking oh X is going to do this to me. We have a previous relationship but then what if he doesn’t do it to you? So I just want to know your reaction to that. Um, well, my actual reaction is not supposed to be on the airways. The things I was saying. All right. I was Give me the safer work reaction. I mean, I just turned the game off. It’s just I I can’t It’s again, you’re guys are talking about how the Marlins do all the little things. The Yankees do zero little things. Yeah. Zero. Right. So, it’s like when they’re hitting a bunch of home runs, it looks awesome. and the Yankees look like they can’t be beat. But when the defense falls apart, when they make stupid base running mistakes like that, when the third base coach is is trying to get Gisham in from second base and he gets thrown out by 30 feet. Like it’s like those things make me so mad. A loss is a loss. Teams are going to lose all the time. It doesn’t matter, right? Even the best teams are going to lose 60 plus games. But it’s not that. It’s It’s losing so stupidly, so dumb. Well, and Jazz said he wouldn’t do it any different. Yeah, credit to him, man. It’s going to work at some point. I really want to move forward. Like, I’m already getting so pissed. Like, I’ve already I did this whole weekend of of just watching and getting so mad and now it’s getting brought back up. I just wanted to talk eloquently about how great the Marlins have been without talking about the Yankees. Yeah, but how did you watch this weekend? Did you go with our audio feed change? Of course. Every every time now like since I have figured it out. I have never changed it. All right, let’s talk trade deadline winners and losers. So, we all have three and we have not shared our answers with, you know, the other two on this show. So, we should have differing answers. And we all have a bronze medal, a silver medal, and a gold medal. And I also wanted to limit it to three. I’m actually curious what you guys think because it’s like I don’t want to give out participation trophies. Like I don’t even think there are five winners of the deadline. Like I think if some teams had a good deadline doesn’t mean they won the deadline. Does that make sense? It does. But like I have a couple honorable mentions because I need I feel like I need to include everybody. Yeah, screw that. I feel like I don’t want to include anybody. Okay. I’m on the opposite side. So how about this? We’ll all do our bronze medal, but might as well throw it over to you for some of your honorable mentions first. Yeah. So, are we Let’s go winners entirely and then losers entirely. Does that sound good? Let’s do it. We’ll go bronze all three and then silver all three and then gold all three. Perfect. Yeah, let’s start with the start with the winners. Um I did have co silvers in the winner group, too. So, I’m sorry. I’m I’m being so brutal, but uh the two honorable mentions that I had, I just wanted to shout out New York, the Mets, and Minnesota. I wanted to shout out Minnesota because like they did the sell job appropriately. I understand that they held on to Ryan, but if you’re going to tear it down, like tear it down. Get out of money like Koreah. Uh Yoan Don was the most valuable asset that you probably had outside of Joe Ryan, you moved him. Griffin Jack, second most valuable asset you had. You moved him. Harrison Bader, a guy that made a lot of sense to move. you moved him like they did the they did the cell job the right way. I don’t believe in kind of halfassing the cell job. Why is Luis Roberts still a white sock right now? I I appreciate the Twins for actually going all the way in on the cell job. And then I did want to shout out the Mets from my honorable mention because they plugged the two things that they needed. They got Mullins, they got Helley. Cool. Feel good about 89 Hley and Diaz. So I want to talk about the Mets a little bit more when we get to maybe my bronze medal. Arum, real quick. Were the twins on Did the Twins meddal for you? No, they did not meddal for me. Me? Me? Me either. And I I want to know why you didn’t put them on. I mean, I I appreciate I get where Jack’s coming from. Like, I appreciate them committing to a direction. And And the reality is the same reason why the Marlins and not the same reason why, but a big part of why the Marlins didn’t trade their guys is that nobody was willing to give up what it requires to acquire those guys. And it’s the same thing with Joe Ryan. Nobody was going to offer what was required to get Joe Ryan. So Joe Ryan didn’t get moved. Same story for Mackenzie Gore. Like teams were just weirdly frugal uh in that regard. You weren’t getting two major pieces uh for the most part. So like I wanted to give the Twins credit, but even some of their returns I didn’t love. Like Griffin I don’t really understand even trading Griffin Jacks when you traded Durant. It’s like this team is not that far off. They didn’t have to deplete the whole bullpen. And then Taj Bradley for Griffin Jacks when like that that one didn’t make a ton of sense to me and I don’t know that one was weird. Um and then Louis Varwin like trading like the the Minnesota kid uh who has a ton of control and is having a great year and yeah it’s not like a franchise altering return here for Varin. I thought that was kind of weird. Uh but I do appreciate them having a direction and and making sure they actually did something. I the Astros were my honorable mention team because I don’t think they did enough to be in the conversation with like maybe the top three. But to get Carlos Koreah back at a discount because a third of the money is being paid, that’s just such a fun and great move because it’s going to help you in the postseason. Bring a vet back. I think it’s going to rejuvenate him. He already went yard today as we’re recording this and he’s playing third now and and and that left side of the infield could be as good defensively as any. And I think the offense is going to tick back up. But then again, you get one of the best postseason performers of all time. Jesus Sanchez, like I think he was excess for the Marlins, but does fit a nice, you know, spot for the Astros there. And, you know, it’s not like they gave up a ton. Um, so I I I thought that was, you know, a nice little get for them, too. Uh, but I I I think that the Koreah move was just the most fun and and entertaining for me. So, so that one gets an honorable mention. But, yeah, the Twins just don’t quite get there for me. The Twins don’t get there for me. just on the basis of if you have a fire sale, no matter how good you do that, you can’t be a winner for me because you had a fire sale. Like I’m just thinking about all the Twins fans who, you know, they’re not completely out of it, but now what is their direction long term? I guess now we’re just in a huge rebuild. Like, you know, all the jerseys that are now gone off, you know, out of the closets, the Yan Duran, the Griffin Jacks, the Carlos Koreah jerseys. I mean, to be a Twins fan after the deadline, I don’t think they care about the returns. Like, I’m sure they care, but they’re probably just feeling so depressed after something like that. So, while I agree with you, Jack, it was the right direction. And I agree with Arm, there were some questionable returns, but I think even ARM would say that overall they did do pretty well. But even if they crushed it, I just can never put a complete fire sale on the winners when I’m trying to meddle. valid counterpoint. I will say uh these Twins fans may be pissed that they can’t wear their Don jersey anymore. They can because it immediately turned vintage and that’s funny, but that Tai jersey and that Ael jersey and that Rojos jersey later could be awesome. So this is these are the es and flows of baseball when you’re not a Yankee fan. So sorry Peter, you’ve never experienced this. Thankfully. Well, we should though. And they did need a direction. I do think it sets them up and their pitching situation’s really fun now. They’ve got some position players. Ke Luke Keshaw’s coming back. Walker Jenkins is healthy for now and he’s homered a few times over the last, you know, over the last week for you. So, and I love the like Outman flyer like they they did some other interesting stuff. So, I I think it was overall positive, but yeah, I’m with you. I’m not I’m not giving them credit for disappointing and then tearing it down to the studs. So, Arm, I’ll throw it over to you first. your bronze medal, your winner coming in third. I I was really torn with the bronze and silver, and I think you can interchange them pretty pretty easily. Uh but I’m going to go with the Phillies on the bronze. Um because and I’ll I’ll elaborate more when we get to silver because I think you can make a similar case. Uh and and and they’re a little bit more comparable of deadlines than people may think. Uh but I mean, the Phillies did a great job. I Durant is exactly what they needed. Um, and that was one of the trades I was kind of pounding the table for here a little bit. Uh, because I just thought it fits so well. Uh, they do give up some good pieces obviously, but Mick Ael was excess. We’ve been mock trading him plenty. And Eduardo Tit like he is the future potentially the future of your catching position, but he’s also still multiple years off. So, you figure you can you can figure that out later on. You’re trying to win a World Series and you’re getting multiple years of of Durant. Um, and then all the just the little moves that they were able to make to kind of just just fill everything else in too, I think was was enough. I love the Bader fit. Um, and and now you put him in center field to platoon with Marsh potentially. Like that works really really well. And the way Bader’s playing, maybe he ends up just cutting into to majority reps, but I loved that fit as well. Uh, but I think in a in a nutshell, Durant alone may have been as good of a acquisition as just about any team given the impact, the need, and the fit with just also the marketability and how electric it is. So, uh, that was enough to give them the the bronze, but then also getting Bader. Yeah, that that definitely helps their case. I agree. I like the Phillies deadline. I do wish that they added um some more bullpen depth, right? You got Kirkering, you got Stum, you got Banks, but you know, with all these contenders in the National League loading up on bullpen arms, um I just still feel like even though they got Durant and it is a good bullpen, I feel like they left a little bit of meat on the bone. I would have also liked maybe slightly more of an impact bat beyond Bader, but like you said, Arm, they answered the qu the biggest questions that the Phillies had, right? They needed a right-handed bat. They needed a center fielder. And they needed a closer. So, they answered those questions. They had a good deadline, but they didn’t meddle for me. Who got the bronze for you, Jack? So, I lied. I didn’t have co- silver. I had co- bronze. And my co-bronze, one of them is Philly. They had two holes. They plugged those two holes. The other one is San Diego. And I understand that San Diego is going to show up a lot higher for probably you, Peter, and I’m thinking you too, Arum. But like San Diego, okay, they filled literally every hole that they had on their like big league roster, but there goes the farm again. Like time to start from scratch. Uh and that that part eats at me a little bit more than it probably should because Pller is so good at restocking the farm. But we’re two years away from the next huge deadline from Pller. And you know what? They’re probably going to have five guys spawn over the next 365 days, and he’s going to trade those guys for another rental outfielder. So, it’s going to be okay. But like the way that he just annihilated, vaporized what eliminated the farm system entirely really like rubs me the wrong way to the point where I got to drop them from gold based on big league moves to bronze. So I’ll talk more about the Padres’s later on in this winners category. I’m sure Arm will too. So I’ll move on to my bronze. I went with the Mets because I feel like they had a very similar deadline to the Phillies, but I thought they gave up less prospect capital and answered more questions, right? You needed a left-handed reliever desperately. And Gregory Sodto is a pretty damn good one. Lot of swing and miss, electric against left-handed bats. So, in the playoffs when you’re facing Harper and you’re facing Otani and you’re facing all these Kyle Tucker, these great left-handed bats, you need a guy like Gregory Sto. And they got it. They also needed another high leverage bullpen arm and they got two with Ryan Hley and Tyler Rogers and I thought the returns were fair if not light for a guy like Ryan Hley and then they also needed a center fielder and me personally I think I’d rather have Cedric Mullins than Harrison Bader and they didn’t give up much for him. Now that could be argued right whether you’d rather have Bader whether you’d rather have Mullins but I think in my opinion Mullen just has a little bit more upside. So that’s why I would say if I did have an honorable mention, I agree with you guys. It would be the Phillies because they answered those questions. I just thought the Mets answered a few more questions. And I liked the way that they handled the deadline with these returns. I’m glad you mentioned the Mets cuz like they should definitely at least be an honorable mention. I think for me just kind of not quite getting I think they did everything. They can still win the World Series, right? Like they did what they needed to do, especially with the way Edwin Diaz has been throwing. Now you have a really strong bullpen running through and I talked about it like everyone I think publicly you look at public prospect lists it looks like they gave up a ton for Tyler Rogers like they they didn’t and they they needed to create the 40man space because they knew they were going to go get Hley and they knew that the Cardinals were not going to want any prospects that are close to taking space on the 40man because these are he bloom trades. So, I I I think from that perspective, it it was definitely a a savvy deadline without really trading from any either tier one or tier 2 prospects for the most part, but it was two rental relievers and a rental outfielder for the most part. So, like that part for me was was and actually three rental relievers, right? Because Sodo’s also a rental all rental. So, and I get it that’s they did that for a reason so they didn’t have to part with even their tier 2 guys. But, you know, it is it is a lot of just sending it in for this year and I think they’re just confident in their ability to fill things for next year. So, I appreciate that and that gets them an honorable mention, but uh I think just not quite the bronze for me. Over to you. Silver silver. So, I was torn and and ultimately I do go with the with the Padres’s for the silver. And you know, I think you could make a gold case for them. Um, but it’s kind of the flip of your argument about like tearing it down. I’m not going to give them credit for it. You know, when when you’re full-fledged sellers, other teams could have done this if they were as reckless and and I feel like reckless might be the harsh word, but if they were as fearless, but fearless often borders on reckless. Um, and and I think that’s where it just keeps him from the gold. As a prospect guy, I still support the like kind of [ __ ] them prospects I idea to a degree. Like just how often is it going to blow up? We’re talking about the Orioles. We rip them for the same thing the other way. We can’t play both sides. But there’s there’s a a good middle ground here. That said, if Prowler just did the Mason Miller move, I don’t know if I’m if I’m pointing towards him being a this this team being a silver. But to then if you’re going to do it, go all the way and do it. But it wasn’t just the fact that they added to the lineup. There were some small savvy moves. I like the Will Wagner pickup to give you some depth. I like the Nester Cortez pickup to give you some depth. I liked the the bundling of a rental os. Okay, the asking price was too high for O’Harn. It wasn’t comfortable for a lot of teams. Well, I’ll meet your crazy asking price then I’ll tack on a little bit more and I’ll get Lauriano who’s playing as well as as really anybody that you could have probably acquired for the outfield and if I’m not mistaken another year of control that is very affordable next year. So that’s another reason why I really like that move. Yeah, they went in in in bulk and sent out a bunch of prospects, but you could argue that none of those prospects, while I do think it was a good package for the Orioles, given it’s a rental and, you know, two a year and a half of another player, none of those guys are above 45 future value. So, I I think that really put them over the top to the silver for me. Yes, they gave up a ton. Yes, they pretty much mortgaged the future as they always do, but then they find a way to replenish. But once you made that Mason Miller trade, once you traded Leo Deere, I I think that needed to happen. I would have been uncomfortable if it was all rentals. That’s why I liked getting Lauraniano into the fold as well. And then I liked the depth moves, too. Like I again I I think there was savviness mixed in to the recklessness, which I appreciated from from AJ Prow, Jack Silver, the Yankees. I know it didn’t look awesome. I know it did not look awesome this weekend, but the Yankees, listen, the Yankees had two glaring deficiencies on the roster and that was the fourman bench and that was help with Devin Williams and Luke Weaver and they created on paper a super pen. And what we learned on Friday night is that on paper doesn’t always result in onfield success. But Jake Bird looked a hell of a lot better his second time out. You have to assume Bedar and Dval are going to be better when they come out again. Do we? You have to assume that Bednar and Dval look better when they come out again. So you add Bird, Bedar, and Doval to that bullpen. And for me, they got a hell of a lot better on their bench. Jose Cababayro, I know, huge mistake on Friday, but that guy is tied with O’Neal Cruz with a major league lead and stolen bases. They needed bags bad and he is a versatile defender that swipes a bunch of bases. Every single team in baseball would love to have someone like Jose Caviierro on their bench. Austin Slater, that’s another guy that can handle the short side of a platoon and come in in pinch hit situations. For me, they did enough help. McMahon, they needed a warm body that was a good defender at third base. He made two incredible plays this weekend. I know he went 0 for four with four punchies on Sunday, but I like there’s caveats to all these guys. On paper, I like what they did over the course of two months. No, absolutely. You’re right. I got to be honest, though. after watching this Marlin series and watching them fall apart. We’re going to talk about them in the awards section of this episode. I’m going to talk about that. Okay. Um, so I’ll save that for then. But I will say before all of this, before that Marlin series happened, I did tweet out, I was really happy with what Brian Kman did because Arm you talk about how with the Mets, how you wish they bought with some control and that’s why you like the Phillies a little bit more because Durant comes with that control. The Yankees bought with control with pretty much everybody. All three of those relievers, multiple years of control. Ryan McMahon comes with control, right? So Brian Cashman wasn’t just buying for this year. Bednar, Bird, and Dval are going to be members of this bullpen for a long time. And that’s huge because all three of them are really solid arms. I mean, you could argue, you know, how good of an arm is Jake Bird, but at the end of the day, Jake Bird is being is your sixth inning guy, maybe your fifth inning guy, right, with this bullpen. So, I agree. I thought the Yankees did a great job, but I did not include them because I’m protesting how they played in that Marlin series. I do think that’s another honorable mention team too like just because they didn’t give up much either for that control. The David Bednar return was was was so light. I mean we talked about on the live stream. I just I thought that was a crazy light return. I know some people out there really like Flores and and it looks like, you know, he he could potentially stick behind the dish a little bit more uh than I anticipated early in the year, but that was pretty much the the main piece there, right? And then it was a a catcher with a 580 ops and then I think Brian Sanchez, right, who I think is a fun third piece. But to get Bednar for that with the way he’s throwing is is is I think huge. And and then even Dval, like the upside of those two guys is is great. And they didn’t trade from any of their key prospects, which is which is nuts. So you know, I I did kind of want to see a bigger splash from the Yankees, but the reality is they make their splashes in free agency. Like you you look at big trades, it’s been a while since they’ve done that. Like I know they added Juan Sodto, but in terms of like giving up like a major major major hall, especially at the deadline time, they that’s not really how they operate as much anymore. Do you have to go back to Chapman for that? You might have to go back to Chapman. Jazz was like probably one of the most significant halls they’ve given up in in some time, you know? So, actually that was reversed. That was a buy for for the Cubs. I I had it twisted in my mind. Yeah. I don’t know. I guess Jack, it’s it’s nuts. So, I I I like what they did, but I don’t know. I I can’t get too excited about Ryan McMahon and you’re you’re you’re taking on all the money and and pin moves. That’s more than fair. Let’s get to my silver medal. Uh my guess is this team might be gold for you guys. Seattle Mariners finishing second for me. You add Gino Suarez, you add Josh Naylor, you add Caleb Ferguson. I thought all three moves were phenomenal. Right. I think if I’m a Diamondbacks fan, I’m a little disappointed with the return. Um, even if you’re a big Tyler Lleier fan, you know, he is he right, Jack, you said he was the first player dealt with at least 35 home runs by the deadline, right? You’re getting one of the best rental bats in recent history, and the numbers would say he might be the best rental bat. And you got Tyler Lleier, who again could be good, but he wasn’t one of the big-time prospects for the Mariners. And then the Josh Naylor trade. I thought it was solid, but it’s not like they overpaid for him. And you bring in a very solid bat. And now you pair both of those two guys on the corners. And the Mariners lineup right now looks phenomenal. And now the Mariners lineup wasn’t really the problem. It was actually the strength of the Mariners this year, which is the complete opposite of prior years. But might as well build on that strength, right? Take a little pressure off Julio Rodriguez, right? But you still have Randy, you still have Cal, obviously, and now you add Naylor and Gino Suarez. I thought they did such a good job. I’m sure you guys will talk more when we get to the gold part. Um, and then adding Caleb Ferguson. It’s not the sexiest reliever deal in the world, but he didn’t give up much and he needed a lefty reliever and he’s been really, really solid this year. Now, do I wish they got a big-time high leverage reliever? Would I have minded another starter in the fold? Sure. But I still thought they had a great deadline. Yeah, Marine Layer guys wanted Griffin Jacks bad. Uh, that would have been cool, but I Ferguson doesn’t do anything for me. Arm, I’ll let you start with like the gold pitch for Seattle, but they were my gold. They were your gold? Yeah. Yeah. I I I would have liked to probably see them go get another reliever arm. I just and and I know I’m a little bit of a uh hypocrite saying that like I kind of wish the you know the the Mets bought with a little bit more control and then you know I’m going to give a gold to the Mariners who didn’t really buy with control but they got the two best bats on the market and and I think that that says a lot and there I talk about like draft models and this is like a weird comparison but I think the athletics have done a really good job with drafting because they I think their draft model finds value on both ends of the spectrum of what teams are sometimes afraid of. They take the the contactoriented guy that teams are really afraid won’t have enough impact in a Jacob Wilson and it works out. Uh they take a Nick Curts who teams are afraid of is too much of a sellout for power. Uh maybe too much whiff and it works out. And I think with every team being so model driven now with the way that they approach deadlines and the way they approach things, sometimes bucking the trend can work in your favor. And with the way models are set up now, from what I understand, rental bats are just rejected. Like rental bats, no team will want to give up good pieces for rental bats anymore. like until there’s a recalibration, if that ever happens, on the way that these teams implement their models, you’re not going to see significant returns for rental bats. And they still didn’t even give up significant returns, but they gave up a little bit more than what other teams were willing to give up. And I think the same thing with draft models where a guy like Jacob Wilson becomes underrated because the draft models don’t love the EVs or other components. I think this was an opportunity to get bats that you normally just you’re not able to get these two guys without trading from one of your eight top prospects and you did that even though they’re rentals to get the two best bats on the market to get arguably the best bat to hit the deadline market as Peter said is as long as we can remember I even though they’re rentals that’s crazy. So, I I think that was really what pushed them over is they were willing to do something that other teams weren’t willing to do. And I appreciate a team kind of trying to find an edge by actually defying the model a little bit. And when you get a Gino Suarez and you get a Josh Naylor, like that’s enough to push him over the top. And yeah, I would have liked to see them maybe do something else bullpin wise, but Munoz’s brash and then what what what Bizardo is doing, Spire, like they didn’t really need that much more than Caleb Ferguson, who I think you look at some of the underlying could points towards some better days ahead. I do want to give one shout on the locker thing. So, and I’m going to do a video on this soon. Um, he changed his swing. He had really loud like Gary Sheffield type of hand movement before his swing and then I believe it was on June 6th he changed that. He brought his hands down. He stopped waggling them like crazy and he quieted his load significantly. From that point onward in AAA he hit in 42 games 366 448 720 with 15 home runs. So this guy found figured something out. But that’s a guy you’re happy to move when you’re getting a Gino Suarez. So, they sold high on a guy who they actually made an adjustment with and helped turn into a good asset. And again, they got the two best rental bats on the market and one of the best rental bats that has been available at the deadline ever. Go ahead, Jack. Anything else on the Mariners? No, I mean, perfectly said. They’re my gold. I I think subconsciously they’re also my gold because my expectations were very low. Like year in and year out make me think, oh, I mean they’re just never going to prioritize going to get offensive pieces to complement this staff, especially with Bryce Miller already ramping up trying to return. So that’s five deep at that point. That’s max output that we get from them. and you’re probably looking at a postseason rotation of Woo, Gilbert, Kirby, Castillo, and you’ve got that bullpen. The fact that they actually prioritized offense, like they exceeded my expectations by a lot. So, credit to them for setting the bar pretty damn low and also flying past it. So, my gold, my winner of the deadline, as I’m sure you probably already know by now, is the San Diego Padres’s. And I thought they won the deadline by far. By far. And Arm, I want to um actually build off of your point about how defying the models, right? You can almost find an edge in that way. I almost feel like all 29 other teams are so reluctant to part with their better prospects. And I’m sure all of these models are saying that these prospects are more valuable than some of these big league pieces are. And I think AJ Prowller, that’s how he makes the market his where he is willing to part with a Dere in a potential Mason Miller trade. Now, you can say whatever you want, but at the end of the day, like Dere is an 18-year-old in HA. Arm, I know you love him as a prospect, but there have been plenty of hyped 18year-olds in high A who have never made it. Now, even if you assume that a guy like Dere is going to make it, sure. But at the end of the day, you can’t firmly say that. What we can firmly say is Mason Miller is a top five at worst closer in the game. And if they can convert him into a starter, I almost think about it like this. Is it more likely they convert Mason Miller into a starter and he becomes elite in our game or Dere ends up being the prospect we all think he can be? I don’t know. I think both are risky, right? But everybody is acting like Dere is already an all-star, that he already made his money, that he’s already become this incredible player. But it’s less about the Mason Miller deal, and it’s more about answering every single hole that you possibly can. The Padres’s were bottom five in the league in terms of W wrc plus from their left field situation. What do they do? Raone Lauraniano, who’s got an OPS near 900, WRC plus over 140. their DH position, bottom five in the league. What do they do? Add Ryan O’Harn, who was an all-star, right? So, you add Mason Miller. You also get JP Sears in that deal, who is not a bad pitcher by any stretch of the imagination, who comes with three and a half years of control. You add to your catching situation, you get Nester Cortez Jr., you get Will Wagner as well. So, for me, when Jackie was saying about like a I was actually saying that you can’t win if you do a full fire sale, I feel like when we’re grading trade deadlines right now, I actually don’t pay as much attention to the prospect returns because we could say they’re heavy, but at the end of the day, we don’t know what they’re going to become. So, for me, Padres’s win the deadline in a landslide. So, your framing is just totally different than mine. Like if if you’re saying you can’t reward a fire sale, like you are looking at this from the sake of making your big league roster better. And if that is your criteria, then absolutely the Padres’s won the different rest of the organization. That’s my criteria is making your organization better. And at the end of the day, no, it’s not. No, it’s making your 26-man roster better. That’s your criteria. I think the organization better. I think the Padres’s went from a fringe playoff team to a potential World Series winner. That’s why I grabbed them at 20 to1 to win the World Series on BetGM. I think they were a playoff team before cuz they were what, five up or four? What were they up at the deadline? Whatever it is now, it’s even bigger. Uh I I so I I hear it and that’s why they were silver for me. My thing is a lot of teams can can do what what what Prowler did and and just deplete deplete the farm, right? Just just absolutely rip it to shreds. And I support it to a point and then I think once it goes to a certain point, that’s where he relegates. Still winner for me. clear winner, but just behind because I’m looking at it from this year, like the Mariners, I think, put themselves in a just as strong of a position without parting with one of their top eight or nine guys. You could argue maybe top 10 guys. And the Mets got really freaking good without moving Ben, Tong, Mlan, Sprro, like all these. I don’t think they’ve parted with one of their top 12 guys. Yeah, dude. But I to Peter’s point and like I was saying before with with the silver case to get O’Harn to get Oriana with a six and a half million dollar option for next year which you’re picking up the second the season’s over. Um the one thing that did I and the more I sat on it didn’t make a ton of sense to me. The Freddy for mean trade. Agreed. I ripped that as soon as it happened. I thought they gave up two pitchers with control for Freddy Fine. That was the one deal that I was like, “What are you doing, dude?” I didn’t get that one. For me, it’s not doing anything better really than what they currently had. That’s what I was saying, too. Agreed. But their farm system situation now, it wasn’t just the Dere thing. So, I love Braden Net. I think he could be a a legitimate starter for them as soon as next year. He’s disgusting. Um, and then I mean, they moved so many guys. Could Could the San Antonio Missions field a roster on Friday? Like that’s my big thing. But here’s the thing. Don’t we do this every year with the Padres’s and then they keep doing it over and over again and they somehow find a system again. This is just the way AJ Prowler operates to take his team from what I thought was a fringe playoff team to a World Series contender. So if he could do this every year and next year Arm when you’re doing a prospect report and you’re like Pller did it again. We got a guy in high A who’s taking the world by storm one of their guys who went from high A to DA is now kicking the [ __ ] out of baseballs. Like aren’t we just going to do this again next year and then he’s going to do it again the next year and then this is just how it works maybe. But I think this was like the most volume I’ve we’ve ever seen where like there there isn’t even like the the tier 2 guys to then make that leap next year. their draft guys. They traded their second round pick in Boston Baitman and their first round pick they tried to trade from from what I understand, but nobody wanted him because his shoulder was bad to start the year and he was throwing 89 miles an hour. And so like he but you know that guy next year is going to throw 94. Next year that guy’s going to throw 94. You’re going to be like kind of a great prospect. But the crazy part is like he wanted to move Cash Mayfield. He tried, but like Cash has been throwing well over the last couple outings. And you know, I think that that that’s the guy that could make the leap for them. He’s gonna draft well. But it’s the sheer volume that’s kind of crazy to me that it does kind of blow my mind. But they did make a nice little snipe here. And I do want to give and this is just scouting. The guy that might do it, Jorge Kintana, the prospect they got for Netor Cortez from the Brewers Complex Kid. That’s going to be their guy that just like, “Oh my gosh.” or they got him for for Netor Cortez. So, I I can I can support the gold um just because of what they did and you don’t get an opportunity to acquire a Mason Miller type very often and and the rest of the the the moves that they made and the depth that they made. So, like I could even be talked into a gold, but when I looked when I went through the list of like 20 prospects that went the other way, it it just pushed me to silver given the long-term organization health that the Mariners still have now. Were they bought to go allin for this season, but they are still farm systemwise that wouldn’t have even dropped them down a rank, I don’t think. Yeah. Like if they were two, they’re still two. So, I think that that’s pretty impressive. Screw them prospects. Give me all the Give me all the players like Prowler. Thanks. All right, before we get to the losers, we’re going to [ __ ] on some teams in a second, but Arm, let’s talk about our friends at Lids. You guys just had a great event. And it’s so cool that we have this partnership now because you know when what I love hats like I have probably 30 in my closet. I have a couple right here. And I’ve just been collecting hats for a while. And I would always always always there was a lids in our mall in Santa Barbara and even in LA we’d play in baseball tournaments. Whenever we were at the mall, Lids was the first store because they have the best collection. And now they have cards, too. Yes. And that’s the big that’s the big push now. Like they got cards. And if you go to whatever local lids you got and you just buy they got Tops Chrome, right? And then they’re going to have products every single time. You know, they have hobby boxes which usually you got to go to a card shop to find and it’s going to be pretty expensive there. and they’re always you’re not able to get those hobby boxes at other retail stores. But even if you just buy a blaster box and you let them know, you just say the code JB lids to them, you get a free access pass membership for a year. So that gets you 20% off headwear. So for a hat, 20% off that gets you 10% off apparel, 10 10% off novelty, and then access to product giveaways, exclusive experience, and early access to product drops. I know they just did something with uh three like lucky access pass members. They got to meet Ronald Akunia Jr. uh who came to Lids during All-Star weekend. So, all you have to do is buy a blaster box and then with that purchase, if you just say JB Lids, you get all of those things for a year. Um so, it’s it’s a no-brainer there. And I actually went into my lids the other day to finish embroidering the JB logo uh that we’re going to give away that hat, but finish embroidering the JB logo. Stay tuned on our socials. We’re going to put out a video and giveaway. It’s a throwback Marllin’s hat with the Just Baseball logo on it. Um, but I just went in there to get the hat embroidered and then of course I had to go buy another blaster box and I hit a Ellie de la Cruz card out of there that was short print. Um, I I did sell it here at the National because I wanted to buy some other stuff, but I sold it for like a couple hundred bucks. So, that was fun. But uh yeah, just go to your closest lids, go tell them JB Lids when you buy a blaster box and you get that free access premium membership for a year. For me, it’s it’s always a good gauge to see who runs the league. When you walk into your local lids and you see their jersey hanging up like that, that was my big thing. I would just gauge like, oh, it’s Pat Certan’s league now. I like that. Which is great. Very funny thing happened actually when I was at the leads, too. woman comes in and she it was obviously just before this Yankee series and she goes, “Do you have an Anthony Vulpi jersey?” And the Lids guys go, “No. Uh, we have Judge, but we we don’t have Vulpi here because it’s it’s a Florida it’s it’s a South Florida Lids. Um, they’re not going to carry like the the the third most popular player.” But then the woman walks out and the guys are like, “We’ve never been asked for an Anthony Vulpi jersey before, especially now.” That’s the I was like, “Oh, yeah, that was kind of poetic.” But, uh, they do have a lot of jerseys, I will say. But, Florida lids is probably not going to have the Vulpy. You’re gonna get your Augustine Ramirez. They can’t even sell Vulpy jerseys in New York right now. I have to buy all of them just to keep just to keep them going. All right, now it’s time for our first break before we get to trade deadline losers. Okay, let’s talk about the teams that stunk it up, disappointed their fans, and had them all crashing out. Your bronze medal or I’m Do you guys have honorable mentions that you want to talk about before the bronze medal? Jack, we’ll start with you. My only honorable mention is the White Socks because Luis Roberts still on the roster. I just I don’t really understand. Yeah. No, I get that. But at the same time, I just I wonder what these teams were trying to give them, right? We we saw that report between the Phillies where seemed like Chris gets very willing to make a deal and Dave Dumbrosski basically said, “We don’t even want him.” So if no teams even want him, what is he supposed to do? I like dump the money. I have no idea. Hope that he plays well for the next two months, but they’ve been doing that for the last year and a half. For me, it’s been Luis Robert for the last year and a half. Like, we’ve been on Lub. When are you going to do it? When are you going to do it? When are you going to do it? And the fact that it didn’t even come now, it feels like his value is truly in the gutter. Yeah. My honorable mention is is the Reds. Um I because they did [ __ ] I guess. Like, so they’re not my bronze, but I Cabrian Hayes. So, this is what I was trying to understand. you’re you go get Cabrian Hayes, you’re perpetually cheap franchise. So even though it’s an affordable deal, like Ryan McMahon for the Yankees makes sense that you’re taking on that money because it’s like that’s a cheap deal. It’s not going to impact our spending whatsoever. Every dollar counts for Bob Castellini’s team. So that’s still a chunk of change that could be allocated elsewhere. And instead, you’re allocating it towards a third base project. And you could say, well, but he’s an elite defender. Great. But now you’re punting Noel Vi Marte to the corner outfield. So what any any defensive value you’re getting from not any but like a portion of the defensive value you’re getting from Kabrian Hayes the third is now being just given up in corner outfield. So I I thought that was kind of weird. Zack Latell did did you go into the deadline saying they need a Zack Latell type? Yeah. Everyone can use a Zack Latell type. Yeah. Get outs. I actually mocked that one a couple months ago. Yeah, Jack and I were completely aligned. You’re on an island there. I had to go to the Dodgers. For me personally, I just I didn’t see the fit. Um I would have especially with their starting pitching situation. Like again, you can always use innings. I would have rather seen them address the bullpen. Like, okay, great. You have Zack Latell. You still have a back end of the bullpen that I don’t trust. As good as Pagan has been, as good as Tony S. Jack. Is it Santon? Santion. Santion. Tony Santion. As good as those guys have been, if this team sneaks into the wild card, do you trust those guys? I I don’t I don’t think you really have your finger on the pulse of Red’s Nation like I do Red’s country. Uh you put Latell in the bullpen, he’s ticking up to 99 to 101. Agreed. They all they want is just to replicate Nick Martinez 25 different times. Yes. Yes. And you also got a flyballish pitcher with a home run to fly ball rate of 15%. Nice. And you put him in great American ballpark. Fit a 489. I just don’t fit is below five. The only thing the only thing that saved them from the podium for me was And Duhar to be honest. Like I know. I love that pickup. It was a great pickup. That’s And the fact that they did stuff that that was Yeah, but Andar was actually part of the reason why they’re not on the podium for me, too. But yeah, I I thought that was a bizarre deadline. Nick Crawl is also on my uh I don’t really get what you do GM grouping now. Really? Yeah. I don’t I can’t follow your logic. GM grouping now. So Arm, I’ll throw it right back over to you. You’re bronze. I could interchange all these teams, man. I really could. I I’m going to go with the Tigers. I wanted to go with another team here that I I’m going to go a little bit higher on because of the they didn’t make as much of an impact move, but I I’ll get to the the other move in a second. Charlie Morton, Kyle Finnegan. Let me know if I missed somebody. Charlie Morton, Kyle Finnegan, Paul Sewald, Rafael Montero, and and and is that it? Paddock. Chris Paddock. And Cody, how could I forget? Don’t forget Cody Hwer. Oh, okay. Hoyer. thought I thought he was extinct a couple years ago. When did Scott Harris switch bodies with Michael Elias? I know this is the most Michaelas deadline I’ve se number four starters and like buy low relievers can we can we add into the fold here? And I appreciate the fact that they didn’t give up much but like you have at the top of your system I think the most elite duo that you got in minor league baseball. No one, no one’s going to ask for the number one prospect in baseball, Kevin McGonagle, and number 10 prospect in baseball, Max Clark. No one’s even going to ask for for for uh Hose Presceno. You could have moved to Tyron Warzo. You could have moved I don’t even think you have Max Anderson has been playing out of his mind. Plenty of teams would have been interested in him. I There’s a lot of guys that I think you could have easily moved that you wouldn’t have felt and they didn’t do it. And this is a team that was playing out of their minds at the start of the season, has hit a wall, but is still so comfortably in a playoff position because of how good they were to start the season. I would have liked to see them just address things a little bit more and to be a little bit more aggressive. You don’t have to trade from your blue chips, but do something a little bit more impactful. Especially, we talked about the up the middle situation. Would have liked to see a little bit more at shortstop and center field and like just continuing to bolster the lineup. I I just I thought it was a disappointing deadline for an organization that’s in a spot where they could have done a Mariners type of thing and not felt it. Jack, before I throw it over to you, I’ll just add on to what Arm was saying because I also had the Tigers as my bronze medal. And Arum, you know, you were saying a lot about how these moves are not really impactful. Like I’m going to go a step further and be like, I don’t really like any of the players that they got. Just point blank period. Like when you’re adding Charlie Morton, you’re probably not adding Charlie Morton for the playoffs. As good as he’s been in his career at this point, no, you’re not. You don’t want Charlie Morton starting a playoff game for you. So what’s the point? Like let a young guy come up or, you know, find somebody else in your organization or even go cheaper than that. I I don’t really understand what the point was of that. And like I almost like the Chris Paddock move more than adding in Charlie Morton, right? And like Kyle Finnegan has been the poster child for a really bad Nationals bullpen for a while now. Like I know he’s he’s had years where he’s got 45 saves and all that kind of stuff, but he was the I will say he was the only good thing going in that Nationals bullpen, but it’s not even like a great thing. And Paul Seawald, like do you want him in high leverage? Do you want Raphael Montero in high leverage? Do you want Cody Hoyer in high leverage? No. Right. So even the moves that they made, not only were they low impact, like I don’t want those guys in high leverage. So they’re really just to get you through the rest of the regular season. And I feel like the Tigers have enough in their farm system or could have even gone even cheaper than those guys or you just actually sack up and go get some real impact players because the American League is so wide open. And if you add like a legit bullpen arm, you added a legit bat and he didn’t go volume, you probably have a way better deadline and you’re probably better set up for the playoffs. But they decided against that. Again, they’re not silver or gold because they did add a lot of volume, but I left it very disappointed. And it’s not like Finnegan’s like coming with control or anything like that where you could talk yourself into it because you got him for a couple years. like why couldn’t you tack in a couple more prospects and go get one of the other good rentals and try to outbid some of these other teams? It just seemed like they weren’t even really interested in doing that. Um and then you know you get some some smoke on on being in on Suarez or whatever it may be. Like I didn’t even feel like that was what they needed to do the most. And maybe if they wanted to slide McKinstry at that point over to to shortstop that could have been what what they did. But I I I if you were willing to kick the tires there, couldn’t you have addressed the bullpin with a little bit more impact? I You have Jose Akiti just threw a rehab game, I think today, and and looked pretty good. Uh you have Sawyer Gibson Long who’s probably going to be coming back from from from an injury if I’m not mistaken, sometime soon, maybe I’m wrong about that. But like I would almost just throw those guys out there to get you through the rest of the regular season before I’m trading for Chris Paddock. I just don’t really get it. And again, like you said, none of those guys are going to be really taking on important roles in the postseason. And and I I just I just was disappointed with it overall. And and is Sew even healthy right now? I think I thought he was on the IIL. So like I it just I don’t I don’t understand it. Jack, where you at for bronze? Um I did not go the Detroit way. Uh they were safe from the podium because Randy Dobnack was also attached to the Paddock deal. So, he’ll probably throw 10 starts at a two RA. He’ll probably be the next CC Milwaukee thing, but we’ll see. They’ll just run him into the ground, but he’s going to be dominant. Yeah. And I stand by congratulations to CC on being a member of the Hall of Fame. I don’t think they actually like officially talked about that at any point, but a huge congratulations to that Hall of Fame class. Uh, I will stand by CC Sabathia being the greatest deadline acquisition in the history of Major League Baseball. And I don’t think it was particularly close. You look at what he did in two months. It was absolutely absurd. Uh my bronze goes to the Cubs. It was high volume of mid. And the one guy that I liked that they got pushed Matt Shaw to the bench. Like I like the Willie Castro thing and then all of a sudden Shaw is sitting on Sunday because Willie Castro is playing third. Like okay, whatever. Um they they added a couple bullpen arms, but they needed an eighth inning guy and they didn’t get an eighth inning guy. So they’re still going to trust Brad Keller to throw the eighth inning. And Kitridge is the scariest seventh I can imagine. Like if you’re watching Kitridge throw in October, that’s the guy that gets hit to Saturn. I know, but he used to be the holds accumulator, but now not so much. Now, I mean, at the end of the day, it’s a three four bull penny RA at this point for Kitri, but uh Sroka being their starting pitching move kind of pissed me off. They had the world at their fingertips and apparently Jed was just anti-moving anybody of consequence in that farm system. And that is a horrible signal to what? Not even of consequence. No. Yeah, that’s what I said. Like no player of consequence. So no, even players that were like not even a big deal to move. I’m saying like it they were anti-moving anybody. Yeah. I mean, dude, like again, the fact that Michael Seroka was the big one when that impeded you from going to get a Joe Ryan or a Mackenzie Gore, like Mackenzie Gore seemed like it there was legit smoke there on deadline day and then all of a sudden that falls by the wayside and you got the guy that’s making a [ __ ] ton of money to like be not good. Go get Mel Kelly. Go get Mel Kelly. Go get Gallon. I’m stunned Gallon is still in Arizona. There were so many options for them to pursue and they went with one of the crappiest ones I thought. And no disrespect thrown to Michael Sroka, but like come on, that’s your big splash. That’s your, hey, Kyle Tucker, we’re going for it. We’re going to win a World Series and prove that we can bring you back. If I’m Tucker’s camp, I’m looking at this saying like they want Owen Casey to just backfill my job and I leave somewhere for somewhere else. Yeah, I get that. The Cubs didn’t make my they didn’t make the podium for me just because like when you look at each move in a vacuum like they needed a starting pitcher and you look at the underlying with Michael Sroka a much better defense than what Washington has behind him. I actually do do think that he pitches well for them and they didn’t have to give up a ton for him. And then the Willie why why go get Mackenzie Gore when you can trust the underlying data on Michael Soka? I’m totally with you. You know what? I don’t even have a response to that one. you kind of just put me in a trash can on there. Um, and then the Willie Castro move like didn’t give up much for him. He is a good player. Like I think it does help to put more good players on the Cubs. And Jack, we were talking about it on the Friday episode. They’ve tried with Birdie. They’ve tried with Videl Bruhan. They tried to, you know, make their own Willie Castro from Papermâché. And they were just like, screw it. Let’s just go get Willie Castro. So again, I like those two moves. Do I wish the Cubs did more? Yes. And that’s why we’ll talk about the Cubs a little bit further when we get to some of these awards. Um, so I already said the Tigers were my bronze. Arum, back to you. Your silver medal of sucking. I think I got to go Cubs just because of the way they set this thing up, too. Just the way that and and I do like the the Willie Castro move. just don’t think they Matt Shaw was finally coming along here. I I just that made the move a little bit less necessary to me with the way that Shaw has been playing, you know, since the All-Star break. And I know Willie Castro can play every position on the diamond and that’s a nice get and they didn’t give up a ton and and and and that’s that’s great. I think that was actually still a good move, but that was their best move in my opinion and and I just don’t think that can be your best move as a rental Willie Castro. The other thing is just from from what I understand and and just some of the things I’ve heard about how the deadline unfolded like the Cubs weren’t even close to actually being aggressive buyers. It wasn’t like the oh all the asking prices were too tall which is what they did in damage control by the way is that’s what they did shortly after is they start you know feeding stories out and saying oh yeah the asking prices were just ridiculous. Yes, they were for Joe Ryan and Edward Cabrera and whoever. You could have got air Kelly and I get a rental. You don’t even need a trade from the top of your your farm system. You could have probably made a run at some of the top dogs though with what you’ve got. But they’re afraid they’re going to lose Kyle Tucker, which they shouldn’t be given the trade that they made. They should be prepared to give him whatever amount of money that he wants. That you’re the Chicago Cubs. You don’t need to buy more real estate. So, that was the one side of it. And then on top of that is like they weren’t even really like there were trades that they could have made giving up a Jonathan Long or Jefferson Rojos who are two good prospects but they are inconsequential to you at this point with all the other guys that you have above them and they were saying no to some of those guys. So like that’s where you lose me. Like I’m sorry I’m moving a Jonathan Wong any day of the week for some of these rental arms that were out there. It just that was where I I felt like this is a team that’s too dedicated to the model and the process. And that’s where I think Jed Hoyer has some of the paralysis that we talk about with some of these other GMs that have their teams that are on the edge on the cusp of being competitive and can’t quite push themselves across the finish line. And I the biggest thing if they didn’t make the Kyle Tucker trade before the season, I don’t think that I knocked this deadline nearly as much. But you essentially got a rental in Kyle Tucker and gave up. And this is the part that I don’t I can’t follow the logic because if they want to say we’re not trading big pieces for rentals, got it. Okay. Stick to it then. Why trade six years of Cam Smith, what is it, four years of ESC Pedes for a rental and then say we’re not trading for rentals? We’re not willing to move some of our second tier prospects for rentals. The logic isn’t even consistent here. So, I could say, okay, yeah, you’re sticking to the model. I get it. But did the model say trade 10 a decade of good players essentially when you combine Smith and and Pretties for one year of Kyle Tucker? I I don’t think it says that. And sure, then you could say, “Oh, well, it g it increased their chances of retaining Kyle Tucker.” Well, they don’t seem confident enough to move Owen Casey, who’s not going to get a shot this year. Uh because they would have moved him if they felt like they had a good chance at keeping Kyle Tucker. So, I just can’t follow the Cubs logic here. And maybe there’s something I’m missing, but that was a big reason why I was disappointed in it. They didn’t even get serious about moving their second tier, guys. And when you look at the postseason rotation right now, what’s it look like? What’s it look like? Are you going you’re going Who gets the ball game one? Mike Sroa’s peripherals. [Laughter] Just the peripherals. Just the peripherals. Just the ext when when Michael his underlying data looks [ __ ] awesome apparently according to Peter. I I just I just don’t get it. So you go Shaa Matt Boyd Sroa. First of all, Matt Boyd is [ __ ] awesome. I get it. I Yes, I get it. He’s great. That’s a good three, I think. Am I the only one who thinks that? Yeah, you were you were the only one that thinks that they could be squaring off against the Marlins I think in the first round and I think I like the Marlin situation better. You guys make a lot of really good points. The only point I’m going to add as well is I wish there was a little bit of Prowler and Jed Hoyer, right? He just got his extension anyway. 1% of 1% Prell Hoyer. Why couldn’t you overpay? Like take a second and realize like you are in a window right now. PCA is having an MVP season. You only have Kyle Tucker for so long, right? You have all these guys. You’re playing so well. Why couldn’t you give the Twins so much for Joe Ryan that they couldn’t say no? They were clearly willing to trade guys with years of control. And they were asking for the world of Joe Ryan. You have a farm system where you can literally give them the world. And I think all of us, Cubs fans included, and in the media, if they gave the Twins such a huge package for Joe Ryan, all three of us were like, “Whoa, when it would happen, I guarantee then on this episode, we’d be stomach and be like, screw it. Go for it. Give them Casey. Give them Alcantara. Give them everyone for Joe Ryan because not only do you have him for this year, you have him for multiple years of control.” And that puts them in a great spot not only for this playoffs, but then also it tells Kyle Tucker like we’re willing to overpay just to win with you right now. And we also traded for a pitcher with years of control. So we’re still going to be really good next year. You should sign here for a really long time. So what that could have done is given Kyle Tucker more pause to say, you know what, this team is really buying for me and it makes you better. And what do you have to do? You have to part with blocked prospects to do it. They should have given the Twins everything. Made the twins be like go to ownership and be like we have to do it. Like we have to do this trade and they could have done that. And then they could have instead even if they didn’t want to do that Kelly got the Dbacks Cole Drake, Mitch Brat, and David Hagaman. Those are three fine prospect arms. Cole Drake is pretty nasty. He’s 25. Mitch Brat is fine. He’s soft tossing left. he’s going to be maybe a fivestar. I I just Jefferson Rohos would be the best player of that package by a mile and they don’t feel that. I I just that’s the part where and I know that the Dbacks were pursuing pitching, but that’s where you give up a little bit more offense. Mel Kelly would be such a better three in the postseason than Mike Sarroka. I that’s what that’s where I get really disappointed. May maybe Jameson Tyion comes back and you give me still give me Mel Kelly. So that part and then you hand it off to Kitridge. I know Brad Keller and Palencia have been great. We’ll see you in the playoffs, but I Jed Hoyer was disappointing and then not being able to follow the logic and then watching them do damage control in the afterwards. The Cubs have just been pissing me off lately. Jack, where you at? Silver. Um, yeah, one more quick thing. It is really cool to see Sarroa is ripping a career low 341 xobicon. So that that’s big. That’s your turnaround. Uh my silver is the Boston Red Sox. Thank you. Come on. Come on. I mean here’s the deal. Steven Mats, you’re paying the back half of $1 million. So you probably are paying five for that. Um, and you gave up Bla1 Jordan, who is actually hitting the living crap out of the ball right now. So, that already feels like a crappy move. When you have Chapman in that bullpen, you’re just adding another lefty in Mats, who is lower leverage than your highest leverage lefty. So, you’re getting a seventh inning guy for somebody that is hitting the living crap out of the baseball right now in the minor leagues. The only other deal they made was my biggest headcratcher. The headlining prospect in the Denvers trade. James Tibs III goes from Boston to the Dodgers for a guy that was effectively pushed out of their starting rotation by Blake Snell coming back. Dustin May is a couple innings shy of doubling his previous careerh high in the big leagues. He’s at 104 innings already. Do you trust Dustin May to throw more than 104 innings in a Major League Baseball season? He has a 485 ERA. He did not have a job in this Dodger rotation and you move the headlining prospect that you got back for Rafie Des. Can Can I tell you the funniest part about it too? He pitched on the 27th at Fenway went five innings of fourrun ball and the Red Sox said we need that. It’s amazing to me. Here’s what gets me about the Dustin May deal. Because if you’re the Red Sox, you pride yourself on pitching development, right? You bring in Craig Brezlo, you have Andrew Bailey, and if you said, you know, we see something in Dustin May that we’re going to get into the lab in the off season and unlock it. Yeah. Giving yourself plenty of time. Too bad there is no offseason because he’s a rental. So, what you’re asking from Dustin May to do is to come in and maybe they’ll make small tweaks, but I feel like all of us are aligned here. He’s not a small tweak away from unlocking what the Dodgers originally thought when he was in that rotation. He hasn’t looked good at all this year. So, and then he’s not going to throw in a playoff game for you. And then just the optics of that deal, Jack, you already mentioned it. That was like the only big-time prospect you got in the Rafael De. Yeah. Now you are like I’m already seeing the DFA Hicks [ __ ] going on right now. So you’re really like resting your laurels on Kyle Harrison figuring it out. And I would clearly they don’t feel confident enough about him being able to figure it out to put him in the rotation right now. They’d rather have Dustin May with a near five RA than to have Kyle Harrison just get called up. Instead, they’d rather trade the prospect they got in that deal for a guy that I don’t think would be that much better than Kyle Harrison if he brought him up right now. And then here’s the thing about what I’m also saying, the fallout. Like Arm, you were mentioning Jed Hoyer’s press conferences. How bad they were. Were there anyone worse than Craig Brezlo? Uncomfortably aggressive. What does that even mean? What do you mean you were uncomfort? You know who was uncomfortably aggressive? AJ Prowler. and he added 12 guys to his team, right? He added seven players. That’s like 25% of a 25man roster. You added two. And now I don’t even mind the Steven Matt steel. I don’t know what Blaze Jordan is going to become. But I like Steven Mats because he five eligible. He answers a Steven Matz answers a problem for them. They needed a guy who can, you know, give them multiple innings in the bullpen while also spot start. So that’s fine. He’s a decent arm, right? But again, he’s a rental. like you don’t even have him for control either. So again, the prospect return, Red Sox fans will probably say, “Well, we didn’t even want plays Jordan.” Well, okay, but all you got was a rental Steven Matts. What’s he really going to do for you? Now, the good thing about the Red Sox is since the deadline, they’ve been hot, right? They overtook the Yankees, so they’re playing good baseball right now, which is great, but the deadline in a vacuum was a disaster. not only the moves that they made, but then the press conferences after hearing that teams hate dealing with Craig Brezlo. That’s horrible to hear if you’re a fan. Like our GM, nobody likes him, nobody wants to deal with him. That’s a terrible thing to hear. Yeah. And then the other thing that’s kind of interesting in this deal as well is that it’s, you know, he’s not a highly regarded, he’s not a maybe even a top 30 guy, but it wasn’t just Tibs. They threw in Zack Heard on top of that. And Hehard like has been pretty darn good in double A playing corner outfield and giving you a little bit of speed, a little bit of pop. He’s got an 801 OPS. Guy that good swing decisions like high probability big leager and and could be a fourth outfield type. Maybe there’s a little bit more than that. Like low ground ball rate, 24 doubles on the season. He’s 22 years old. So they threw in like not a nothing prospect on top of tips for this rental Dustin May where you can’t again change too much in a short period of time. They’re my gold is to knock out two birds and one snow like they are my gold of losers because it wasn’t just the lack of moves. The moves that they did make don’t even make sense and then they gave up some prospect capital. It wasn’t anything crazy, but it was the headliner on your Devil’s deal, which you tried to and I I actually agreed with the Devil’s deal, but part of the sale was, hey, we just got this guy that we liked out of the draft that was a first round pick and oh yeah, we liked him so much that we attached another prospect to him and traded him for a rental who has a four something. I I just I can’t follow that logic either. So, they’re my gold of losers from the deadline. Honestly, the more that we’ve talked about the Red Sox and the Cubs, I don’t know if I went the right direction with my gold because we haven’t even talked about them yet. You guys didn’t mention them in their honorable mention and they’re my gold. But Jack, I’m looking at those eyes. Do we have the same gold? We haven’t talked about my gold yet. Go ahead. Well, I want to know where you’re going. So, I’m going to say it and I’m just going to read your eyes. The Pittsburgh Pirates put together the worst cell job I have ever seen in my life. So bad. So bad. They are my gold I think by far. Like I by far I had the one that sent me over the edge. The one that sent me to a different planet was Bailey Falter. Yeah. and is several years of control and 115 innings at a 37 RA for Evan Cisk, a 28-year-old left-handed side winder who’s been not very good over the course of his minor league career. And Ken Moss, who is hitting .270 with seven homers, and he’s a first baseman in HY. That was Falter. Yeah, I understand that he’s out of options, but this guy has proven to be a good major league starting pitcher. You know, the price of a good major league starting pitcher is higher than that, right? Like quadruple that. Like quintuple that, right? Yeah. I I sorry. Tigers, congratulations. You’re off the podium. Pirates have to be my bronze at least. I I [ __ ] that up. Yeah, they this I was literally just thinking of teams that like were actually transacting in a way that I like was memorable for me. They flubbed every return. Every return. The only one that was not the worst was Bard. Then you think about what the value of the asset is and then you’re like that return sucks. So So it was bad. Yeah. This was one where like you always think I similar to what we’re talking about with the Giants and the Mets deal where it’s like the public list versus private and and how much more quickly updating it is and like what prospects the Mets would rather have given up versus you know keeping an AJ Euing which people would have been like oh they wouldn’t have thought twice about AJ Euing getting moved but they were upset about Blade Tidwell because like again pipeline can only refresh so many times but that’s not the case with the Pirates. Several of the guys are the guys Jack just laid out like they traded a controllable starter like we we look at what Dustin May just got. How is how is Bailey Falter getting you that? Why is Andrew Heeney on your roster? JohnF on your roster. Why is Tommy Fam on your roster? Per per Mark Feinand John Morosei promised us that Tommy Fam would be traded and he wasn’t. Why? But there it is crazy like why was Tommy Fam not traded? Maybe there’s something behind the scenes that you don’t know. Whatever. I’d imagine Tommy Fam wants to play anywhere else than there right now. And he’s been playing really well of late. Not trading Heene, not trading Fam. And the That’s another We’re talking about GM on on like complete I wouldn’t even say fraud watch because I don’t think anybody’s ever accusing uh the Pirates front office of doing anything right or being savvy, but it’s it’s crazy what what’s going on there. So, I I would put them as a bronze and I think that’s generous. It’s just I can’t supersede the other two, but I didn’t think they did well on a single return. Was there a single trade that you thought they did okay on? Zero. No. What was the Rogers deal? Cuz Krian Hayes was a glorified salary dump that gets deferred. Krian Hayes was okay. The fact that you got a prospect from in division and you dump that money that you surely won’t invest back into the roster. Uh is is okay. I can’t believe they didn’t trade IKF. Like do you remember on our um trade deadline predictions and we were doing wants and needs and all that kind of stuff. We sent IKF to like 20 different teams. Yeah. And he didn’t go anywhere. And he didn’t go anywhere. And also I thought that the Pirates had two good assets that they really could have gotten a hall for and they didn’t end up trading any of them. Why is Dennis Santana on the team? Yeah. He’s got a year and a half of control. He’s been a great reliever for you guys this year. Are you telling me you couldn’t have even gotten a decent package for him and now Dennis Santana is just going to be on the Pirates and you’ll probably trade him at the deadline next year for less or you might not be able to trade him because he’s a reliever and his name is also Dennis Santana so we have no idea if he’s going to be able to replicate this and Mitch Keller as well like I understand not trading Mitch Keller I don’t think that they had to but no starting pitchers with control were traded at this deadline if you said I’m not even going to ask for what a lot of these teams are, which is an overpay. I just want the value for Mitch Keller. They would have gotten a great return and they didn’t. Like they are they are gold by far. Their deadline was horrible. Well, and then they acquired Rogers to flip him and then they flipped him for like the baseball version of Dylan Riyola and and Ivan Brethar who just like emulates Aaron Judge swing and he might be a great I don’t I don’t mean to to bag on him or anything like that, but I mean he is another guy that you’re not getting any defensive value really and he’s in high A with a 705 OPS as a power high as a power over hit guy with four home runs. So that’s who you flip the other piece for. Uh I I just I don’t think they another first baseman with with getting Ken Moss and Evans Cisk was insane. I agree for Bailey Falter. And then I I just can’t believe they couldn’t get more for David Bedar. Joey Bart, I they look at what Fine got. Like why why couldn’t you move Joey Bart? If they move Joey Bart for and I know they don’t need pitching, but in theory for the value of what Fine got, I would have said that was worth the exercise. I So I don’t I don’t really know, especially given that you just acquired Raphael Flores. Why would you acquire Raphael Flores and then keep Joey Bart? They got another catcher in the deal, too. Two catchers at that package. And Mitch Keller, why is he on your team? You don’t spend money. You could clear up some money and instead he’s still on your team and you still have all of these other holes. That one also. And Bubba Chandler isn’t even up. Yeah. But the the fact that you would rather pay Mitch Keller and then keep Bubba Chandler in triple, I I don’t really understand it. But according to to Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Ben Sherington valued Keller’s leadership and proven performance. Nice. Quote, “If we’re going to be better in 2026, we need more of that, not less.” Does he know that Andrew Heene is not on the roster in 2026? Does he know Tommy Fam’s not on the roster in 226? Do you think he does? I I I don’t know. I actually don’t know. I did like the Jeter Martinez cat for uh Ferguson. Ferguson. I was gonna say my favorite trade of the month of July for them was Adam Frasier for Cam Deainy. I like adding Deain. That was a nice gap to their AAA system. That was that was good value. That was the best move of the deadline for them and it happened a week and a half earlier. Real quick before I forget it, he’s talking about AJ Prower. This headline from John Haymon. The Padres’s made a real run at Mackenzie Gore trade. That’s awesome. Talk about not caring about optics. You would then have given up James Wood and C.J. Abrams for a player that’s no longer on your roster. and then and of course Gore and then traded in in Dere would have had to be in that deal to then get Mackenzie Gore back. That would have been alltime funny. I and I I know like I know it’s a good situation but for Gore with how much Pller ragdalled him through his minor league ascension. He might have he might have had like like PTSD going back there, dude. He like that could have been akin to Siberia for him if he was going back to San Diego. Oh, that would have been the best. Solace. Everyone else gone. They have no FARP system left. They’re just not fielding a AAA team next year. Good. We got Mackenzie Gore. I also, you made a point earlier, Arum, that I just wanted to quickly tie back to the Mason Miller trade about how GMs, you know, grade their own prospects. I wonder what AJ Pller’s thoughts were about Dere. He’s an 18-year-old in high with a 115 WRC plus. Obviously, he loved him, but I wonder if he was as high on Dere was as the rest of us are. I don’t know. He had to be. Had to be, but you never know. I wonder I wonder how he valued Derek ask him now probably say I’ve always hated him. Yeah. When you when you say that when you say that, what do you think Prell could value him as? Um, again, I don’t know. I don’t know prospect other than top 10 prospect in the game. He’s fra maybe maybe that was straight from Prowler. Yeah, maybe Prowler’s read the fagraphs list and be like, “Wait a minute, this guy sucks. Get him out of here. He’s 21.” Not not consensus top 10 everywhere else. Just saying, Jack, is the freeze a bust. Next on First Take. All right. He already made a Sports Center top 10 play, might I add. He He already made a play like the Lancing lug nuts ended up in the top 10 because he sprinted back and made like a diving catch in the outfield. Are you guys ready for awards? Yes. These are gonna be fun. So, we went over the winners and losers. These are just fun. I want to start with two from our Discord. Again, another reminder, if you want to join the Just Baseball Discord, the best baseball group chat in the world. We’re having such a blast in there. Everything baseball all the time. During the deadline, that Discord, thousands of messages a minute. It was such a blast. But still, we’re getting ready for the postseason, all the fallout. It’s going to be a blast. Make sure to join through the link in the episode description. Just $10 a month, less than a price of a sandwich. And if you just want to try it out, see what it’s like, $5 a week. All right. So, again, that link is in the episode description. So, this comes to us from Lions in our Discord. Big Mariners fan. He’s calling this the 54% award. and he’s thinking about Jerry Dotto, his famous quote where we just want to build a sustainable model. We want to win at least 54% of our games. Who does that sound like? Jed Hoyer and the Chicago Cubs. Congratulations. You won the 54% award. Arm. That’s kind of basically the reason you were so upset with them. Yeah. Well, I saw that quote, too. That’s why I think I said like, “Babe, wake up. A new 54% just dropped because that was essentially what his his presser was.” And again, I understand it. I understand you also just should keep that to yourself, especially with Cubs fans. Uh but yeah, he was like like kind of moving in his chair too as he was talking. I don’t know the the post the the post deadline pressers as we talked about from from Brezlo and Hoyer that pushed him up the podium for me. Agreed. Jack, this next award is from you and it also comes to us from our Discord from DYM. The can we please stop pretending he’s getting traded award goes to Luis Robert and I think he’s cooking because who in the world wants Luis Robert? Why would you give the White Sox anything of value? It’s clear the White Sox are just trying to get a taker and why would you want to be in that market, right? So unless Luis Robert has a great second half, like I think he’s just on the White Socks until his contract is up and then we’ll see if anybody wants to sign him. We are two years removed. Let me pull up his 2023 here. 38 jacks, 20 steels. I know because I’ve built that into plenty of narratives before and it keeps biting me in the ass. We’re two years removed from a five- win season. 38 jacks and 20 steals. A 128 WRC plus. A lot of things happened two years ago. We’re zero days removed from ass. All right, let’s move on to more awards. Uh, so these are ones that I invented and again they’re hilarious because I invented them. Yeah. So this one I want to start with because again this is prospect focused and I could have gotten this one wrong. So I really wanted to open up to you guys who you think truly won this award. This is called the Joe Ryan for Nelson Cruz trade award. Okay. And it’s given to the trade that was a 40man crunch that might end up going poorly. I said the winner of that is Adrien Howser in exchange for Curtis Meade and two prospects because Curtis Me has put up great numbers in the minor leagues but has not been able to fully break through for the Tampa Bay Rays. Now I understand why the Rays were willing to part with him, right? He’s a 40man crunch. They had to make a decision with him. And Adrien Howser, I don’t know if they think they’ll find lightning in a bottle with him and that’ll continue for more than right now. I didn’t really understand that move, but it is what it is. And I feel like Curtis Meat could bite them. But I’m I’m curious if you guys agree with me giving that trade the award or if you have another one in mind where you’re like, uh, that prospect’s going to be good. At risk of being sued for for defamation, Luis Roberts last 20 games, 309, 392, 500 line. So zero days from being pretty good. Um, four homers in that span, only 18% K rate. 21 days removed from being 21 days removed from being not good. Uh, that’s a good one. You know, I think people might gravitate towards the the Mets, you know, Giants one. I just don’t, you know, I think Blade Tidwell magically figures it out. Sure, maybe. Uh, I just don’t see a scenario where where uh Drew Gilbert gets so good that you regret it. I just I just can’t I can’t see it with Hower. I didn’t really just I didn’t it didn’t seem like it was a need for them. They have 48,000 arms. So, it just kind of felt like a a feudal move, but I feel like they were they may have been dangling Curtis Maid around and just seeing like who could we who could we get for him because of the 40man crunch and that was the best they could do. But that probably is the best answer unless I can think of another one. Honestly, the other one I would think of is is Stephen Matz because at least you’re gonna get value from Hower. Like Matts might be useless and I understand that there was not a 40man spot necessarily for Bla1 Jordan, but at the same time, the Red Sox are looking for a first baseman. You could have probably just rolled out Blaze, gave him a shot, see what happens. You could have moved Von Gryom, who’s just in Siberia essentially right now, and you know, given Bla1 Jordan a shot. Bla1 Jordan’s bad at ball data this year is crazy. and the guy’s overcome injuries, over overcome mental health challenges that he’s been open about. That is I think is a really amazing part of of his journey, but also just purely the baseball player right now. The data is legit. And it’s not just first base. You can plug in at third. They moved him just because of the 40man implications. And I understand he’s excess for them, but it was a 86% inzone contact rate and a 90th percentile exit velocity of 107 miles an hour. Again, even if he’s just a one war player for a couple months of Stephen Matts, that that might not look good. Jack, do you have any other better answers for that than those two? I’m just he’s not a prospect, but like I really am rooting for James Alman of Minnesota. Like we already saw a really good major league season from him. We did. So, you know that it’s in the tank. Uh, obviously it hasn’t worked whatsoever over the last two years, but I don’t know. Like just the idea of James Alman is still enticing enough for me to give him a shout in this exercise. It’s a good answer. The next award is called the Noller ID award. It’s given to the phone call that had to be so out of the blue and weird, but at the end of the day, a trade was made. I was laughing about this all weekend when I was thinking about doing these awards. just Arty Moreno calling Brian Cashman and saying, “What’ll it take for Oswald PZA?” And I bet Cashman doesn’t even have his number saved because it’s like, “Well, the Angels, not only do I not want any of their pieces if they were to sell, but they’re probably not going to sell. We’re both buyers, so there’s probably no way we’re going to have a conversation.” So he gets no caller ID and it ends up being Arty Moreno or Perry Manasian saying can we get Oswwell PZA from you and that’s a guy who doesn’t fit on the Yankees right now and has been playing terribly and they were just like sure you can have him if you want and it’s a real fall from grace for Oswald Praza and Foolish Baseball put it best. It’s like this team is just obsessed with post hype prospects. I I wanted to be a fly on the wall so badly for that conversation. I just want to see bride cash to be like sure we’ll give you Oswwell Pros and then snicker to like the people in the room be like what is this idiot doing? Yes and all we and you’ll give us prospects for him. Sure. My favorite part is they immediately dfaided Kevin Newman who I like it just is kind of the Spider-Man meme. They’re just going to get Kevin Newman but younger. Um, so that that that was that was a fun that was a fun trade. Yes, it was. Uh, next a ward up, the Tide Pod Challenge Award. And it goes to the most absurd trade that we wonder why it even happened to begin with. Remember the Tide Pod Challenge where people would pop Tide Pods in their mouth? Like, why the hell did that start? And it would explode and it would send kids to the hospital because they were doing the Tide Pod Challenge. The worst trend ever. And you’re questioning why it ever happened. Yeah, Kabrian Hayes to the Reds for Trevor Rogers and Sammy Stfur. Why? How did that conversation even start? And why was it in division? Why was T uh Tyler Rogers attached or Taylor Rogers, excuse me, attached to that? Why did the Reds feel like they needed to add a defensive-minded third baseman when they could have used so much more? Tide Pod Challenge award goes to that trade. Yeah, I don’t even know how that in division for that kind of trade was bizarre as well. I agree. And then the Reds just being like, “All right, well, we’ll just punt Novie Marte to the outfield.” None of it made sense. Any other ideas for that one that could have sufficed? just weird trades that you were like why why’ you I mean I think the Brewers trading for uh Jordan Montgomery and Shelby Miller for nothing when they’re both free agents next year. I don’t that doesn’t make sense. It was Shelby Miller and then they basically I guess like didn’t want to give up a prospect so they said we we’ll take on like a little bit of the Jordan Montgomery money. I guess that was why they need a bullpen arm. They must love. That was a weird one. Um, yeah. Do you think Jordan Montgomery even just like is does he he doesn’t leave his house, right? Nothing changes. I don’t think he’s gonna leave his house. I think he’s just Nothing changes. I don’t I don’t know if there’s another one that that really fits that bill for me. Jack, I’m good. So, the next award is the Frank the Tank Crash Out Award. Give it to the trade that immediately backfired and had fans smashing their television. There you go. I think you know which one I’m talking about. So, can I ask is it one or is it four? It’s four. Yankees getting three relievers and Jos Cabierro. Then they combined for nine earned runs in less than three innings and Jose Cabiro makes a huge error. You trade for four guys and they immediately puke all over themselves and had me crashing out like Frank the Tank. Yeah. No, there’s no better immediate immediate. And also just putting them all in in order like it just it just couldn’t have been better. Putting them in order immediately, not even easing them in. Hey, Bednar, you suck here historically. Go get them. Uh I I loved that. And it wasn’t one reliever having a bad day. It was every single one of them. And then the big error by Cababiierro, another deadline acquisition. They they all found out they were getting traded the day before. Cababayro was okay because he was already in New York playing the Rays. He just needed to switch clubouses. But think about that day. Yeah. Leading up to that outing on Friday night. So they find out Thursday. They probably spend the entire night and morning the next day getting to Miami to become a member of the New York Yankees, wrangling up the wife and kids, and then all of a sudden you’re there. Hey, time to take on a whack-ass game. Not good. All right, last and final award is called the I thought the deadline was on August 31st award given to the GM of a contending team that did almost nothing. I know it’s in the Brewers Mo to do this, but at the end of the day, them doing basically nothing, it was a disappointment. Now, did they need to add a bunch? No. They’ve been playing amazing baseball. Could they have used it used a bat or two? Yes. Right. I think I thought they were in a position where their farm system is so fantastic that they could have traded guys who are maybe 40man crunch guys for bats to help them. Again, they’re a good team. They’re a great team, but they could have ascended with a couple of small moves at the deadline. And they’ve been so good with those, right? Getting Andrew Vaughn, right? Targeting Caleb Durban and the Devin Williams trade. They’re so good at that. They could have gotten guys that we don’t even really care about. Maybe Brandon Lockage is that guy for them. But I was just again, they’re not a loser of the deadline. Kind of similarly to the Dodgers where they didn’t really need to do much and they didn’t, but I was underwhelmed and I think Brewers fans are as well. Yeah, I mean you it’s one of the best farms. It’s arguably the best farm system in baseball. They are probably going to have a 40man crunch. I would have liked to have seen them do a little bit more. I’m with you. I mean, they literally they the weird part is that all they parted with to potent to add the one bullpin arm that they didn’t really need was actually salary. They took on salary. Who would have thought? Any parting words before we say goodbye? Anything? Anything you got to get off your chest about any of these deadlines? I got it off just I got it all off my chest. I feel I feel 20 pounds lighter now. I I don’t know if I got anything else. I I feel really good about everything that I I got out today. Any additional rants, Jack? No, it’s 8:51 p.m. Uh, this was a hell of a weekend to be a fight and fish. I’m going to go to bed. Hell yeah. So, that’ll do it for this episode of the Just Baseball Show. Hopefully, we started your Monday off right. And if we did, the best way to support, rate, review on Spotify and Apple Podcast, five stars, as well as hit that subscribe button on YouTube, like the video, and comment anything you disagree or agree with, or just leave a fun little comment. Why not? for Jack McMullen Arm Leightton. Make sure to go get yourself some Just Baseball merch. And I’m Peter Apple. And with that, thank you everybody.

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Who won the MLB Trade Deadline? Who fell flat? We dive into all the biggest takeaways from this year’s moves — from masterclass front offices to confusing fumbles. Plus, the Miami Marlins are on an absolute tear. Are they for real?

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Timestamps:
Intro: 0:00
Fighting Fish: 0:51
Deadline Winners: 13:48
Deadline Losers: 50:22
Deadline Awards: 1:26:02

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