I went over the past forty eight hours of trades in the NBA and wanted to fit the MLB trades in there as well, but there were so many big ones that I didn’t want to leave out.
The Chicago Cubs had a going out of business sale on players and all of their stars are gone now.
Anthony Rizzo was dealt to the Yankees in exchange for outfielder Kevin Alcantara and pitcher Alexander Vizcaino. Rizzo adds a big bat to the Yankees third place lineup and the Cubs bring in younger players that could contribute in the future. This becomes a common theme amongst the Cubs.
As a Red Sox fan, seeing Rizzo get traded to the Yankees is disappointing in two aspect. The Red Sox were in the mix to land Rizzo so not getting him hurts but it hurts even more seeing him goto the Yankees.
Today, infielder Kris Bryant was sent west to the Giants as the Cubs received a package of pitcher Caleb Kilian and outfielder Alexander Canario. Once again, a veteran bat goes to another team while young players go to Chi Town.
The next Cub to be dealt was middle infielder Javier Báez and pitcher Trevor Williams who were sent to the Mets. The Cubs received outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong. The one saving grace of this trade is the Báez said he would want to resign with the Cubs after this season.
Another Cub that was on the move was reliever Craig Kimbrel. He didn’t have to go too far though as he was traded across the city to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for second baseman Nick Madrigal and pitcher Codi Heuer.
These losses have to hit the Cubs fans right where it hurts because guys like Rizzo, Bryant, and Báez were huge factors in the Cubs winning the 2016 World Series.
Another former Cub is on the move and he’s heading to Bean Town. Kyle Schwarber, who is batting .253 with twenty five home runs has been dealt to Boston in exchange for pitcher Aldo Ramirez who was sent to the Washington Nationals.
Schwarber is battling a nagging hamstring injury but he should be in the Red Sox lineup in a few weeks. When his explosive bat starts playing then Boston could run away with the division.
The Red Sox were also active in dealing players out of Boston at the deadline. Chaim Bloom worked his way with the Pittsburgh Pirates and sent infielder Michael Chavis to the Steel City in exchange for pitcher Austin Davis.
While Boston was very active at the deadline, their division rival New York Yankees made other deals outside of bringing Anthony Rizzo in. They looked south and made a deal to bolster their outfield.
The Yankees sent a package of pitcher Glenn Otto, second baseman Ezequiel Duran, shortstop Josh Smith, and utility player Trevor Hauver to the Texas Rangers in exchange for outfielder Joey Gallo who has a big bat.
The one thing I know about the Yankees trades is that these moves will keep them sitting in third place behind Boston and Tampa Bay.
Another big time outfielder found a new home at the trade deadline. A guy that the Red Sox were in the mix for was Starling Marte but they weren’t able to close on him. He moved from Miami to Oakland in a deal.
The Athletics sent left handed pitcher Jesús Luzardo to Miami in a straight up trade for the speedy outfielder Marte.
The biggest trade occurred yesterday when the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals got into deep talks and oh boy, did this trade change the NL West.
Former Cy Young winner Max Scherzer and one of the leagues top shortstops, Trea Turner are leaving Washington D.C. and headed to the west coast to play for the Dodgers. The Dodgers didn’t really give up that much to get these two top players which is pretty absurd.
L.A. dealt catcher Keibert Ruiz, pitcher Josiah Gray, outfielder Donovan Casey, and pitcher Gerardo Carrillo to Washington to secure the two All Star caliber players.
Many other trades occurred but these were definitely the biggest that happened as the deadline approached.