Thursday was the MLB trade deadline. Teams were making big moves on the last day before the deadline. Thursday was the busiest trade deadline day in recent years. Some of the trades that were made were good. Some of them were bad. So who made the best and worst moves? Here are the winners and losers of the 2014 MLB trade.
Winners
Oakland Athletics: The Athletics are one of the best teams in baseball. They added Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes. Lester won two World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox. The Athletics lost Yoenis Cespedes to Boston for Gomes. However that’s not a big loss. Cespedes and Gomes have similar numbers. The Athletics also added Sam Fuld. Fuld has similar numbers to Cespedes and Gomes.
Detroit Tigers: The Tigers got David Price from the Tampa Bay Rays. The lost centerfielder Austin Jackson who is a free agent after the 2015 season, and pitcher Drew Smyly, who has a 3.77 ERA. With the addition of Price the Tigers now have three CY Young winners in their rotation, according to ESPN.
Boston Red Sox: The Red Sox lost a lot of players. However they did get Cespedes, Allen Craig, and Joe Kelly. Craig hit above .300 in 2012 and 2013, but is struggling this season. However he can bounce back. The Red Sox also got multiple draft picks , so they are bulding for next year.
St. Louis Cardinals: The Cardinals added John Lackey and Justin Masterson. Lackey is under club control for $500,000 next season. They didn’t lose outfielders Oscar Taveras or Carlos Martinez. Their rotation has the fifth best ERA in the majors.
Cleveland Indians: The Indians lost Masterson and Asdrubal Cabrera, who have struggled this season. They got two useful players, James Ramsey and Zach Walters. Ramsey is have and good season in Double-A and Walters is hitting .300/.358/.603 at Triple-A Syracuse.
Losers
Tampa Bay Ray: The Ray lost pitcher David Price to the Tigers. The Rays are five and a half games out of the wild card. They added Drew Smyly and Nick Franklin, but they made not make a difference. The Rays had a better chance at the playoffs with Price.
Philadelphia Phillies: The Phillies have players that are aging. Cliff Leee just got hurt again. The Phillies didn’t make any moves. With aging players and lee being hurt, not making moves is bad for the Phillies.
New York Yankees: The Yankees traded second baseman Kelly Johnson to the Red Sox for shortstop Stephen Drew. Drew is struggling this season, hitting just .176, according to Sports Illustrated. The Yankees also got Martin Prado. It is unkown how Prado will do and if getting him was a good move.