Gary Sheffield, Jr
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Padres
‘Slam’ Diego got busy the past 48 hours as they managed to acquire seven different players in that span. They may be five games back of the first place Dodgers, but the expanded playoffs gives them reason to buy. NO ONE wants to see the Padres now. Who would have ever thought.
Someone the Padres traded in the last 40 hours is going to have a long and very successful big league career. That’s how it works when you trade nine (9!) young players in two days.
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) August 31, 2020
The Padres think they’ve built enough depth in their organization to withstand that. pic.twitter.com/WDPjjIhDNu
Blue Jays
More of head scratcher that Toronto decided to buy this year considering we all figure the Yankees to surge when they get their guys back. That leaves two great teams in division. The Yankees and Rays rosters aren’t exactly good reasons to buy, but we have to applaud their effort.
Left-hander Robbie Ray has been traded to the Toronto Blue Jays, a source familiar with the deal tells ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 31, 2020
#BlueJays make trade official:
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) August 31, 2020
Blue Jays get:
• INF Jonathan Villar
Marlins get:
• Player to be named later
Surprising us all with another move for an arm:
#BlueJays 3rd trade of the day:
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) August 31, 2020
Blue Jays get:
• RHP Ross Stripling
Dodgers get:
• Two players to be named later
Reds
Makes perfect sense for a team falling behind to make a decision on where this thing needs to go. Cincinnati decided they weren’t giving up on this season, likely because of expanded playoffs and made all the trades they could.
Reds acquire reliever, outfielder just before trade deadline https://t.co/mSE6f6d0nz
— David Jablonski (@DavidPJablonski) August 31, 2020
Seeing Archie Bradley and Robbie Ray hit the road leads us to our sellers:
Dbacks
Nothing worked in 2020 for Arizona. From their 5-year, $85 million contract for Mad Bum to the aggressive move for outfielder Starling Marte this off-season. The Dbacks refused to sit around in their filth and decided to blow it up. Better to do this than to deny your fate.
No team unloaded players like the #Dbacks, but the most painful trade for their fans was sending closer Archie Bradley to the #Reds. But with few games to save this season, GM Mike Hazen says, Bradley simply became expendable
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) August 31, 2020
Angels
Mike Trout and the Angels haven’t done anything right in ten years. They have no problem being aggressive every offseason, but simply have no idea how to spend a dollar. The same ole’ story led their front office to unload the past 24 hours:
Angels acquiring Franklin Barreto from Athletics for Tommy La Stella, sources tell The Athletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 29, 2020
A failure to address their pitching staff made these sellers too predictable. Never had a chance.
Did nothing:
The Yankees were a team most executives expected to make some noise. Given their injuries, reinforcements were suspected to be on the way, but they never came. New York has shown the days of aggressiveness under George Steinbrenner are long gone.
The Yankees before the trade deadline pic.twitter.com/8wIkY92CMS
— Jake Montgomery (@JakeM0NTGOMERY) August 31, 2020
The defending AL champs did less than nothing.
As a Cubs fan I like the acquisition of Cameron Maybin. He’s a vet with speed and a little pop who can cover a lot of ground in the OF. Always good to have an OF like that you can plug and play in all 3 spots.