The 2011 MLB Trade Deadline came and went. Some big name players were dealt like Carlos Beltran, Hunter Pence, and Ubaldo Jimenez. Some big name players stayed put like B.J. Upton and Heath Bell. Some teams were surprise buyers like the Cleveland Indians. Some of the better teams in baseball were active in strengthening their club, like the Rangers, Phillies, and Giants. Other teams stayed quiet like the Reds, Yankees, and Red Sox.
Wait a minute.
The Yankees and Red Sox were quiet at the trade deadline?
As in, the only move either team made was Boston’s yawning acquisition of a 4-7 starting pitcher from one of the worst teams in baseball that may or may not patch up the end of their rotation? (Which by the way will likely be exasperated by the stress fracture injury to Clay Buchholz)
You mean to tell me that the Red Sox and/or Yankees didn’t acquire Carlos Beltran, Ubaldo Jimenez, Albert Pujols, and annex the entire roster of the Houston Astros?
Was Hank Steinbrenner too busy making threatening phone calls to a picture of Billy Martin or yelling at himself in the mirror? Was Theo Epstein watching the Moneyball trailer on a continuous loop on Youtube or touring with Peter Gammons? Where were these Northeastern comrades of darkness?
Over the last decade, baseball has grown accustomed to seeing the Yanks and the Sawx dominate the headlines at the trade deadline. Those two teams have routinely used the other 30 as a glorified farm system, picking and choosing the players that they desire for whatever the cost. Most teams will lose their top players to Boston and New York in free agency anyways, so why not try to get a bucket of balls for their trouble, right?
Don’t believe me? This is an INCOMPLETE list of players these teams have acquired since the turn of the century before the July deadline or later in the August waiver period…
Yankees: Bobby Abreu, Cory Lidle, Eric Hinske, Lance Berkman, Sergio Mitre, Chad Gaudin, Jeff Nelson, Aaron Boone, David Justice, Ivan Rodriguez, Jeff Weaver, Shawn Chacon, Xavier Nady, Raul Mondesi
Red Sox: Casey Kotchman, Mark Kotsay, Javy Lopez, Orlando Cabrera, Doug Mientkiewicz, Bob Howry, Scott Williamson, Victor Martinez, Gape Kapler, Eric Hinske, Jason Bay, Dave Roberts, Billy Wagner, Eric Gagne, Cliff Floyd
Some of these names were rather ineffectual in the course of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, but others were worth far more than their original trade value. What stands out though is the sheer volume of trades made and players acquired by these clubs.
But at this trade deadline in 2011, something funny happened, it was those other teams that made the moves to help them win now. The Cleveland Indians of all teams, expected to bumble through this season like Rube Baker, made one of the biggest splashes at the deadline acquiring Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez. They even added the light patient hitting outfielder Hiroshi “Kamikaze” Tanaka Kosuke Fukudome.
Even the Pirates, yes, the Pittsburgh Pirates for God’s sake, made a move at the deadline, acquiring the corpse of Derrek Lee to bolster their lineup.
So why did the Yankees and the Red Sox stand pat and not double down at this year’s trade deadline like years past?
For one, their playoff positioning is largely set. Boston and New York have the two best records in the American League at 66-40 and 64-42 respectively. They have ran away from Tampa Bay (56-51) in the AL East and in the Wild Card chase. None of our writers gave the Rays a realistic chance to catch either team for a playoff spot last week in the roundtable. The only other team with even a prayer of catching the Yanks/Sox in the AL playoff hunt is the Anaheim Angels of California By Way Of Los Angeles. However, the Halos are already a whopping 8 games behind the Yanks and 10 games behind the Sox in the loss column. With only two months of the season to go, the superpowers can coast to the finishing line this year.
But alas, all is not joyful in Mudville. The Yankees cannot pitch CC Sabathia for every postseason game this October. Have you seen the rest of their rotation? Yikes. I’ve seen a better cast in Thankskilling. Is the Bronx Zoo really going to rest their title hopes on the aging arms of AJ Burnett, Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, and the 8+ ERA of Phil Hughes? Was this not the perfect opportunity to bolster a shaky rotation and get Ubaldo Jimenez?
The Red Sox rotation is in almost worse condition. At least Boston has more than one starter that inspires some hope from supporters (Josh Beckett and Jon Lester) though. John Lackey can take his robbery from the franchise to the national stage when he takes his 6.20 ERA to the mound in the postseason and Tim Wakefield and his knuckleball will surely be trudged out to the mound for the 78th postseason in a row. Could they not have used a more surefire solution than just Erik Bedard?
A weakened farm system may be thought of as an excuse with all of the past trades completed, but without any real five star caliber players dealt at this deadline, the Yankees and Red Sox had pieces to move. The Yankees have a consensus Top 5 farm system anyways while Boston is somewhere in the mid teens, although that’s understandable with the recent Adrian Gonzalez deal. The well is never dry in these organizations. One could argue that these teams stood still because of the lack of gamechanging players available at this deadline. But, when one looks at the lists above, that didn’t stop Boston and New York from going batsh*t crazy acquiring anyone that stepped foot on a baseball diamond. And, with holes abound, it is a stunner that neither team made a move of consequence.
But the truth of the matter may be that the Yankees didn’t make a move because the Red Sox didn’t make a move. And vis-a-versa, Boston didn’t make a huge acquisition because the Yankees passed. Perhaps they looked across at each other in the proverbial trade deadline war room and neither franchise blinked this season. Whatever the reason, the 2011 trade deadline proved once again that these teams are in their own little world. Time will tell whether or not their new strategy pays dividends in October.
