Winners and losers of MLB’s trade deadline

(Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

It’s not often that other trade deadlines rival the NBA’s in terms of sheer mayhem, but MLB managed to do just that Thursday behind a flurry of moves.

Let’s take a look at some of the winners and losers.

Winners

Mr. “Moneyball”
Billy Beane went all-in this year, and if even that only means a short-term rental of left-hander Jon Lester, it’s a worthwhile risk, as it effectively gives the A’s the best rotation in the American League.

Red Sox
It’s not all that often that the big boys take a long-term, looking-ahead-to-next-season approach, but Boston found a comfortable middle ground by not going into a complete overhaul. Parting with Lester and John Lackey obviously hurts the top of the rotation, but the 28-year-old Yoenis Cespedes brings some much needed firepower. Allen Craig and Joe Kelly will help immediately.

Casual fans
For the first time in a while, my Twitter feed was exploding with MLB talk. That just doesn’t happen very often. Given how much space the NBA offseason has claimed in July, big MLB names changing teams sparks interest from casual fans, something the sport certainly needs.

Losers

Miami Marlins
After clawing back to .500 (briefly), there were rumors that the Marlins were looking to trade for Lackey. That didn’t happen and instead they ended up with Jarred Cosart from the Houston Astros. But hey, at least they still have Giancarlo Stanton. For now.

Yankees
Derek Jeter’s anti-climactic swan song continues. As Bill Madden from the New York Post put it:

“The Yankees could always be counted on to be big players at the non-waiver trade deadline. But this is clearly no longer the case. Not only is it becoming increasingly questionable as to whether the Yankees are legitimate postseason contenders, the fact is they’re not a very good team at all. They have a minus-30 run differential, a makeshift rotation of No. 3 or No. 4 starters at best and entered Thursday only 17th in the majors in runs (429) and on-base percentage (.314).”

Philadelphia Phillies
According to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.  to criticized fellow executives for “not being aggressive enough,” after failing to shed salary or acquire young assets, despite the fact that the Phillies will likely miss the postseason. Again.

Somewhere in the middle
While you can’t call the Tigers losers for landing David price, it doesn’t look like he’ll have quite the impact some are anticipating.