The Price is Right

Come on down....because The Price is Right

While Major League Baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline at the end of July gets all of the notoriety, in recent years we have seen a shift with more and more action in the trade front during the month of August, culminating in the waiver trade deadline at midnight as the calendar turns to September.

If you’ll recall, it was in that final minute before midnight last year that the Astros swung their blockbuster deal with the Tigers to acquire Justin Verlander. We all know how well that worked out for the Astros, as Verlander helped to lead them to their first World Series title in franchise history.

Like Verlander of yesteryear, there was another former American League MVP likely to be on the move on Friday, with the Blue Jays doing everything in their power to unload Josh Donaldson.

Now 32-years-old, the 2015 AL MVP has battled a wide array of injuries this season, hitting just .234/.333/.423 with five homers and 16 RBI in his 36 games. Make no mistake about it though, when healthy this is an impact bat that’s capable of changing a pennant race.

He’s also a player who has excelled in the postseason, hitting .292/.361/.495 with four homers and 13 RBI in 133 career plate appearances in the postseason.

So as of Thursday, we learned (courtesy of MLB.com’s Jon Morosi) that the Cardinals had emerged as a possible suitor for Donaldson. They joined the Phillies, Yankees and Braves as known clubs that were having discussions with the Blue Jays about their star third baseman.

Goodbye Josh

The teaser finally dropped just before 9:00 PM when Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reported that Josh Donaldson had been traded. At that time though, still no information was known as to which team had acquired the hard-hitting third baseman.

Shortly afterwards, Donaldson was informed that he had been dealt to the Cleveland Indians.

The Blue Jays also included cash in the deal, covering around $2.7 million of the roughly $4 million that was remaining on Donaldson’s contract for the remainder of the 2018 season. In exchange, they’ll receive a player to be named later. By all accounts, that player is expected to be a valuable commodity.

Donaldson will be active and in uniform for the Indians on Saturday, though it’s unclear if he’ll jump right into the lineup or not. When healthy, he’s expected to function as the team’s everyday third baseman, with Jose Ramirez shifting back to second base and Jason Kipnis left to battle for at-bats in the outfield once again.

Donaldson should provide a major boost to an Indians’ offense that has already scored the third most runs in all of baseball this season, trailing only the Red Sox and Yankees. He’ll also have the opportunity to be reunited with slugger Edwin Encarnacion who was his teammate in Toronto during the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

Encarnacion was as happy as anyone when he heard the news after Friday’s victory over the Rays, telling reporters, "He's a great player, man. He's a great player… Everybody's going to be excited to see him here. He's a great guy. He's a great guy."

Already a lock to win the American League Central, if Donaldson is healthy the Indians become a major threat to unseat the Red Sox as the premium team in the American League.

Brewers Secure Upgrades

The Indians weren’t the only team in the business of improving their team on Friday, the Brewers were extremely active, swinging three separate deals.

First, they acquired left-handed reliever Xavier Cedeno from the White Sox in exchange for a pair of minor leaguers. With Dan Jennings banged up, Cedeno will be required to work in some pretty high-leverage situations right from the get-go.

The Brewers’ biggest need heading into the trade deadline though was their starting rotation. They tried to get a deal done earlier in the month with the Reds for Matt Harvey, though the two clubs were unable to reach an accord.

While not the biggest fish in the sea, they did secure an upgrade to their rotation on Friday, sending minor leaguers Gilbert Lara and KJ Harrison to the Nationals in exchange for left-hander Gio Gonzalez.

Gio Gonzalez

Gonzalez hasn’t been great this season, going 7-11 with a 4.57 ERA, 1.53 WHIP and 126/70 K/BB ratio over 145 ⅔ innings in his 27 starts with the Nationals. What he does though, is add experience and stability to the Brewers’ rotation as they make  push toward a playoff berth.

Upgrade the bullpen, check. Upgrade the rotation, check. All that was left for the Brewers to do on Friday was to upgrade their offense. Well, consider that done as well now as they went out and snagged Curtis Granderson from the Blue Jays in exchange for minor league outfielder Demi Orimoloye.

The 37-year-old outfielder has a wealth of postseason experience that he'll bring to the table as the Brewers look to secure a postseason berth over the next month. He'll be primarily used as a left-handed bat off of the bench which severely limits his usefulness from a fantasy perspective.

Dodging the Competition

The Dodgers were also busy on the trade front on Friday, bolstering their roster with reinforcements for a battle over the final month of the season. They currently sit just one game behind the Diamondbacks for the top spot in the National League West and 2 ½ games behind the Brewers for the final Wild Card berth.

To assist what has been a tumultuous bullpen over the last few weeks, the Dodgers snagged veteran right-hander Ryan Madson from the Nationals for minor league right-hander Andrew Istler.. Dodgers’ skipper Dave Roberts said Friday that he won’t hesitate to use Madson immediately in high-leverage situations.

The Dodgers also added depth to their infield and another strong bat to the bench when they acquired David Freese from the Pirates in exchange for Jesus Valdez.

Freese has made a name for himself by mashing left-handed pitching, which is where he’ll draw the bulk of his starts for the Dodgers, either at third base or at first base.

The 35-year-old is hitting .283/.337/.447 with nine homers and 41 RBI in 237 at-bats on the season. Freese also brings plenty of postseason experience and success to the table. He has hit .282/.357/.517 with eight homers and 30 RBI in 51 career playoff games, and took home NLCS and World Series MVP award honors during the Cardinals’ World Series title run in 2011.

American League Quick Hits: The Yankees got in on the fun as well on Friday, acquiring Adeiny Hechavarria for cash considerations from the Pirates… The Athletics added yet another arm to their stable of quality bullpen options, picking up Cory Gearrin from the Rangers in exchange for Abdiel Mendoza and Teodoro Ortega. The A’s will continue to lean heavily on their bullpen and put much less emphasis on their starting rotation… Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone said Friday that he’s “very optimistic” about Aaron Judge (wrist) returning this season...Trevor Bauer (leg) is set to be re-evaluated on Saturday… Andrew Miller (shoulder) is expected to resume his throwing program on Sunday or Monday… Salvador Perez was held out of the Royals’ lineup on Saturday due to a sprained left thumb… Bartolo Colon (back) will be activated from the disabled list to start Sunday against the Twins… Jean Segura (shin) remained out of the Mariners’ lineup on Friday but is tentatively expected to return on Saturday… Tyler Glasnow hurled seven innings of one-run ball in a tough-luck loss to the Indians...Corey Kluber struck out eight over seven shutout innings in a win over the Rays… Gleyber Torres delivered a go-ahead two-run single in the eighth inning to lead the Yankees past the Tigers… Justin Smoak crushed a pinch-hit grand slam to lead the Blue Jays to an improbable comeback victory against the Marlins… Mitch Garver went 3-for-4 and plated four runs as the Twins topped the Rangers…

National League Quick Hits: The Giants called up outfield prospect Chris Shaw, and manager Bruce Bochy indicated that he would be the club’s everyday left fielder over the final month of the regular season… The Cubs signed veteran left-hander Jaime Garcia to a minor league contract… Sean Doolittle (foot) threw a simulated game without issue on Friday… Addison Russell will be activated from the disabled list on Saturday, but will be used primarily as a defensive replacement… Kris Bryant will be activated from the disabled list and will rejoin the Cubs’ lineup on Saturday… Michael Wacha (oblique) is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Saturday… The Brewers signed speedster Emilio Bonifacio to a minor league contract… Jason Heyward was placed on the 10-day disabled list with his right hamstring tightness… Mets' manager Mickey Callaway told reporters on Friday that David Wright (shoulder) has not yet been cleared medically to play in major league games… Elias Diaz was lifted from Friday’s game against the Braves with right hamstring discomfort… Jhoulys Chacin picked up his 14th victory, allowing just one run over 6 ½ innings against the Nationals… Javier Baez crushed his 29th home run in a loss to the Brewers… Jose Martinez went 2-for-2 and drew three walks in a win over the cup holders… Asdrubal Cabrera launched a walk-off home run in the 10th inning to sink the Cubs… Paul DeJong homered and drove in five runs as the Cardinals routed the Reds… Zack Wheeler struck out nine over seven innings of one-run baseball in a tough-luck loss to the Giants… Andrew Suarez allowed just two hits over seven shutout frames in his win over the Mets… Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth inning against the Diamondbacks to earn his 33rd save… Justin Turner launched a go-ahead homer off of Zack Greinke in the eighth inning, propelling the Dodgers to victory… Luis Urias clubbed his first big league home run in a win over the Rockies… Brett Kennedy earned his first career win in that one, firing six shutout frames…