In the JLB, the month of July saw 10 trades including a trio of deals on deadline day.
There were several more trades that could have happened there at the deadline but cold feet and high prices kept it from happening.
Just like the Houston Astros in real life, some teams are looking to win this year with prospects.
Golden opportunities to add to pitching arsenals and batting lineups were balked at in order to keep some prospects.
Choo was not one of those guys.
He was, of course, involved in all three deadline day deals, and another two earlier in the month.
I’d go through all his deals, but it’d be easier to say just look at his lineup and look past Nolan Arenado to see all his newcomers.
Today, he bolstered his rotation with Sonny Gray, Drew Pomeranz and Ivan Nova, but depleted it at the same time sending Carlos Martinez and Alex Wood away.
Gray should be decent for the remainder of the year, but I’d be worried. He’s got 99 days. Ninety-nine until he’s 28 years old, and that’s when he’s in trouble. Why? Because as Tom Verducci put it, only two starting pitchers who are 5-foot-10 have made it through their age 28 season without injury. Just two. All-time.
But hey, Choo only cares about the next 60 days.
Crox upgraded at starting pitching and bullpen, while Steroid added a good veteran pitcher to replace the loss of Cueto and Greinke, and he gets a solid prospect in David Dahl.
In total, Steroid added 16 players since Jun. 20. Included in that are notable prospects: Lucas Giolito, Tyler Beede, Amir Garrett, Luke Weaver, Victor Robles and David Dahl. It’s not too bad a haul when you look at it as a whole. It cost a lot, but he pulled the trigger. Takes guts.
The biggest deal of the deadline month — and I’m not trying to be selfish here — was Chris Archer, Patrick Corbin, Yasiel Puig and Vince Velasquez for Corey Seager, Yoenis Cespedes and Eduardo Rodriguez.
It was the deal with the most big impact names for sure, and it has drastically changed the look of both teams.
Crox got a power bat in LF and an impact hitter at SS for the foreseeable future.
Slammers gets Archer back and as long as he stays healthy, that’s a solid arm for at least two to three more years.
Gamblers, Outs, Ol Country and Big Lebowski all remained silent in the last month of trading and time will tell if that was the right move.
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