Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning during the regular season you’ll get a new, topical story to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
Tuesday’s Mega Trade Timing Juan Soto to Padres It was, for a neutral baseball observer, a blessing and a curse. The deal fell through (at least in principle, Eric Hosmer tried to delay it) early enough That we didn’t have to wait on pins and needles all day in anticipation of a solution. But the occurrence of the most important trade of the day (maybe ever?) before most other transactions are revealed casts a long shadow over the rest of what was an eventful day of spin and dealing.
In case you’ve overlooked any of the notable non-Soto deals, fear not: we’ve got you covered. Here’s a look at the five most interesting under-the-radar moves from this year’s deadline.
Yankees exchange SP Jordan Montgomery to Cardinals for CF Harrison Bader
As another entry on this list will make clear, I’m dealing with a one-for-one trade – particularly those of a large group of large companies. It’s hard to come by, which makes this swap between the Yankees and the Cardinals — two teams looking forward to the World Series taking place this fall — all the more intriguing.
For cardinals, they are simply It was For another starting pitcher, they managed to get two left steel in Montgomery and Jose Quintana (from Pittsburgh). But the Montgomery acquisition is interesting to both sides of the deal. Badr hasn’t played since June 26 and hasn’t done as well as in recent years when he’s been on the field, but he’s made an outstanding fielding defense since making his St. Louis debut in 2017 and is under contract for next season for just $5.2 million, giving the Yankees a player High quality at a reasonable price (assuming it can go back to its full strength).
Like Bader, Montgomery also has another year of club control after this year before he hits free agency, but the Yankees have more depth of swing than any other team and should be able to withstand his departure without feeling too much pressure on the team. The rest of the staff. If Badr is able to come back and contribute this year, he will be a game-changer on both sides of the ball and have the potential of the X-factor in the supplement.
Blue Jays Trade Jordan Grouchans to Marlins for RP Anthony Bass, RB Zack Bob of Marlins
Relief jugs trade dominates Deadline Day, and Blue Jays snatched Gouda’s arms out of Miami in one move. In exchange for minor league player Jordan Groshans — who was a first-round pick in 2018 but put in a meager 0.635 OPS in 73 games in basically Triple A this year — Toronto has both Bass and Pop to help strengthen its backend. Bull barn.
Go to the Baseball Savant page –There is a lot of red there. Like many shooters across the league, Bass leaned harder on the slider than ever before, and the results were impressive. Hitters are swinging 40.7% on the field this year, with a hitting average of 0.178 not on their home ground. Meanwhile, the pop throws a heavy dive 83.2% of the time to generate a ridiculous 63.1% globe rate. These two will join Jordan Romano, David Phelps, Yemi Garcia, and Adam Semper, and could be massive team makers in the post-season series (assuming Jays can get there).
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Groshans was the 12th pick in the 2018 draft when he was 18, and he performed well in the two seasons prior to the pandemic. He hit Double A in ’21 and put on a solid .297/ .367/ .450 slash in 75 games, but he’s seen his game drop dramatically this year, with 10 additional keystrokes and one Homer in 304 board appearances. There is still plenty of time to develop into a starting caliber player, and if he does that will be a worthwhile trade-off with the forward-looking Marlins.
Phillies swapped Sea Logan’s Oh-hop with Angels for Brandon Marsh
Speaking of individual deals, how about this? The Phillies and Angels swapped one of the top possibilities for another (former), with the first gauntlet Marsh headed to Philadelphia to provide some much-needed defensive reinforcements. In his second season in the big league, the 24-year-old Marsh shone on that side of the ball, even when he was mostly playing off-center on the left field. His nine points above average are tied for second place among all defensive players, and while he alone can’t fix the Velez defense (the team ranks near the bottom on almost every metric), it will certainly help, even if the bat still has some lead that It needs to be done given the league’s worst batting rate of 36.2%.
For the Angels, they simply needed a young, manageable bat, and O’Hoppe’s ventures to be that way in a situation where it’s hard to offend. The 22-year-old is a top 100 potential unanimous and represented Phillies at Futures Game this year, posting a 0.889 OPS in Double A. Questionable, but certainly a good buyout for a farm system in desperate need of good prospects.
Rays added Peralta to bolster their attacking depth heading into the push for a breakout point.
Nathan Ray Seebeck / USA Today Sports
Dealer Diamondbacks from David Peralta to Rays for C Christian Cerda
This just feels like ray movement, right? For the price of a 19-year-old Musk who has 63 professional games to his name, Tampa Bay secured a player with a 119 OPS+ record in Arizona and a 0.490 lag this season against the right, which is a huge advantage for the game. -Rays who have had several injuries that have hampered their offensive depth this season as they try to hold onto a wild spot.
Peralta turns 35 next month and will be a free agent after this season, so this is clearly a short-term play for Tampa Bay while Wonder Franco, Kevin Kiermayer, Manuel Margot, Harold Ramirez and Mike Zunino all continue for now. on the list of injured. One added racket won’t make or break a playoff race, but when you’re in that situation, everything will help.
Tigers Replace RP Michael Fulmer for Twins vs. SP Sawyer Gipson-Long
The twins needed pitching reinforcements, and while the acquisitions of Jorge Lopez and debutante Tyler Mahley are the most headline-stealing deals, Vollmer could have the same effect.
Since transitioning to the primary savior role last season, Vollmer has a 3.03 ERA in 110 rounds, with only 113 strikes and 8 home runs allowed. Among the eligible shooters this season, Hu The most difficult in the league to oppose the hitters, allowing only one barrel for the whole year. That, plus Lopez, would go a long way in helping stabilize Minnesota, which ranks third in the worst WWII field (0.6).
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