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By Gary Armida

The trade deadline has come and gone. Some teams like the Yankees, Angels, Cubs, Dodgers and Brewers have made themselves much better. Others like the Rays, Mets, Diamondbacks, and Twins chose to not make a deal. For a couple of those teams, the Rays and Diamondbacks, the lack of improvement will come back to haunt them in September. Deadline day had its share of drama. Two future Hall of Famers were traded. A three team deal was made in which the Pirates actually improved themselves. The Red Sox take a chance on trading their best hitter. Junior will return to centerfield and the American League. In all, deadline day saw four trades consummated. While Mets fans can sit and wonder why they didn’t do anything, let’s take a look at the four deadline deals.

Marlins Trade RHP Gabby Hernandez to the Mariners for LHP Arthur Rhodes.

The first official trade of the day was the veteran Arthur Rhodes, who is enjoying a surprisingly good season, going to help the Marlins’ bullpen in exchange for 22 year old right handed starter, Gabby Hernandez. The Mariners, during a horrendous season, actually make a very good trade here. Hernandez is struggling this year in the minors, having just recently been demoted to double-A ball. At Triple-A, Hernandez struggled to a 2-8 record with a 7.24 ERA and 1.86 WHIP. Since being demoted, he has started four games, thrown 23 innings to a 4.30 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. At 22 years old, Hernandez is still a prospect. His stock is as low as it has ever been so getting Hernandez for Rhodes is a tremendous win for the Mariners. Hernandez projects to be a middle of the rotation type starter. He strikes batters out at a good rate (494 in 549.1 career innings), always a good indication of a pitcher’s promise.

Arthur Rhodes, at the age 38, is enjoying a fine season. In 22 innings, he’s struck out 27 batters while posting a 2.86 ERA. The veteran lefty is holding left handed batters to a .195 batting average against this season. He still throws in the mid-90’s and will be the veteran leader on a Marlins team still in the hunt.

While some may say that the Marlins gave up too much of a prospect for a couple of months of Rhodes, they would be wrong. The Marlins have a wealth of prospects for pitching duties. Replacing Hernandez, who wasn’t performing, will be “easy” for the Marlins.

Overall, this is a win-win as both teams get what they need at the moment.

Reds Trade OF Ken Griffey Jr. to the White Sox for 2B Danny Richar and RHP Nick Masset

The one truly shocking trade was this one. Griffey had to waive his no trade clause to come to Chicago. In exchange, the Reds receive minor league second baseman Danny Richar and pitcher Nick Masset. Let’s be clear, this is a lousy deal for the Reds. Sure, Griffey is not the same anymore, but he is definitely worth more than two guys with inconsistent performance records and limited promise. The Reds clear the way for rookie phenom Jay Bruce to play his more comfortable corner outfield position full time. Centerfield will now be manned by Jerry Hairston Jr. when he returns from the disabled list.

Nick Masset is nothing more than a back of the pitching rotation type (if that). His career minor league ERA was 4.53 and his WHIP of 1.46 depicts a pitcher who will have a hard time getting major league hitters out. In 32 appearances (1 start) for the White Sox in 2008, Masset has thrown 44.1 innings, given up 55 hits with 21 walks and 32 strikeouts. His ERA 4.40 and WHIP of 1.700 is quite poor for a reliever (or any type of pitcher for that matter). Richar was going to be the White Sox starting second baseman before spring training. An injury took Richar out of the hunt for the job (plus the fact that he hid the injury). In 248 triple-A at bats, Richar is hitting .262/.321/.441. He could be a decent regular, but with Brandon Phillips still around, his road back to the majors seems a bit on hold.

Ken Griffey Jr. will be the White Sox starting centerfielder. That’s right, Junior is back in center. Many will point out that he is injury prone and his 38 year old body can’t take the pounding that a centerfielder often feels. Time will tell if that is true. Junior’s arrival gives the White Sox another bat with power in the lineup. Sure, he’s not the old, wearing the hat backwards kid, but Griffey is still a feared hitter. The only thing the Sox have to fear is that second half, season ending injury that has happened over the past two seasons.

It gives manager Ozzie Guillen a ton of flexibility to go with the hot hand. Paul Konerko looks to lose a lot of playing time with Nick Swisher moving to first base on a regular basis. With Griffey in center, the White Sox defense actually gets an upgrade as Swisher was quite poor in center. Griffey can’t run like he once did, but he is flanked by Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye, both who can cover ground.

Too big of a deal will be made about Griffey returning to center. He will play the position admirably. The White Sox have Brian Anderson who can serve has his caddy during many games.

The White Sox get the better end of this trade. Griffey may be advanced in age, but he still worth more than the Sox gave up. Does this launch the Sox into serious World Series contender? Perhaps they won’t make it, but they are in the perfect position to make that run. If Griffey can stay healthy, he will be a key part of the White Sox run, especially in the surprisingly weak AL Central where no other team improved itself at all. With the continued success of the pitching, the Sox have to be the favorites to come away with the Central crown. 

Yankees trade IF Alberto Gonzalez to the Nationals for RHP Jhonny Nunez

Yes, this trade actually happened yesterday. The Nats acquired the light hitting, excellent fielding, infielder Alberto Gonzalez in exchange for a hard throwing right handed pitcher, Jhonny Nunez. In his 252.2 career innings, he has struck out 232 hitters. Here’s a memo to Jim Bowden: A power pitcher with good upside is always more valuable than a player who projects best as a utility man.

Three Team Trade: Dodgers receive Manny Ramirez, Red Sox Receive Jason Bay, and Pirates receive 3B Andy LaRoche, RHP Bryan Morris, OF Brandon Moss, and RHP Craig Hansen.

The biggest trade of the day started to leak out after the 4:00 eastern deadline, which is usually the case. For someone who followed the trading rumors all day, one would read that Manny Ramirez trade talks were on again and off again every other minute. Finally, the rumors became true. Manny Ramirez now joins Joe Torre out west. Ramirez’s presence in the LA lineup makes them infinitely better. Ramirez, if he were on the Dodgers all season, would lead them in homeruns, RBI, and slugging percentage–most by a wide margin. He instantly becomes their best player and gives the Dodgers the only true power threat in the NL West race.

The repercussion of Ramirez coming to the squad is now the Dodgers are suddenly crowded in the outfield. With Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, Andruw Jones, and Juan Pierre on the roster, two of that crowd will have to sit each game. If Torre wants to put his best team out there, Pierre and Jones become very expensive bench players. Look for Torre, a master at this in New York, to expertly navigate playing time for each player.

For the rest of the NL west, it spells trouble as now the Dodgers are the best team in the division. They were good before, but this move puts them ahead of the Diamondbacks in terms of pure talent. Look for Ramirez to be motivated over the last two months as he plays for his next, and probably final, contract.

The Pirates walk away from this deal big winners. They receive four players for giving up Jason Bay, their best player. The number one player they acquired is Andy LaRoche, the talented, young third baseman. LaRoche should be given the opportunity to be the full time third baseman for the remainder of the season (Sorry Jose Bautista, your time is up). It is curious that the Pirates would acquire LaRoche as one of their better prospects, Neil Walker, is also a third baseman, along with the unsigned prospect Pedro Alvarez. Perhaps, LaRoche can play second base in the future. Bryan Morris is an interesting addition as he is a former first round pick coming off of Tommy John Surgery (aren’t they all?). Morris throws in the mid-90’s post surgery and looks to be a solid middle of the rotation prospect. He’s still a long way from coming to the majors, as he is beginning the road back from surgery in single-A ball.

The Red Sox also shipped them outfielder Brandon Moss and reliever Craig Hansen. Both players have limited upside, but should prove to be useful. Moss, a 24 year old lefty outfielder, has a good minor league track record (this year .282/.346/.528) and should be a quality hitter against right handed pitching. His development against left handers will ultimately decide whether he is a full-time player or a good role player. Hansen is a hard throwing reliever who could be a candidate to close for the Bucs. For some reason, the Red Sox rushed the 24 year old to the majors right away, and the results have not been good. He struggles with command and looks a bit away from being a quality reliever. The stuff is there, the command must develop. With a good fastball-slider combination, Hansen, at his best, could be a quality closer for the Pirates. In all, the Pirates get four useful players albeit with limited upside. Each has a chance to be a quality major league player.

To put it in proper perspective, the Red Sox trade Manny Ramirez, Moss, and Hansen for Jason Bay. While that looks like a lopsided trade on paper, it isn’t as bad as one thinks (although it’s close). First, the Red Sox are not a better team for this trade. Ramirez is still a better player than Bay. Yes, people will say that their numbers for this season are similar and that Bay is younger, cheaper, plays better defense, and has a contract for next season.  All of that is true, but he is still not the power threat that Ramirez is, despite the similar numbers. Bay is still not as good of a hitter, despite the fact that this season’s numbers say he is. Add into this the fact that playing in Pittsburgh is a completely different ballgame than playing in the tense Boston market. Bay will have to acclimate himself to explaining why he swung at a 1-1 count with two outs at the 5 PM hour when Manny Ramirez would never have done that. He probably will have to answer that 5 or 6 times as well. Bay also is in a pennant race for the first time in his career. He’ll be fine, but it may take some time to get acclimated to a completely different world.  

Bay is a good player who has gone unnoticed around the league for quite some time. He will give the Red Sox solid production, but not that Hall of Fame production they received over the past seven seasons. One thing is for sure-he will not give the Red Sox any headaches like the talented Ramirez did. For now, the Red Sox clubhouse is peaceful. There isn’t a price tag on that and one has no way to evaluate how that impacts a team on the field. The time was now for Manny to leave Boston. It had to be done, even if it makes them a slightly worse team. Bay won’t make them forget Ramirez, but he is a quality player.

In all, the trade deadline was one of the best in recent memory. With three future Hall of Famers dealt over a 24 hour period, the Yankees bolstering their roster, and the Red Sox taking a chance on dealing their best hitter, the rest of the season should be quite exciting.