The end of July spells one thing for baseball fans, the trade deadline. The final day of the non-waiver trade deadline is always an exciting one. Seeing teams build for a big playoff push into late August and September to watching teams completely tear down and officially wave the white flag for a long road of rebuilding.
Of course the many days prior to the July 31st deadline were also filled with exciting trades, but the final 48 hours leading up to the deadline are always the most exciting.
This years deadline saw a lot of big-name players moving to new cities as teams who are gearing up for October fill their voids with players from teams who are officially rebuilding.
Here are some of the big trades that went down in the last 48 hours.
Things kicked off yesterday afternoon when the Atlanta Braves acquired an outfield power bat from the Cincinnati Reds in Adam Duvall. A position they have been looking for help in.
That night the Red Sox made an acquisition, acquiring the second baseman Ian Kinsler from the Angels for two prospects. Signaling what is most likely the end of Dustin Pedroia’s season.
Deadline day brought lots of deals including some blockbusters
The Diamondbacks beefed up their bullpen for their postseason push, Brad Ziegler of the Marlins and Jake Diekman of the Rangers both will be making their way to Arizona to help the Diamondbacks make a statement in a tight NL West race.
While the Braves picked up Duvall the night before they weren’t stopping at just that. They made a big splash in the final hour of the deadline and traded for Orioles starter, Kevin Gausman and relief pitcher Darren O’ Day. Gausman is controllable over the next few years, that combined with the trade of Duvall and Brad Brach hopes to take the Braves to an NL East Pennant.
On the note of the Orioles, they have officially decided that its time to rebuild, GM Dan Duquette stated “ “I hear it’s easier to demolish the entire house and rebuild from the ground up rather than renovating one room at a time.” this coming after starting a fire sale, trading Machado, Gausman, Schoop, Brach, O’Day, and Britton all within a span of at least a week.
The Phillies loaded up at the deadline acquiring all-star catcher Wilson Ramos from the Tampa Bay Rays and pitcher Aaron Loup from the Blue Jays.
The Dodgers upgraded their second base position by acquiring Brian Dozier from the Twins.
The biggest trade of the day came out of Pittsburgh, who acquired Tampa Bays ace, Chris Archer. This which is classified as a blockbuster immensely helps the Pirates who just this past offseason traded ace Gerrit Cole to the Astros. Now with Archer, you get a controllable pitcher until 2021 in a time when the Pirates are fighting hard for that second Wild-Card spot at the moment.
Some other trades from Deadline Day.
Cardinals trade Outfielder Tommy Pham to the Tampa Bay Rays
Orioles trade second baseman Jonathan Schoop to the Milwaukee Brewers
Tigers traded pitcher Mike Fiers to the red-hot Athletics
Tigers also traded Center Fielder Leonys Martin to the Indians
While the Marlins traded Cameron Maybin to the Mariners.
After yet another hectic Trade Deadline focuses now shifts to August and the official push to the postseason.
