Opinion By Roy J. Akers- www.skyviewsports.net
Sellers in the MLB Trade Market usually get HOSED.
For me, over time it came to the realization that the MLB trade deadline was all about the buyers. (teams getting talent). Teams looking to sell at the trade deadline usually come out on the short end of the stick.
The rumor was that the Tigers were going to trade Tarik Skubal, the White Sox were going to trade their entire team and the Tampa Bay Rays were going to dump most of theirs. The Tigers did unload four players including Jack Flaherty, who is having an outstanding bounce back season and will be a free agent at the end of the 2024 season. The Chicago White Sox did dump a few players and the Rays dumped several players themselves. The White Sox dumped journeyman Paul De Jong and injury prone Eloy Jimenez and kept Garrett Crochet and Luis Robert Jr.. Not sure what sense it is to get 50 cents on the dollar for players that you developed and traded them for players that will most likely NEVER play in the major leagues and Chicago will find out what Detroit still has not.
Examples of Detroit Getting hosed as a Seller
For example, Detroit went into a rebuild in 2017, they dumped several players including Justin Verlander as part of their rebuild. Remember Must See JV? Detroit got diddily for him and I do not mean Bo Diddily. Here is the return of the Verlander trade.
From MLB.Com In return for trading their franchise pitcher, the Tigers received the No. 3 (Franklin Perez), No. 9 (Daz Cameron), and No. 11 (Jake Rogers) prospects in Houston’s farm system, per MLB.com. The 19-year-old Perez is one of the fastest rising pitching prospects in baseball. He has a 3.08 ERA with 78 strikeouts in 86 1/3 innings split between Single-A and Double-A this year. That was in 2017.
More Bad News on the Verlander trade.
Daz Cameron could NOT play at the major league level. Jake Rogers was a serviceable catcher. Franklin Perez, could also not cut it at the MLB level. Add in this kicker. The Tigers had to pay ten million dollars toward Verlander’s salary that year. How did Verlander do after leaving Detroit? He has thrown a no-hitter, won a AL Cy Young and won two world series titles. How do you feel about the MLB trade deadline now? Was that a good haul for a pitcher that will most likely make the Hall-of-Fame?
The J.D. Martinez trade was just as bad
Six weeks before Detroit dumped Verlander to Arizona in 2017, there is the case of J.D Martinez. Detroit knew they were in a rebuild and Tiger GM Dave Dombrowski was fired for telling Mr. I that fact two years earlier in 2015 and losing his job over the conversation. So leave it to Al Avila to come up with another doozy. Martinez was traded to the Diamondbacks for Double-A third baseman Dawel Lugo (ranked fourth on MLB Pipeline’s rankings of D-backs prospects, he joins the Tigers’ system at No. 11), Class A Advanced shortstop Sergio Alcantara (15th with D-backs, 18th with Tigers) and teenage shortstop Jose King, currently playing at the Rookie level.
Have you ever heard of these guys? Are you seeing a pattern. At the time the Tiger GM said: “It’s very hard,” Tigers general manager Al Avila said, “because this is not what you plan to do. We all want to win. We want to keep our players. But at this point, it is the best thing for the organization at this time.”
That brings us to the 2024 MLB Trade Deadline
Ripped from the headlines: “Dodgers pull off last-minute deal to acquire RHP Jack Flaherty“
Now, Detroit has a pitcher having an outstanding year and gets two below average prospects for him. Detroit received catcher/first baseman Thayron Liranzo and shortstop Trey Sweeney, Los Angeles’ No. 8 and No. 22 prospects, respectively. Liranzo was the 4th string catcher in the Dodgers chain. Here is what MLB.Com said about the trade.
The grade on the Flaherty trade from MLB.Com
Dodgers grade: A-
At a trade deadline that saw a number of teams grossly overpay for starting pitching, leave it to the Dodgers to land a high-profile arm for a rather modest price. Flaherty was undoubtedly the top rental starter available and could be the final piece Los Angeles needs to get over the hump in the postseason. In 18 starts this season, Flaherty has posted a 2.95 ERA and a career-low 0.956 WHIP with 133 strikeouts, the 15th-most in the majors. For Detroit, here is the MLB.Com take and echoed by many who are in the know.
Factors in trading players at the MLB deadline
Now, salary, player wishes, free agency status, club control over a player and more reasons are factors to doing a deal. The chances of a team being dealt at the MLB trade deadline and that player becoming a free agent and finding their way back to the team that dealt him are very, very low. So its goodbye Flaherty.
Tarik Skubal not being dealt
Glad to hear that. Detroit GM Scott Harris knows he has just under 2 1/2 seasons of having Skubal under contract. With Scott Boras repping Skubal, whoever signs him will pay a very high market rate. Remember Max Scherzer being repped by Boras? When Mr. I gave Scherzer a very high contract offer and Scherzer turned it down, Scherzer’s fate to live the motor city was sealed.
The Orioles were never serious about Skubal
While what the Orioles were offering for Skubal has not made it to the press outside reporters speculating, My guess is Detroit wanted the MLB’s number 1 rated prospect in Jackson Holliday. Heck, I would have asked for a second former No. 1 prospect pitcher Grayson Rodriguez as well. The Orioles would have said NO to either let alone both. Holliday hit even worse than Spencer Torkelson in his first stint in the Big Leagues earlier this season. Rodriguez is in the MLB rotation for Baltimore but sports a 3.82 era this season. He strikes people out but is WILDLY inconsistent getting bombed every second or third start but is trending better. The sounds like Skubal a few years ago. Baltimore wanted to trade Detroit very low prospects and basically steal the best pitcher in baseball for guys that would have ended up like who Detroit got for Verlander and Martinez several years ago. When dealing with MLB prospects and trading them for established great players at the MLB level, you have to overpay, not under. If you do not, you are getting HOSED.
How do you feel about the MLB trade deadline now?
Roy J. Akers is a multi-media reporter and covers several sports for www.skyviewsports.net