August trades don’t come with the same headlines and excitement as trades that are completed in July or earlier.
There are some definite exceptions (the Justin Verlander deal comes to mind), but for the most part, trade activity in August has a different feel to it.
That’s largely thanks to the revocable waivers process that throws a monkey wrench in the proceedings.
However, there have been plenty of August deals so far in 2018.
While they aren’t as prominent as the Verlander deal, or even some of this past July’s moves, moves made this month could pay significant dividends come October.
Here are the winners and losers of all the MLB August trades so far.
Winner: Chicago Cubs
Any time your team can add Daniel Murphy, it’s a definite win.
Even if he’s just a rental in Chicago, the Cubs’ addition of Murphy gives the team an incredibly deep infield mix, not to mention a potential impact bat in October.
With Kris Bryant and Addison Russell currently on the disabled list, Joe Maddon’s infield now includes some combination of Murphy, Javier Baez, Anthony Rizzo, Ben Zobrist, David Bote and Tommy La Stella.
Add in Bryant and Russell when healthy and Chicago might have the deepest infield in the entire league—sorry Dodgers and Astros.
The addition of Terrance Gore from the Kansas City Royals shouldn’t be overlooked either.
Gore won’t play much other than pinch-running situations, but he’ll make a significant impact when called upon.
The 27-year-old has appeared in 49 games for the Royals from 2014 to 2017. He has no hits and just one walk in 14 career plate appearances but has amassed 21 stolen bases and 14 runs scored over that span.
He’s also racked up four stolen bases and a pair of runs in eight postseason games.
Gore has only been caught stealing five times in a Major League uniform.
The ex-Royal is the kind of player that can win a game in October purely as a pinch runner. That kind of weapon on the bench will do wonders for the Cubs come the postseason.
Winner: Oakland Athletics
Mike Fiers, Fernando Rodney and Shawn Kelley
Those are the names of the three players Oakland added in August without making anywhere near a significant dent in the organization’s farm system.
That’s a fourth starter and two quality relievers added to a roster that is in the midst of pushing the defending champions to
Kelley is a pure rental, but per Spotrac, Fiers is controllable next season via arbitration while Rodney has a $4.25 million club option for 2019.
Not only will these players help the A’s try and topple the Astros this year, but there’s a very good chance that Fiers and Rodney could help the team try and achieve the same feat in 2019.
For not giving up very much (relatively speaking), this makes them definite winners.
Winner: Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies didn’t acquire Justin Bour for free. They gave up an intriguing pitching prospect in McKenzie Mills.
But they acquired Justin Bour.
And acquired him with two-plus years of controllability left.
That’s a steal for a player who’s logged wRC+ metrics of 133, 115 and 119 in each of his first three seasons. It’s also a steal for a player who mashes righties (129 wRC+, .362 wOBA, .232 ISO, .860 OPS, 11.7 BB%).
Philadelphia pulled a similar robbery in July when they plucked a then-injured Wilson Ramos from the Rays.
Bour wasn’t the Phillies’ only August acquisition either. They traded for southpaw reliever Luis Avilan (1.0 fWAR, 2.70 FIP, 10.44 K/9) from the White Sox for prospect Felix Paulino. Avilan, per Spotrac, is controllable through next season.
You can never have too many lefties in the bullpen.
Related: Building an MLB Team with Detroit Tigers players traded since 2013
Winner: St. Louis Cardinals
Tyson Ross and Matt Adams for nothin’, chicks for free.
Moving very quickly by the Dire Straits reference, the Cardinals added both Ross and Adams for literally nothing via waiver claims.
Of course, they’ll be paying the duo’s salaries the rest of the way but adding two MLB pieces for free is always a successful transaction.
Loser: Washington Nationals
The Nationals are a bit of a sinking ship in the sense that they’ve been dropping in the standings and are offloading pieces from said ship.
Brandon Kintzler departed in July, and Kelley, Murphy and Adams have departed since.
Washington simply didn’t get much in return for the trio. While that’s partially understandable given that all were rentals, it certainly didn’t make the departures any easier for a Washington franchise that has had World Series aspirations for years.
Loser: Pittsburgh Pirates
Ok, so Pittsburgh might not be as much of a “loser” as Washington, but the Bucs opted to fill a bench need with shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria.
With Jordy Mercer currently on the disabled list, he was placed on the DL 10 days after Hechavarria was added, the ex-Ray has taken over starting duties at his natural position.
That obviously wasn’t the Pirates’ intent.
However, contract and prospect return aside, Pittsburgh could have done better if they were looking for infield help.
Jose Iglesias, Freddy Galvis or Miguel Rojas would have been more valuable than the glove-first shortstop as a bench infield piece.
Adeiny Hechavarria in 2018: 4.6 Def, 0.5 fWAR
Jose Iglesias in 2018: 13.8 Def, 2.6 fWAR
Freddy Galvis in 2018: 1.9 Def, 0.8 fWAR
Miguel Rojas in 2018: 9.4 Def, 0.9 fWAR
An upgrade was needed over Sean Rodriguez, Kevin Newman and Max Moroff, I’m just not sure Hechavarria was the best one.
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