Deadline trades fast and furious
For Brian Dozier, getting traded meant a dash to the airport and a long trip to Dodger Stadium. For Jake Diekman, it was a lot easier — he simply rode the bullpen cart from one clubhouse to the other at Chase Field.
Chris Archer, Jonathan Schoop and a bunch of relievers moved on deadline day, a flurry of 15 swaps Tuesday before time ran out to make deals without waivers.
The trade market kept spinning at a dizzying pace. Every team except San Francisco made at least one deal since the All-Star Game, with Tampa Bay swinging seven.
Archer, a two-time AllStar, hugged teammates at Tropicana Field before heading to Pittsburgh. He is 3-5 with a 4.31 ERA in 17 starts this season, and joins a Pirates club that has pushed back into the playoff race even after trading away Gerrit Cole and Andrew McCutchen in the offseason.
“They’re super-hot right now, and they want me,” Archer
said. “I’m excited to be part of the organization that wants me, part of a rich baseball history, a hard-working community. I can’t wait to get there.”
The Rays sent All-Star catcher Wilson Ramos to NL East-leading Philadelphia, while Leonys Martin, Kevin Gausman and Cameron Maybin also switched sides as contenders tweaked their rosters.
All but four National League teams began the day within 5 ½ games of a playoff spot. The American League is more spread out — division leaders Boston, Cleveland and Houston have been busy.
Manny Machado, Cole Hamels, Zach Britton, Mike
Moustakas and Ian Kinsler were among the big names that moved earlier this month.
Bryce Harper, Jacob deGrom, J.T. Realmuto and McCutchen had been mentioned in trade speculation, but stayed put.
“I think whenever you hear your name or see your name on stuff, you always wonder. But I think that’s just the business side of the game,” Harper said. “It’s part of the game.”
One of Harper’s teammates packed up.
Exactly a year after getting traded from Minnesota to Washington, reliever Brandon Kintzler was part of another deadline deal. This time, the Nationals sent him to the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs.
“I thought they were joking. I figured it’s not April’s Fools. They called me in, I said, ‘Am I traded?’ They said yeah,” Kintzler said.
An All-Star last year, Kintzler turns 34 today.
“Birthday again tomorrow, so I’m traveling on my birthday again, so that’s great. It is what it is,” he said.
Dozier had been a fixture in Minnesota’s lineup for seven years. But the Twins dipped this season, and they sent the power-hitting second baseman to the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers for infielder Logan Forsythe (Arkansas Razorbacks) and two minor leaguers.
Rather than starting at Target Field in Minneapolis, the 31-year-old Dozier hustled to join his new club as it hosted Milwaukee. He’s now part of a revamped infield for the
defending NL West champion Dodgers, who added Machado two weeks ago.
“Brian’s brand here in Minnesota, I don’t know if you can get much better than that,” Twins Manager Paul Molitor said. “Everything that he’s done for the community and the way that he’s played the game, he’s set a great example for our young guys throughout, and you’re going to miss a guy like that.”
The New York Mets had discussions about their talent-rich young pitchers, who include deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler.
“We were not going to move those players unless it involved considerable talent coming back in our direction,” assistant general manager John Ricco said.
One surprise name traded Tuesday was Tommy Pham. The St. Louis Cardinals traded the outfielder to the Tampa Bay Rays for three minor leaguers — outfielder Justin Williams, left-handed pitcher Genesis Cabrera and right-handed pitcher Roel Ramirez.
The Rays also received international cap space in the four-player trade.
The 30-year-old Pham had been a member of the Cardinals’ organization since being drafted in 2006. He was batting .248 this season with 14 home runs and 41 RBI as St. Louis opened the day seven games out of the NL Central lead during a season in which the team has already fired manager Mike Matheny.
There had already been a flurry of moves this week, including closers Roberto Osuna (to Houston) and Ken Giles (to Toronto) switching teams, Seattle picking up Adam Warren and Zach Duke, Lance Lynn joining the New York Yankees, Adam Duvall moving to Atlanta and Ian Kinsler added to the Boston Red Sox.
Diekman definitely was on the go.
The lefty struck out two while pitching for Texas on Monday night in a victory at Arizona. The Diamondbacks reacquired reliever Brad Ziegler from Miami early Tuesday, then boosted their bullpen by getting Diekman from the Rangers.
Wanting to make Diekman’s move easy, the Diamondbacks offered the services of the bullpen cart used to ferry relievers into the game.
“They asked and I was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t want to carry all of my stuff,’” Diekman said.