Trade Deadline Winners and Losers

There weren't a lot of 'big' names moved at the deadline, but that doesn't necessarily mean that there wasn't a lot of action trade deadline day (and the days leading up to it). So let's take a look at who the big winners and losers were.

Winners

Yankees - The Bronx Bombers were already winners coming into the day, with the excellent deal to pick up Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle without having to give up any top prospects. But then before the deadline they managed to swindle Craig Wilson from the Pirates for Shawn Chacon. I'll write more about this later (hint hint), but this was another excellent deal for the Yanks, and should strengthen the lineup for the stretch run.

Tigers - They didn't pull the trigger on any big deals obviously, but they got a solid player in Sean Casey. It was just a nice, solid move that should help the club. Casey's not a huge upgrade over Shelton (although Shelton has been pretty bad lately and was demoted to AA), but the's a good, patient hitter, and adds a needed lefty bat to the lineup. I thought they might go for a guy like David Delucci, but they got Casey instead, and he should be a nice fit.

Rangers - Obviously a lot of this depends on the Rangers ability to resign Carlos Lee, but if they're able to do that, it's been a solid couple of days for the Rangers. Not only did they pick up Lee, but they brought in Kip Wells from Pittsburgh. Wells isn't great, but he's got good stuff and the Rangers need help in the pen. Their moves should keep them in contention in the weak AL West.

Losers

Pirates - I can't emphasize enough how bad this deadline was for the Pirates. I mean, we've come to expect a level of suckitude from the Pirates, but this really was something else. In a word, it was horrible. Let's look at their deals separately (for a look from a Pirates fan, check out Where have you gone, Andy Van Slyke?):

Roberto Hernandez, Oliver Perez for Xavier Nady - I can appreciate the fact that Hernandez is old and that Perez has sucked this year.... but isn't Xavier Nady just like a lesser version of Craig Wilson? He's a 4th OF type, and now he'll be in Pittsburgh for a young guy who at least still has some potential in Oliver Perez.

Sean Casey for Brian Rogers - Rogers is putting up decent numbers in AA... but he's 24. He should be. And so goes one of the best hitters the Pirates have for a 24 year old AA RP.

Kip Wells for Jesse Chavez - Yay, another minor league RP for the Pirates.

Craig Wilson for Shawn Chacon - This is the worst of them all. This is just baffling really. Wilson is a solid hitter. Shawn Chacon is an absolutely wretched pitcher, looking at the numbers. And it's not like the Pirates are saving any money on the deal. Really, I can't see any real justification for the trade other than Dave Littlefield is really stupid.

I'm convinced Littlefield must be trying to get fired to be making some of these moves. And if you're a Pirates fan, this might be the worst part:

An organization playing to win could take the tens of millions it's saving on the departed and pick up one impact starting pitcher and/or power-hitting first baseman or outfielder this winter, but don't count on that.

The Pirates are just an absolute joke of a franchise. The guy they just called up wishes he wasn't called up. There were other losers at the deadline here, but none of them stack up with the Pirates. I don't understand how Dave Littlefield is still an MLB GM. I really don't.