We’re just days -- five, to be exact -- from the baseball trade deadline, which passes on Saturday at 4 p.m. EDT.
MLB Trade Rumors: Which Teams Are Ready To Make A Deal Before Saturday’s Deadline?
There certainly will be more trades made after that point; Saturday is the non-waivers deadline. If a team wants to make a deal after that point (through Aug. 31), the players involved have to slip all the way through waivers without being claimed, which is rarely a given unless that player’s salary is obscene.
But if they want to make a deal with less risk involved, now’s the time to do it. And teams still have a few days left to cook up a trade or two.
And, not every general manager or team president has figured out whether they’re buying, selling or sitting out the flurry of activity.
Some have made it clear they're in. Take the Angels, who made a huge deal -- and perhaps a steal -- on Sunday, getting pitcher Dan Haren from the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Angels have a lot of ground to make up; they're nine games out of the wild card in the American League and they're seven games back of the Texas Rangers in the AL West. On the afternoon of the trade, the Angels lost another to the Rangers, putting them back another game. But Manager Mike Scioscia already was looking ahead, according to the L.A. Times:
“We felt very good about our starting five, but this is a huge opportunity for us to upgrade now and for the next couple of years. Haren has pitched in big games, he has terrific stuff, and he’s a young veteran. He gives us a deeper front end of the rotation, and that’s what every championship-caliber club wants.”
Then there's a team like the Washington Nationals, once again mired in last place in the National League East with no hope of contending for a playoff spot. Seems like a natural seller, right? Not necessarily, as those with and around the team have started to make arguments to keep trade targets such as slugger Adam Dunn and closer Matt Capps.
Adam Kilgore broke down Washington’s dilemma concerning Capps this morning on his Nationals Journal blog:
With Drew Storen in the mix, Capps would seem expendable in the future. Capps is making $3.5 million this season, and he will be due a big raise in arbitration after an all-star season. It would be logical to bail on Capps now, sell high and avoid paying him upwards of $7 million next year when Storen can close for a fraction of that. It sounds easy. But if Rizzo believes the end of this season is important for the Nationals to establish some success and momentum for next year, then it's not so cut-and-dried.
And that last line there is what will make this week leading up to the deadline so interesting.
So be sure to stay logged in to SB Nation all day, every day this week leading into the Saturday afternoon trade deadline. We’ll be starting a new StoryStream each morning with the latest news and analysis, and our various seamheads will keep it updated into the wee hours.
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