Trading Season
For anyone who grew up watching Looney Tunes cartoons, we remember seeing Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck along with Elmer Fudd, saying it was rabbit season, no it was duck season back and forth for Fudd to hunt. This would go on and on until as usual Bugs would outsmart Daffy and he would then say it is duck season. He would then get shot and his beak would get blown to the back of his head.
It’s trading season, no it’s stand pat season. It’s trading season, no it’s stand pat season. Another way to look at it is a take-off of Hamlet. To trade or not to trade that is the question!!
Well folks, it is that time of year in Major League Baseball. It is trading season or as we most know it as, the Trade Deadline. This is the time of year when the haves come to the have nots and try to come to some sort of deal to trade for a teams most worthwhile player who may or may not be a free agent after the season to help them throughout the rest of the current season and into the playoffs.
Every year we see a trade or two take place that we did not see coming. This goes for all sports most notably in baseball, hockey and basketball, because in football, in season trades are few and far between, especially at the deadline because it is a lot harder for players to switch teams in the NFL during the season.
Back to the matter at hand. In baseball there is always that highly sought-after player. This season everyone expected it to be Shohei Ohtani, the first player to hit and pitch and be an all star at both positions since Babe Ruth. Well unfortunately, the Angels put the kibosh on that last week when they traded for Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez from the Chicago White Sox and saying they will not be taking inquiries around the DH/SP.
Then on top of this trade you have the White Sox trading Lance Lynn and Kendall Graveman, getting all they can for their players. Well, the Mets are not far behind. Coming off of 101 wins in 2022, signing Justin Verlander in the offseason, it was expected they would challenge again for the division. Well, that has not come to pass and they traded David Robertson on Thursday for two young minor leaguers and then Saturday they traded Max Scherzer along with a ton of cash to the Texas Rangers for one of their top prospects with a last name many of us already know: Luisangel Acuna, whose brother Ronald plays for the Braves.
There is usually at least one blockbuster trade and I don’t know if you consider the Scherzer deal a blockbuster but it is definitely somewhat surprising so we will wait and see what comes our way in this trading season. Will any other big name players be traded? Will the Mets deal Verlander and any player whose contract it set to expire at the end of the season along with anything that is not bolted down? Will the Cardinals trade Nolan Arenado? What will the resurgent Cincinnati Reds do to improve and make the playoffs for the first time in a long time? We will have to wait and see as the deadline hits on August 1st at 6pm.