Trade Deadline Review: AL Central
The AL Central was a messy division at this year's deadline. One team went all out to acquire the pieces to end a playoff drought, while another slept through the entire day. The other division members bought smaller pieces or tore down the entire roster. Here is a complete recap of the AL Central 2024 Trade Deadline.
#1: Cleveland Guardians
Additions: SP Alex Cobb OF Lane Thomas Traded Away: Nationals #6 Prospect LHP Alex Clemmey Nationals #23 Prospect SS Rafael Ramirez Jr. INF Jose Tena (Guardians) LHP Jacob Bresnahan (Giants) PTBNL (Giants)
The Guardians' roster is well-rounded outside of starting pitching and outfield. They made an amazing addition in Lane Thomas, who is a lefty masher and is a great baserunner. Their main weakness was starting pitching though, and they only added Alex Cobb, who has been injured the entire season. They've been as good as always since the deadline, but there are huge question marks around whether this rotation can win the Guardians a playoff series. They didn't give up much prospect value outside of Alex Clemmey who is a lefty starter with great strikeout stuff.
#2: Kansas City Royals
Additions: SP Michael Lorenzon RP Hunter Harvey RP Lucas Erceg INF Paul DeJong Traded Away: Nationals #7 Prospect INF Cayden Wallace Nationals #8 Prospect C Caleb Lomavita (Traded as Pick #39 in the 2024 Draft) A's #6 Prospect RHP Mason Barnett A's #15 Prospect RHP Will Klein A's #28 Prospect OF Jared Dickey RHP Walter Pennington (Rangers) RHP Jared Rosado (White Sox)
The Royals are having their most successful season since 2015 and they decided to capitalize on it. They added needed pitching to the roster with Michael Lorenzon and Hunter Harvey but the main get was Lucas Erceg. Erceg will likely move into the closer role with the team and lock down key innings with them.
They also added INF Paul DeJong to give them some much-needed depth. The prospects they gave aren't very good either as the Royals farm system is notoriously bad. They still have a lot to prove heading into the last stretch of the year but the Royals have set themselves up well to succeed.
#3: Minnesota Twins
Additions: RP Trevor Richards Trade Away: INF Jay Harry (Blue Jays)
The Twins decided July 30th would be a day for a nice slumber. General Manager Derek Falvey found a nice spot in the Twins' office and took a nice good nap. Suddenly Falvey awoke and realized it was 15 minutes before the deadline. Panicking, Falvey made a last-minute move to acquire a mediocre relief pitcher in Trevor Richards. This move seemed to be complete desperation to look like you did something to all the fans but he had to double down.
He then designated Josh Staumont for assignment who had thus far been one of the Twins' best relievers. This was a genius move in his eyes and he silently fell back asleep to finish his nap. This year's deadline loser was the Twins and only the Twins. In an integral year for their core, they downgraded the roster at the deadline. This is the worst-case scenario deadline as doing nothing would have been better than actively getting worse.
#4: Detroit Tigers
Additions: #5 Prospect C/1B Thayron Liranzo #20 Prospect RHP Joseph Montalvo #24 Prospect INF Trey Sweeney #25 Prospect RHP Eric Silva C Liam Hicks (Rangers) RHP Tyler Owens (Rangers) RHP Chase Lee (Rangers) Traded Away: SP Jack Flaherty RP Andrew Chafin C Carson Kelly 1B/OF Mark Canha
The Tigers are almost good enough to be in playoff contention but they still made the right move at the deadline and traded veterans. They wisely held on to 2024 Cy Young frontrunner Tarik Skubal and committed to keeping the ace around. They got good prospects for Andrew Chafin, Carson Kelly, and Mark Canha but their return for Jack Flaherty was disappointing.
Flaherty was the best starter being shopped at this year's deadline and they got quite the smaller haul for him. The argument could be made that the Marlins got more for Trevor Rogers, who is considerably worse than the Tigers got for Flaherty. It was a solid deadline but there will be much conversation about who they could've gotten instead.
#5: Chicago White Sox
Additions: #13 Prospect INF Jeral Perez #14 Prospect INF Alexander Albertus #15 Prospect William Bergolla RHP Jarold Rosado (Royals) LHP Trey McGough (Orioles)
INF Miguel Vargas (Dodgers) Traded Away: SP Erick Fedde RP Michael Kopech RP Tanner Banks INF Paul DeJong OF Eloy Jimenez OF Tommy Pham
The White Sox had a very poor deadline. They had some good assets in Erick Fedde and Michael Kopech but bizarrely decided to trade them in one deal. The market for starting pitchers was outright insane and they couldn't even get a top-ten prospect for the second-best one available. They wouldn't budge from their demands with the Twins resulting in them having to accept an objectively worse offer with the Cardinals and Dodgers.
The other trades of Paul DeJong, Eloy Jimenez, and Tanner Banks were good. These were all veterans who didn't fit the team's future and it was the right call to sell on them well they still had value. The main issue is that the White Sox did not maximize value in a year where they are going to be ineligible for a top-ten pick. The White Sox are currently on pace for 123 losses which would be the modern record and if this is the best they can when trading their valuable players, they may be bad for a long time.
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