Trade Deadline Gone, But Moves To Be Made

The July trading deadline has passed, and as has become all too common, despite an immense volume of activity, very little actually got done. The Rangers moved a superstar slugger and a fragile closer, but generally speaking, teams settled for minor improvements. Avoiding risk remains the rule of the day in the post-"Moneyball" environment. Nobody wants to risk being the next Lou Gorman, the man who traded Jeff Bagwell before his debut for moderately useful middle reliever Larry Andersen, and everybody looks at wipeout deals like Omar Minaya's trade for Bartolo Colon in 2002 while general manager of the Expos, who parted with Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, and Brandon Phillips in the deal.

The July 31 deadline might command the most attention, because there's no mystery involved — whether the deals involve talent for talent, money for talent, future considerations, or players to be named later, the exchanges themselves are pretty straightforward. After the deadline, meaningful deals can still be done in terms of bringing in a player who will be eligible for a club's postseason roster. The problem is that they now involve a club wending its way through the arcana of baseball's multi-tiered waivers system; the players who pass through revocable waivers are still available to be dealt. Teams can put any player on this form of waivers, and they can be claimed inside of 47 hours by any other team; claims by teams with the worst record take priority. The team waiving the guy can elect to deal him to the claiming team, dump him on the claiming team (along with the balance of his salary for the year), or revoke waivers and hold onto him, forgoing their ability to deal him to anybody for 30 days. If nobody claims the player, his club is free to deal him to anybody.

What makes a player attractive and available at this stage? Sometimes it's a matter of a team wanting to dump a free agent-eligible veteran and create playing time for somebody who could play a part on next year's team. Every once in a while it's a matter of charity, giving a vet a shot at being in a pennant race before his career winds down. And sometimes, if a general manager is just this hard up for help, it's a matter of blocking a rival ahead of him in the standings by getting to the guy first.

With all of that transaction chicanery in mind, which contenders still have holes to fix, and who might be available? In New York, while there's controversy over whether Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon can coexist once Giambi's reactivated, as badly as Damon's hitting (.251 AVG/.353 OBA/.356 SLG), you'd think the point moot. Now that Bobby Abreu's finally hitting, Damon's due to be busted down to fourth outfielder once Giambi returns. Instead, the Yankees need to do something about the continuing absence of anyone capable of putting up even league-average offense at first base, because Andy Phillips and Doug Mientkiewicz aren't the answers. Even if it involves going out and getting a mediocrity like Jeff Conine or Scott Hatteberg from the Reds, or seeing if the A's would let the Yankees take on some of the expense of employing Mike Piazza at DH (thus moving Giambi back to first), the important thing to keep in mind are that the Yankees don't have to worry about Theo Epstein blocking their claim on these guys, as long as they're behind Boston in the standings.

Similarly, while the Tigers could also use help at first base or left field, the Yankees wouldn't have to worry about Detroit, because they're ahead of the Yankees in terms of record. All three veteran players have the added virtue of being free agents at season's end, so they'd truly be rentals, and thus might not cost much to pick up should they fall to the Yankees.

Over at Shea, the Mets could still use an extra outfielder, and should keep their eye on who becomes available. For the most part, this might involve pondering the virtues of the halt in body or lame in performance, whether it's the former (like the Royals' Reggie Sanders), the latter (the Orioles' Corey Patterson), or both (Rangers' Brad Wilkerson). Perhaps the most desirable possibility is Shannon Stewart on the A's, and given his negligible base salary and plate appearance-driven incentives, his place on Oakland's bench might drive him to grouse his way out of the East Bay. In pondering these options, though, the Mets might be joined by the Angels — they would also like to add a bat, and they still aren't certain when or if Juan Rivera will be back from a broken leg in time to provide real assistance down the stretch.

Elsewhere in the National League, the Dodgers, Braves, and Phillies are all interested in starting pitching, and all three should keep one eye peeled on the wires to see who might come bouncing down the transom. Generally speaking, what will be available won't be star talent, but even someone like the Orioles' Steve Trachsel, the Rockies' Rodrigo Lopez, or perhaps a retread like Wade Miller (currently rehabbing in the Cubs' organization) might draw interest. The Pirates might have completely blown it by taking on Matt Morris's salary in a rotation he doesn't substantially improve, but they might still be able to unload veteran placeholders like Shawn Chacon and Tony Armas Jr. on a sufficiently desperate contender.

In the two Central Divisions, you can count on the Cubs, Brewers, Tigers, and Indians to all be looking at what relief help might become available. There's not much to go around, which might force them to take seriously roster flotsam like the Devil Rays' Jay Witasick, or see if the Marlins don't care to keep Byung-Hyun Kim, although Oakland might entertain offers for veterans like Joe Kennedy and Kiko Calero.

Finally, after the useless gesture the decision to pick up Jason Kendall has proven to be, Cubs GM Jim Hendry should still keep an eye on any catching talent that might become available, although it remains an open question over whether or not someone like the Royals' Jason LaRue would represent improvement, or just another stumbling block thrown in the path of prospect Geovany Soto.

Ms. Kahrl is a writer for Baseball Prospectus. For more state-of-the-art commentary, visit baseballprospectus.com.