The good, bad, and ugly of the MLB trade deadline

The MLB trade deadline period has ended, and there was a flurry of trades made after the waiver wire is closed. We can look at those later but now that it’s been a full month since the “official” trade deadline, lets look at how players traded have been performing.

This isn’t if the moves were good or bad, just how the new players have looked after they went to their new team.

The Good

David Price

Price went 4-1 in August with a 2.28 ERA. He’s even vaulting himself into contention for the AL Cy Young award. Toronto gave up a few promising prospects to get him, and may have trouble resigning him this offseason, but they have jumped into first place in the AL East and he’s a big part.

Yoenis Cespides

Cespides had eight home runs and 23 RBIs for the New York Mets in August, coming up huge especially for a team in desperate need of a bat. They’re another team that has taken over first place in their division and the addition of Cespides, along with veterans Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson, have added some much-needed hitting.

J.A. Happ

The Pirates trading for Happ was mostly overlooked at the deadline when they got him from Seattle. He put together a great month going 3-1 with a sub-2.00 ERA. The Pirates needed more starting pitching depth, especially after A.J. Burnett’s injury, and Happ has delivered. They seem to have the Wild Card spot locked up.

Cole Hamels

Hamels was sharp in his last two starts, brining him up to 2-1 overall for the month after a loss and a couple no decisions. Ending the month allowing three runs over the last two starts brings him into the good group, after a somewhat shaky start with the Rangers. For a team that has quietly snuck into the wild card, he’ll have opportunities to add to his resume of big games.

The Bad

Scott Kazmir

The Astros gave up a highly touted prospect catcher for Kazmir, and it’s a move that may very well pay off toward the end of the season and playoff time. The veteran they got from the division rival As has seen his share of postseason action throughout his career. It’s just that he hasn’t been great for them yet, going 1-4 with a 3.94 ERA. The Astros are still in first but will need Kazmir to come up big.

Troy Tulowitzki

Another player who has simply just not played to his usual standards. Another case where his team is winning the division. Tulowitzki may be the best SS in baseball, at least hitting, but he hasn’t brought it to Toronto just hitting .214 with 8 RBIs. Everyone else around him is hitting and have afforded him time to get right.

Carlos Gomez

The Astros were hoping for some power with a great glove in center field from Gomez. They got the glove at least, with him making a handful of great plays for them, but he is hitting just .221 with just two HRs in a Houston uniform.

Johny Cueto

Cueto has allowed 6 runs in his last two starts for the Royals. The usually terrific ace only allowed 3 earned runs total in his 3 previous starts, but after two outings where he was shelled, he lands in the bad.

The Ugly

Jim Johnson

The Dodgers still have a healthy lead in first place over the Giants in the NL West, but their giant trade to upgrade their pitching staff hasn’t exactly panned out for them. They were looking for some starting depth behind Grienke and Kershaw and Alex Wood has been their best player out of the trade, if only by going 2-3 with a 4.11 ERA. Matt Latos, the other starter they got, had 0 wins and an ERA over 6. Jim Johnson and Luis Avilan from the Braves haven’t locked the bullpen down. Johnson has a 12.66 ERA with them. This hasn’t hurt their division chances yet, with the Giants on a mini slide, but it may soon.

Dan Haren

Haren has a plus-6.00 ERA for the Cubs since being acquired for some minor leaguers. He is their No. 5 starter, so it’s not the worst that could happen to Chicago and if they make the playoffs he won’t see much, if any, action.