Winners and losers of 2016 MLB trade deadline

The MLB trade deadline has come and gone. There was a flurry of activity on the final day with over 20 trades being completed.

From the New York Yankees selling high on some of their prized veterans to the Texas Rangers going all in for 2016, there were some major winners of the trade deadline.

Though, on the other end, there were some teams that simply fell flat on their face. The Los Angeles Dodgers yielded three top-end prospects for two injury-riddled veterans.

Out in the American League, a major injury to one of their best players forced the Kansas City Royals to stand pat in what has been an otherwise disastrous season for the defending champs.

Here are your biggest winners and losers of the MLB trade deadline.

Winner: New York Yankees

Yankees fans might not like the team giving up on its two best pitchers, but we have to realize that Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller were not magically going to lead the team into contention moving forward this season. That’s not how it works in today’s baseball world.

It’s also important to note that the Yankees are doing what they can to build a legitimate farm system as a way to create sustained long-term success. That’s one of the primary reasons this regime has not yielded top prospects for veterans in recent years. While it can be frustrating from an on-field perspective, it’s the right long-term strategy.

All said, New York acquired eight prospects in the two deals that sent Chapman and Miller packing. Of those eight, two — outfielder Clint Frazier and shortstop Gleyber Torres — are now the organization’s top two prospects (via MLB.com).

The Yankees were also able to nab a highly-regarded left-handed starter in Justus Sheffield in the deal that sent Miller to Cleveland. Adding even more to the farm system, New York picked up two potentially dominant relievers in Ben Heller and J.P. Feyereisen from the Indians.

With just an hour remaining until the deadline, New York sent 39-year-old All-Star outfielder Carlos Beltran to the Texas Rangers in exchange for last year’s No. 4 overall pick, starting pitcher Dillon Tate.

Unlike small-market teams that trade proven veterans for prospects, the Yankees are not in a situation where they can’t spend this upcoming winter. Because of this, it’s not crazy to think the team could reacquire Chapman, who is set to become a free agent.

Finding a nice mesh of young talent while using your superior financial resources to lure proven vets is a strategy for long-term success. While it likely won’t lead to postseason ball this year, it’s a justifiable long-term strategy.

Loser: Los Angeles Dodgers

Yielding three of your top-13 prospects for two injury-prone veterans reeks of desperation. That’s exactly what the Dodgers did when they acquired starter Rich Hill and outfielder Josh Reddick from the Oakland Athletics on Monday (more on that here).

Hill, 36, has missed the past two weeks with a blister on his throwing hand. The veteran has pitched to a 9-3 record with a 2.25 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 14 starts. Though, we have to remember Hill was out of baseball this time last year.

He might have recently experienced a resurgence of sorts, but to expect the veteran to be a top of the rotation guy seems unrealistic.

Meanwhile, Reddick has put up eight homers and just 28 RBI on the season. He’s hitting just .172 with a .208 BAbip against left-handed pitchers on the season, meaning that the veteran is nothing more than a platoon guy right now.

These wouldn’t be two bad pieces for a contending team to add. The issue here is that Los Angeles yielded three top-end pitching prospects to Oakland in the deal.

According to MLB.com, Grant Holmes was the organization’s fifth-ranked prospect at the time of the deal. Potential future closer Frankie Montos came in at seventh while hard-throwing starter Jharel Cotton came in at 13th.

That’s an absurdly high price to pay for two players that aren’t necessarily going to be central to the team’s success moving forward. Now take into account that both are slated to be free agents this winter, and this is magnified even further.

Winner: Oakland Athletics

With the myriad of injuries Oakland suffered in the first half of the season, it became readily apparent that 2016 was going to be nothing more than a rebuild year. Like he’s done for the vast majority of his tenure with the A’s, vice president Billy Beane opted to sell.

When you get Beane into this mentality and combine it with a sellers market, something good is bound to happen for Oakland.

That came to fruition in the form of a five-player deal that sent soon-to-be free agents Rich Hill and Josh Reddick to the Los Angeles Dodgers for three of their top-13 prospects, all pitchers.

This is what Oakland had to do in order to rebuild what had been a weak farm system of late. Both Jharel Cotton and Grant Holmes represent top of the rotation ptospects with the former potentially being able to make an impact this season.

Meanwhile, respected baseball insiders view Frankie Montos as an All-Star caliber closer.

Considering it was going to be hard for the last-place A’s to retain either Hill or Reddick, adding three potential contributors makes them a major winner during the trade deadline.

Loser: Miami Marlins

Andrew Cashner posted a 4.76 ERA and 1.39 WHIP in 16 starts with the San Diego Padres before being traded to Miami last week. Those aren’t exactly top-end pitching numbers right there.

Despite this, Miami yielded its second-best prospect heading into the season in the form of first baseman Josh Naylor.

In an unfortunate turn of events, one of the players Miami picked up from San Diego in the deal proved to be injured. Starter Colin Rea was eventually sent back to Southern California in a separate deal that included reliever Luis Castillo heading back to Miami.

It’s not that the Marlins’ front office isn’t trying here. Instead, it simply decided to buy high on a mid-tier rotation arm when the sellers market itself was as strong as we have ever seen it.

The end result here is that Miami finds itself in position to of being forced to part with one of its top prospects.

Winner: Texas Rangers

Go big or go home. It’s readily apparent that this was Texas’ motto heading into Monday’s trade deadline. After sending top prospect Dillon Tate to the Yankees for Carlos Beltran, the Rangers added yet another All-Star to the mix.

Mere minutes before the 4 pm ET trade deadline, Texas acquired catcher Jonathan Lucroy and late-inning reliever Jeremy Jeffress from the Milwaukee Brewers for top prospects Lewis Brinson and Luis Ortiz.

Let’s be clear here. The Rangers absolutely sold the farm in these two trades, yielding three of their top-five prospects. As it relates to the Lucroy deal, Brinson and Ortiz were ranked second and third respectively.

Though, it’s extremely important to note that Texas didn’t part ways with top overall prospect Joey Gallo in either of the two deals. With Prince Fielder lost for the season, that’s extremely important.

At 62-44 on the season, these moves weren’t meant for Texas to make an appearance in the playoffs. Instead, they were all about winning the World Series. If you’re going to make that commitment, why not go all in?

Beltran is a .300 hitter who has batted at that same mark in Texas throughout his career. He’s currently in the midst of a 2016 season that has him hitting .304 with 22 homers and 64 RBI.

Meanwhile, Lucroy was the most highly sought-after hitters on the trade block. And after a deal sending him to the Cleveland Indians fell through, most figured the All-Star backstop would be moved.

Lucroy, 30, is hitting at a .299 clip with 13 homers and 50 RBI. He’s also posting a solid .359 on-base percentage and .841 OPS on the year. Equally as good behind the plate, Lucroy has also tallied a positive defensive WAR each season he’s been in the Majors.

It goes without saying that Texas has positioned itself as the favorites in the American League. Whether that leads to a World Series appearance is anyone’s guess. What we do know is that this team didn’t mess around at the deadline.

Better to be active than inactive in today’s baseball world.

Loser: Kansas City Royals

This has more to do with bad luck than anything else. Kansas City had positioned itself to receive an absolute bounty for closer Wade Davis in a potential deal. After seeing what the Yankees got for Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller, it seemed a trade was imminent.

Unfortunately for the Royals, Davis suffered a right flexor strain and was placed on the 15-day disabled list over the weekend. That eliminated any opportunity the team had of selling high on the reliever.

At six games under .500 and pretty much out of the playoff race, the defending champs would have done well to sell high on some of their veteran talent. As the most-valuable of that group, Davis going down to injury really hurt the squad.