Trade Deadline: Alive and Running

It has been a busy last few days for Major League execs and MLB beat writers. The trad deadline has passed us, and boy what a last 12 hours it has been.

Playoff teams have been looking for that final piece to the puzzle, while those teams that are out of contention are already looking ahead to the future by making (most of the time) necessary financial moves.

The final day of trading kicked off with a big bang. The Boston Red Sox traded starting pitcher Jon Lester and outfielder Jonny Gomes to Oakland for slugger Yoenis Cespedes. Beantown gets the back-to-back Home Run Derby champ, who will square off with the Green Monster every home at bat, while Oakland pieces together one of the most lethal rotations in the league (Lester, Sonny Gray, Scott Kazmir, Jeff Samardzija, Jason Hammel).

Not to be outdone, the Detroit Tigers traded for, what many claim was the biggest name rumored, Cy Young winner David Price in a three-team deal with the Tampa Bay Rays and the Seattle Mariners. Tampa Bay got Drew Smyly, Nick Franklin and prospect Willy Adames, while Seattle will receive center fielder Austin Jackson — who was actually pulled in the seventh inning of the game when the trade was made.


The Tigers saw the Athletics' new addition to their pitching staff and raised them three Cy Young winners. Price (2012 winner) joins 2013 winner Max Scherzer and 2011 winner Justin Verlander, along with Anibal Sanchez and Rick Porcello.

Other notable trades included John Lackey heading from Boston to the St. Louis Cardinals, the Washington Nationals received Asdrubal Cabrera form the Cleveland Indians, and the New York Yankees nabbed Stephen Drew from Boston and Martin Prado from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

It's been a busy Trade Deadline Day, arguably one of the biggest in recent memory. Here are some of the biggest trades made on the final day of trades in some of the past few years.

2013

• San Diego Padres get Ian Kennedy and Arizona gets Joe Thatcher.
• Kansas City Royals trade minor leaguer Kyle Smith for the Houston Astros' Justin Maxwell.

2012

• The Texas Rangers receive Ryan Dempster from the Chicago Cubs for Christian Villaneuva and Kyle Hendricks.
• The San Francisco Giants get Hunter Pence and the Philadelphia Phillies get Nate Schierholtz, Tommy Joseph and Seth Rosin.
• Philadelphia trades Shane Victorino to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Josh Lindblom, Ethan Martin and a player to be named later.

2011

• The Atlanta Braves get Michael Bourn from Houston for Jordan Schafer, Paul Clemens, Brett Oberholtzer and Juan Abreu.

2010

• The Cubs trade Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot to the Dodgers for Blake DeWitt, Kyle Smit and Brett Wallach.
• The Yankees get Lance Berkman and Houston gets Mark Melancon and Jimmy Paredes.
• The Pittsburgh Pirates trade Octavio Dotel to the Dodgers for James McDonald and Andrew Lambo.
• Atlanta receives Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth and Kansas City gets Gregor Blanco, Jesse Chavez and Tim Collins.
• Cleveland trades Kerry Wood to the Yankees for a Player to be named.

This year's July 31st deadline has been the biggest MLB fans have seen in some time. Oakland and Detroit dominated the conversation and, seemingly for the time being, drastically improved their playoff chances. Should the two end up meeting in the postseason, it will be fun to watch.

Did you team make any moves? Do you wish they did? Let us know in the comments!