A Last Look Back at the Trade Deadline

The trade deadline was frustrating for many Sox fans. The Sox failed to add a big bat, though arguably, with the relatively useless Scott Podsednik in LF, they stood more to gain from a bat than anyone else. Meanwhile, the Tigers added Sean Casey (more on him in a moment) and the Yankees -- who join the Twins, Tigers, and various colors of Sox in battling for three play-off spots -- added Bobby Abreu, Craig Wilson, Sal Fasano and Cory Lidle. There is no question that the Yankees did wonderfully at the deadline. They replaced useless parts like Melky Cabrera, Shawn Chacon, and an over-the-hill Bernie Williams with quality. But in his outstanding analysis on Baseball Prospectus today, Nate Silver, calls the Sox acquisition of Mike Macdougal pretty good and pretty significant considering the interchangeable, and highly questionable, parts being cycled through the Sox pen. Keep in mind, Macdougal doesn't just replace Riske, McCarthy, Thornton or Cotts as a set-up man, but he allows them to slide down a role and remove Sean-Boone Logcey from the Sox bullpen entirely. Meanwhile, Silver says the Tigers actually cost themselves runs over the remainder of the season by taking at-bats away from Chris Shelton and Dmitri Young, and giving them to Casey, who is mediocre, and benefited immensely from his hitting environments the last few years. I have been arguing, and hoping, that the Tigers cost themselves as much as a win or two down the stretch through their acquisition. Silver doesn't see the drop-off as being that significant, but we can always hope.