American League Week 17 Winners & Losers
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The 2015 Major League Baseball season rolled right through the trade deadline as we seen a few winners and losers around the American League. One of the biggest winners of the entire week was the Toronto Blue Jays. This comes after the team not only pulled off one blockbuster trade but also managed to pull off a second one.
The first trade came a few days earlier as they send a key role player in their roster short stop Jose Reyes along with a few prospects including one of their top prospects to the Colorado Rockies. In exchange the Blue Jays acquired All-Star short stop Troy Tulowitzki to provide another power bat in the lineup.
The move caused many critics to wonder what the team was doing as they had outscored opponents more than any other team in baseball. The teams issue had been starting pitching as well as the bullpen. The team silenced all those critics a few days later trading for David Price.
These moves land the Blue Jays on top of our American League Winners list. Now check back with us in a few weeks to see if the moves were worth giving up multiple top prospects for Tulowitzki for the next few seasons and Price for basically the remainder of this season. Price is set to hit the open market this offseason and will likely demand a Max Scherzer type deal or more something the Blue Jays will not be able to match.
Nonetheless you can’t blame them for going all in since the team has not been back to the playoffs since the 1993 Major League Season. While the Blue Jays land on our Winners list let’s take a look at which players and teams will also join them as well as land on this weeks American League Losers list.
American League Winners:
Baltimore Orioles: The Orioles land on this list for not only one reason but actually for two. One is for their recent play on the field after a struggling end to June and start of July. The second is the team’s ability to trade with the Milwaukee Brewers to find a bat to plug into their lineup in Gerardo Parra.
Starting with the team’s recent play, the Orioles managed to pick up five wins last week including sweeping the Atlanta Braves to start the week. Unfortunate that streak couldn’t continue but the team did manage to split a four game series with the Detroit Tigers.
The bigger reason they landed on this list was the addition of Parra for just one minor league starter that not many experts are fans of outside of the organization. The former Brewer was hitting .328 in 100 games for the team this season with 24 doubles, five triples and nine home runs.
Detroit Tigers: While many might put the Tigers on there losers list we elected to put them on our winners list. The main reason was the fact the team made moves to acquire some additional talent to restock their farm system. Now we understand they are still in the wild card picture but another 15-20 days with out Miguel Cabrera and who knows where the team could be?
That being said former GM Dave Dombrowski elected to pick up some talented prospects before it was too late. As you read though that lead to Dombrowski getting axed this week by the Tigers. For us we still figure the team will be in play for both Price and Yoenis Cespedes this offseason in a free agent war.
Nelson Cruz, Seattle Mariners: The Mariners outfielder has been red hot much like he was at the beginning of the season. Over his last five games, Cruz has connected in each contest with a home run while adding five runs scored and six runs driven in for the Mariners. Over his last ten games, Cruz has a total of seven home runs bringing his season total to 31 while raising his runs batted in to 67.
Other American League Winners over the past week include the Texas Rangers, Josh Donaldson, Adrian Beltre and Chris Tillman.
American League Losers:
New York Yankees: Before anyone jumps on us we know that the Yankees are still atop the American League East. That isn’t why we slotted them on our losers list this week. It was the fact that the team elected to not make any significant moves before the break to make them a better team. We heard the team being mentioned for Aroldis Chapman as one option. In the end this is George running the team anymore and failing to add another key piece could hurt them down the stretch especially if any injuries pop up.
Minnesota Twins: The Twins are still holding on to second place in the American League Central but the question is for how much longer? The team is just 2-8 over their past ten games but still manage to hold a wild card spot. Add in the fact that team couldn’t make a significant move to bolster the team has us wondering if the team is gearing up for some big time additions this offseason to make a run next season.
Stephen Vogt, Oakland A’s: Vogt put together an impressive first half of the 2015 Major League Baseball season. That success hasn’t continued into the second half as his averaged has dropped down to .261 over the past ten games after picking up just two hits in 32 at bats.
Matt Moore, Tampa Bay Rays: The Rays starter can’t get it going since coming off the disabled list. This includes his latest outing on Saturday as he allowed six runs over three innings in a 11-7 loss to the Boston Red Sox. In six starts since returning Moore has allowed at least four runs in five of those starts and a total 26 total.
Other American League Losers over the past week include Shane Greene, Ryan Flaherty and Mike Aviles.
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