Trade of Jon Lester
The moving of Lester didn't really surprise me all that much because the Red Sox needed to make a change to their team in order to improve for the future and oddly enough they pulled kinda of a upper echelon version of what the Rays usually do and improved in a way that keeps them as a potential contender for next year. Now what they did manage to get for Lester was what surprised me, they traded him and Johnny Gomes to the Oakland A's for Yoenis Cespedes and $500,000, which is a shocker at first because Cespedes is a big power hitter who has delivered for Oakland since they signed him. However once you take a closer look it makes more sense, first since Jason Hammel haas basically imploded as of late the A's needed another starter if they wanted to continue their were in 100% thing then despite losing Cespedes they already have a good righty split hitter who can take his place in Brandon Moss and in true Oakland fashion they squired Gomes who, if you look at his splits, DESTROYS left handed pitching, sounds just like something Oakland would do and because of that the trade did put make any other holes to fill. On the Red Sox side, yes they did give up they best starter however they have Cespedes for an afforadable price for the next season (and let's remember the A's wouldn't be able to resign him so getting him out with high value was a good idea) as well as the remainder of the current one and they have the money to sign him long term which is a big deal since they have never really had a big power bat behind Ortiz, and let's not forget despite the fact that he can still hit he is getting old. As well we should remember that Lester was and still is very dedicated to being a Red Sox player so I wouldn't put it out of the realm of possibility that he signs back with the team in the offseason, so don't lose your shit Red Sox fans.
Trade of John Lackey
So might as well tackle the next Red Sox trade, again they traded away their only other consistent starting pitcher and one that is affordable for anyone. Now the traded itself was Lackey and minor league pitcher Corey Litrell and some cash to the Cardinals for Joe Kelly and Allen Craig. This was strange to say the least, not just because the Cardinals got rid of guys who had recently been helping he pitching rotation but, Kelly, but who are motivators in the clubhouse. As well I recently found out that apparently the two of them didn't find out they were traded by the GM or manager it was through Twitter and TV that they discovered of the trade, which is not what you'd expect from th Cardinals as they are usually very good about how they treat their players. Now in terms off the value of the trade I think it's a wash, Lackey certainly does provide an improvement to the Cardinals rotation and bothe Joe Kelly and Allen Craig, while currently not playing terribly well have potential that could be brought out by a change of scenery and a better park to play in.
Trade of David Price
I don't think anyone saw this one coming, not just because of how close the Rays were getting to being in contention but also the fact that David Price still seemed completely convinced that he wasn't going anywhere. Additionally what Price was traded for was a shocker as well, no it wasn't a big blow up like the Lester for Cespedes trade as a matter of fact the Rays more or less shit the bed on this trade. The trade took place between 3 teams, the Rays, the Tigers and the Mariners, now the Tigers gave up Austin Jackson to the Mariners as well as Drew Smyly and prospect Willy Adames to the Rays for David Price. Now what is shocking about this is that the Rays got a pretty bad deal here, unless they have some sort of secret that they know Adames is going to become a Huge all star calibre shortstop they got screwed, not to mention he's still in single A so he's at least a cep years from making a difference on the team. Smyly while he was a decent prospect I has been fairly lacklustre in the big leagues in the last couple years and putting him up against the AL East hitters and parks I don't think is going to help and Adames is WAY outside the top 100 MLB prospects, which also makes you wonder if the Rays were of the mind they shouldn't trade him but had to make the first deal they had on hand due to a late change of their minds because there's had to have been more attractive deals out there. Now what this trade I does for the Mariners is it gives them a quality defensive centre fielder in addition to a lead off hitter that the team sorely lacked and giving up Nick Franklin is no big loss either as they still have Brad Miller to fill in (hoping that his bat can gets back to his norm). Then the Tigers got the best of the deal securing another ex CY Young winner into their rotation, however we shouldn't forget what they traded away, Jackson leaves a big hole in both centre and in their lead off spot, while the team has plenty of power bats they don't have as many who can carry that lead off spot as well as Jackson did, which may hurt their offence. Additionally they have no real defensive replacement for him, the obvious ones would be Dirks and Davis and while both of them are good they aren't at the defensive level Jackson was.
Trade of Prado and Drew
Not huge returns for these players but big upgrades for the team that received the, those being the Yankees upgrading from Brian Roberts and Kelley Johnson to Martin Prado and Stephen Drew. Now of the other hand like I've said to friends the Yankees making this kind of moves is like a multiple stab victim trying to treat himself with band aids. I personally believe it will fail in the end as nearly every player on that team is performing far above their typical level.
Trade of Cabrera
Another sort of major move in a trade of the Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera to the Nationals. Now this was a bit of a surprise as they already have a logjam at middle infield as Espinosa, Rendon and Desmond are all in on time for 2B,SS and in the case of Rendon and to a lesser extent Ryan Zimmerman,3B, though Zimmerman is supposed to split time there and in the outfield. Either way though makes you wonder if they plan on trading away one of those players in that logjam.
