It was Exciting Deadline Day here at OTM as people came to listen to us prattle on in record numbers. Thanks to everyone for reading, you guys are awesome. But I want to send out a special thanks to a large company (that will remain nameless) who supplies my internet feed (OK, fine, it rhymes with EatDuckDootsCast). In the middle of the second inning of Sunday's game, about two hours before the deadline, everything just stopped working. Here's a sample of my conversation with their "Customer Service Representative":
Me: My internet stopped working.
Them: Really?
Me: Yes. That's why I'm calling you.
Them: [preoccupied] ...huh...
Me: You're killing me, dude.
Them: [pause]..uh huh...
Me: I'm so so sorry to interrupt but can you stop watching porn and fix my damn internet?
Link time (finally)!
First, the prolific Alex Speier of WEEI.com has a history of Theo Epstein at the trade deadline. Back in '03 Epstein wore plaid pants with a striped shirt. Then in '06 it was a deep purple blazer with a red fedora. Fashion faux pas!! The Sox were busy at the deadline. They made three deals, then revoked one of them. The deal to bring Rich Harden to the Sox came to a crashing halt when the Sox got a look at his medical information. Handing Harden's medical information to anyone is probably similar to handing a copy of War and Peace to a third grader. The sheer heft of it is enough to glaze the eyes and make anyone run for the TV remote. (This understandably upset Lars Anderson.)
To the Sox credit they didn't do that. Instead Epstein probably grabbed a phone book and said, "Anyone know how to spell "Zduriencik?" And yes, I'm aware nobody uses phone books anymore. Anyway, that metaphorical call was the first step to beating the deadline to bring Erik Bedard to Boston (Allan at Joy of Sox lays it all out for you). The indomitable Jack Moore over at FanGraphs gives the FG company line on the deal, which, if you skip to the end of the metaphorical page, is, 'Yay Boston!' Baseball Prospectus's piece on the deal is behind their pay wall but, again, skipping to the end of the page, seems the Red Sox didn't give up much so if they get anything valuable from Bedard then it was worth it.
In other news, the Pinstriped Bible's Steven Goldman asks will the Yankees will make a deal at the deadline. Nope. For the first time since 1999 (according to MLB Trade Rumors) the Yanks stood pat. Even so, it's interesting to read what Mr. Goldman sees as the Yankees weaknesses.
As you might guess, big media was all over the deadline like me on poop jokes. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, employing a numbering system of which I'm unfamiliar, calls out the winners and losers of this year's trading deadline. The Rangers (#1) are the big wieners winners, and are followed in the rankings by the Yankees (#2) who are the biggest losers. This is akin to telling small children that an 'A' is good, a 'B' is bad, and a 'C' is kinda sorta good. Whahuh?
Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post wonders if the Indians over-paid for Ubaldo Jimenez, whose name I can now spell. (Thanks trade deadline!) Mr. Sheinin says there was something reckless about the deal the Indians made to acquire Jimenez and I have to agree. I'll let Mr. Sheinin make the case, but suffice it to say that the Indians gave up a lot of talent. That said, if it works, Indians GM Chris Antonetti will reap the benefits. If it doesn't, he'll probably have to resort to reaping some crops.
ESPN's Jayson Stark also gave us his winners and losers. He too liked the Rangers and didn't like Yankees. A little bit of devil's advocate here, but I wonder how a team that didn't make a deal could be the consensus biggest loser at the deadline. Doesn't it stand to reason that a team that made a bad trade (as opposed to one that made no trade at all) would be the biggest loser? Tangentially, ESPN loves to play uninvited videos when you open their pages, and Mr. Stark's article also automatically plays a video. Hey ESPN, if I wanted to watch the video I'd hit play. These awful things are the cell phones of the page viewing world. They slow you down and kill your brain cells. (Most studies conducted show that ESPN videos don't give you cancer. Then again, you try watching Jim Bowden talk for three minutes and tell me how your brain feels.)
And finally, I won the office pool! Whoo hoo!!