In my short lifetime I have never seen so many big name players move on a trade deadline like they have this year. CC Sabathia, Rich Harden, Mark Teixeira, Ken Griffey Jr., Ivan Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez were all moved along with a bunch of smaller names that could have big impacts like Xavier Nady, Damaso Marte, Casey Blake, Joe Blanton and Tony Clark.
The Yankees came away from this trade deadline in a much better position than they could have hoped for. Not only did they improve themselves by adding a solid left-hander(Marte) to the bullpen, but they balanced out the lineup by adding right-handed bats in Nady and Pudge. Both Nady and Pudge also fix broken pieces as they are essentially replacing Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui. Cashman still hasn't added that fifth starter to replace the black hole known as Sidney Ponson, but that can still be remedied after today.
The biggest reason that the Yankees are in a better position than they could have hoped for is something that another team did themselves. That of course is the Red Sox finally trading Manny Ramirez. Don't get me wrong the Sox came away with a pretty good player in Jason Bay, but everybody knows that Jason Bay has nowhere near the same lineup presence as Manny Ramirez had. And Jason Bay has never played a meaningful game in his MLB career.
The Red Sox have broken up probably the greatest 1-2 punch of this era by splitting up Ortiz and Ramirez and believe me I understand why. Ramirez was a constant headache for Red Sox management and I'm sure most Red Sox fans were tired of his bumbling play in the field and idiocy on the base paths. You can only laugh at the same stupid mistakes so many times before you want to smack him upside the head. But every Sox and Yankees fan knew he could hit and knew that he would kill almost any pitcher the Yankees sent out. This move was probably better for the Sox long term because Bay is younger and more affordable, but this for this season the Red Sox have definitely hurt their chances for succeeding in the post season or for that matter even making the post season.
The Yankees could not have asked for a better trade deadline. They filled almost all their needs and the watched their most hated rival weaken their position. Time will tell how all these deals truly impact each team and each playoff race, but today was a great day for the Yankees and a day of uncertainty for the Sox.
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