Deadline Day

By By Sarah McVeigh

The MLB trade deadline has come and gone, leaving us to figure out what the heck happened. There are a few aspects of this trade deadline that I would like to discuss because, for such a massive corporation like the MLB, you’d think the process would be more efficient and organized.

I remember hearing sports analyst Michael Kay discussing the trade deadline a few weeks ago, but who cares, right? Then the day of the deadline rolled around, and there were just constant trades! I was watching the Yankees game as the deadline approached, and it was like 30 high school seniors all remembered they had a project due, and all submitted it five minutes before the deadline. Is this a normal practice in the MLB? It seems pretty ridiculous to me. Teams know what they need — what is the hold-up?

Another wild aspect of the deadline was players being traded to a team and immediately needing to report to their new team to play. I watched an interview with Yankees manager Aaron Boone discussing the trade for Ryan McMahon from Colorado. He said the player would show up and be in the lineup the very next day. Do they even have his jersey ready to go? And what about Jose Caballero? He was already in New York playing for the Tampa Bay Rays when he was traded to the Yankees before the game ended.

Call me crazy, but I thought baseball players needed to practice with their new team before a game.

What I learned about trading this late in the season is that teams with poor records will often trade their veteran players for younger prospects. This allows the teams to get rid of expensive contracts and hopefully build their team for the future, while the teams in playoff contention get the talent they need for a championship run.

So how did your team do? The Yankees acquired some cuties that I am excited to watch play. First being Ryan McMahon. Doesn’t that guy live on Beach 132nd? He sure sounds like he could. McMahon is a third baseman acquired from the Colorado Rockies. He’s already shown he can contribute at the plate. They also traded for Austin Slater from the White Sox, who plays outfield. I always thought the Yankees outfield was stacked, but OK. And don’t worry, Slater made it two games with the Yankees before appearing to tweak his hamstring. Camilo Doval, David Bednar and Jake Bird were all expected to help the Yankees’ bullpen. Unfortunately, Jake Bird was already bumped to Triple-A.

People get really hyped when it comes to trades and draft grades, blah, blah. How many times have you seen a team, baseball or not, acquire a star athlete only for it to lead to nothing? Might I just remind you of the last few years of the New York Jets?

Fans have to be patient and see how these new players perform under the new coaching, management, and a new home crowd.

Don’t worry, we have until OCTOBER to see how these trades “play out.”

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: no sport needs to last for half a year — it’s just too long.