Padres Stand Pat

The flurry of last-minute deals coming off the MLB hot stove have left the kitchen. Among the many transactions that had Padres fans nervous were rumors for a starting pitcher that would have cost one, if not several pieces of the vaunted farm system.

Let’s take a look at what happened transaction-wise around Major League Baseball today:

Tampa Bay Rays send Chris Archer to the Pirates for Austin Meadows, Tyler Glasnow and PTBNL

Woof. The pitcher thrown around in many doomsday trade scenarios on Padres Twitter (and discussed at length here) is headed to Pittsburgh. Rumored to be in consideration for a trade with San Diego included Luis Urias, MacKenzie Gore, Adrian Morejon, and others. The Rays were said (via Kevin Acee) to be interested in Chris Paddack, Luis Patino, Austin Hedges, and Hunter Renfroe for the veteran righty.

The Pirates really opened up the treasure chest (lol) for this one, however. Meadows is slugging .463 as a 23-year-old and Glasnow boasts a 11.6 k/9. Though injury-prone Austin is starting to slump (to the tune of a .292 BA) and Glasnow has control issues and is still developing a third pitch, the Rays look to come out a winner on the surface and the Pirates will bolster their rotation with a pitcher not as good as Gerrit Cole (oops).

The Rays wouldn’t just trade Chris Archer: the team managed to trade All Star catcher Wilson Ramos to the Phillies and acquired Tommy Pham from the Cardinals, which is a decent reshuffling for a team with a good farm system that will have to eventually bear fruit in order to compete with the Yankees and Red Sox.

Dodgers Keep Depleting Their Farm, Which Is Good

The NL West-leading Dodgers didn’t keep quiet after obtaining Manny Machado as a rental. LA went out and snagged Brian Dozier from the Twins for old friend Logan Forsythe, Dodgers 19th-ranked 1B/OF Luke Raley and LHP Devin Smeltzer. The Dodgers also picked up RHP John Axford from the Blue Jays for RHP Corey Copping. A depleting of the Dodgers minors stock only bodes well for Padres fans in the future despite the Dodgers loading up for the now. Both Dozier and Machado are free agents after this season.

Miami Marlins send Cameron Maybin to the Seattle Mariners for Bryson Brigman, international bonus pool money

Old friend Cameron Maybin is headed up north to our natural rivals and will most likely help keep Dee Gordon at 2nd base.

Toronto Blue Jays send Roberto Osuna to the Houston Astros for Ken Giles, David Paulino, and Hector Perez

In a move that is worth revulsion, domestic abuser Roberto Osuna will get a possible second chance to play baseball in Houston. There are inherent problems within baseball when a person accused of domestic assault is allowed to continue playing baseball after a punishment less severe than a player taking steroids.

Ken Giles is most famous this season for swearing at AJ Hinch after being pulled from a game and is at best a change of scenery candidate. The Jays also pick up a couple good prospect arms...but one really has to ponder the cost of teams trading away and for the type of person to physically abuse another person.

Atlanta Makes Moves For Playoffs

Granted, the Braves are still looking up at the Phillies and might have to fight off the Nationals (who decided to do not much of anything). Still, the Braves are a bit further along in their rebuild than the Padres and their moves could serve as a model of prudence when it comes to roster upgrades. Atlanta picked up Adam Duvall to platoon with Ender Inciarte (what’s a platoon again?) and reached out to the Orioles to snag Kevin Gausman, old friend Brad Brach and Darren O’Day. Atlanta also got a relief pitcher in Jonny Venters for bonus pool money from the Rays.

The fact that the Braves managed to snag these players to upgrade across the board for little prospect capital could serve as a good model for the Padres down the line.

And the Padres?

The Padres Didn’t Trade Anyone

Kirby Yates, Craig Stammen, and Tyson Ross were bandied about in discussions around and leading up to the trade deadline...and nothing happened. Yates and Stammen may garner interest in the offseason since both are still on multi-year deals. Tyson Ross becomes a free agent after this season yet has expressed a desire to return to San Diego next year.

Are you happy the Padres didn’t sell the farm for Archer? Are you disappointed the team didn’t get anything out of Yates/Stammen/Ross?

You can catch up on all the trade deadline action over at Minor League Ball’s Deadline Prospect Tracker and get the skinny on all the prospects and MLB regulars traded.