The Commissioner's Office was ready to shut down their computers on Sunday night when the wildest Trade Deadline in League History appeared to be closed. Rumors had been circling late in the evening that Giancarlo Stanton was a candidate to be moved before the clock struck midnight, with the Spokane Fightin' Fish appearing to be the leading suitor for the Meinert Hops slugger.
The deal had some substantial momentum around 11:15pm before the texts stopped. The Hops had reportedly put their foot down on their return, insisting on infielder Abraham Toro-Hernandez. Fish GM Michael Tirabassi continued to counter but his texts went unanswered. Figuring the Hops were deep in talks with another club on Stanton, Tirabassi relented and agreed to deal Toro-Hernandez around 11:30pm.
Only one issue now stood in the way -- Hops GM Garrett Shelley had fallen asleep. Minutes continued to pass and texts continued to fly in hopes of a that four letter text before the midnight deadline. With just minutes to spare, Shelley awoke and fired off d-e-a-l which was passed along to the Commissioner's Office in time.
The Hops and Fish deal wasn't the only one to remember. Just one day after closing a deal on the beach, GM Ross Horiuchi completed a late night move with the Lake Merced Goutfish while 30,000 feet in the air with limited internet. GM Ryan Atkinson battled an ill-timed trip to Yellowstone, potentially missing out on shortstop Xander Bogaerts before landing Brandon Crawford as an injury replacement for start Fernando Tatis, Jr.
The Hops/Fish deal marked the end of a dramatic and frantic Trade Deadline which will go down as the busiest in eight seasons. In total, 23 trades were completed over the last six weeks when things really began to heat up with the Honolulu Hammerheads acquisition of Carlos Rodon and Josh Harrison.
From there, every club in the mix for a Playoff spot made a deal to improve their roster as each looked to give themselves the best chance to get hot in the Playoffs and pull off the unexpected by knocking off the powerful Goutfish. While the deadline was filled with expiring deals, Rodon, Crawford, Stanton, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Francisco Lindor and Max Scherzer were just a handful of the names dealt with team control past 2021.
Much like the trend of Major League Baseball, the game's elite prospects were completely off-limits. Brandon Marsh, Jazz Chisholm, Brennan Davis, Nick Lodolo and Jordan Groshans were the highest ranked prospects moved and while each could have a bright future ahead, it was clear the game's elite prospects and Tier 1 assets were unavailable in talks across the league.
Teams have also mirrored MLB clubs in relation to a focus on winning windows. Clubs not in the hunt for a Playoff spot have become focused on moving every asset not in their plans for the next season, leading to a series of final day deals.
Around the League
- The Asti Grape Stompers and St. Joseph Jokers were deep in talks Saturday evening on a swap that would have sent shortstop Trea Turner (1/$49) to the Grapes. The deal reportedly was centered around pitching prospects Simeon Woods-Richardson and Mick Abel, but an analysis of next year's available Free Agents led GM Rick Steen to back off the move Sunday morning according to sources.
- The Clovers 354.5 point Period gave GM Chris Shelley the confidence to find help in their rotation over the weekend. The club added Johnny Cueto on Saturday before pulling a surprise late-night deal with the Hops for Ryu (1/$29), shipping former elite prospects Daniel Lynch and Spencer Howard the other way in the move.
- Ducks GM Ryan Walsh pulled off one of the more interesting moves of the deadline, acquiring left-hander Andrew Heaney (2/$4) from the Maltese Falcons with eyes on slotting him in to the back half of their 2022 rotation.
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