Trade season is officially here!
Late on Thursday, the Seattle Mariners acquired outfielder Randy Arozarena from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for prospects.
Before that, the Arizona Diamondbacks put together a trade for Miami Marlins left-hander AJ Puk.
On Friday, the Boston Red Sox acquired James Paxton from the Los Angeles Dodgers, so deals are officially starting to come in bunches.
The most high-profile of them all, however, was struck by two World Series contenders: the Philadelphia Phillies and the Baltimore Orioles.
MLB insider Jeff Passan has all the details.
“Trade news — between two teams that could be facing one another in the World Series this year. The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired outfielder Austin Hays and will be sending reliever Seranthony Dominguez and center fielder Cristian Pache to the Baltimore Orioles,” he tweeted.
Trade news — between two teams that could be facing one another in the World Series this year.
The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired outfielder Austin Hays and will be sending reliever Seranthony Dominguez and center fielder Cristian Pache to the Baltimore Orioles.
It’s surprising to see two potential Fall Classic opponents negotiating a trade.
In this particular case, however, both teams felt the deal satisfied some of their current needs.
In Hays, the Phillies are getting a starting-caliber outfielder who is having a down season, but boasts a solid .747 career OPS.
The O’s have plenty of outfielders, so they dealt from their own depth and are still in good shape.
In return, Baltimore is acquiring a speedy, glove-first centerfielder in Pache and a reliever with World Series experience and a career 3.55 ERA in Dominguez.
It’s definitely a trade that might help both teams, but they will remain active in the market.
Both are probably elite organizations with a wide-open contention window that might be enhanced with further transactions.