"Baseball is a game where you see something new every single day." Most baseball fans have heard this expression a thousand times and while the phase has become somewhat of a cliche, there is no denying the fact that baseball gives its fans some of the most amazing and improbable moments in sports. Events that seem impossible or feats that just sound to absurd to occur can happen at any given time at a ballpark.
You want some examples: a player stealing the same base twice in one inning (Germany Schaefer of the Detroit Tigers in 1908), a triple play without the bat touching the ball (the Seattle Mariners in 2008), two back-to-back home runs by the same two teammates in one inning (Mike Cameron and Bret Boone of the Seattle Mariners in 2002), back-to-back inside the park home runs (Toby Harrah and Bump Wills of the Texas Rangers in 1977), going 0 for 11 in one game (Charlie Pick of the Boston Braves in 1920 in a 26 inning game), get caught stealing four times in one game (Robby Thompson of the San Francisco Giants in 1986), or being a 20-win pitcher on a team that lost more than 100 games (Ned Garver of the St. Louis Browns in 1951 - the Browns won 52 games that year, meaning that Garver won nearly 40 percent of them). And those are just a few of them.
While baseball is certainly a game of inconceivable feats, it is also a sport that is based on patterns, and one of the most common threads amongst playoff teams is a big time move before the trade deadline. In 2011, the St. Louis Cardinals, who eventually went on win the World Series, would not have even made the playoffs if they didn't acquire Rafael Furcal from the Dodgers. Furcal provided defensive stability for a team that committed too many infield errors with Ryan Theroit at shortstop.
Last year, the San Francisco Giants won their second World Series in the last three years largely due to the presence of outfielder Hunter Pence in the lineup, who the Giants acquired in a deadline deal with the Phillies. Not only did Pence help fill the void for the suspended Melky Cabrera, but his bases clearing double in game 7 of the NLCS broke open a 5-run lead against the Cardinals and helped seal the Giants World Series ticket.
This year, the Boston Red Sox, who a year ago had their worst season since they finished 65-89 in 1960, are hoping that their trade deadline deal to acquire former Cy Young winner Jake Peavy will push them over the hump. The trade, which had been discussed for days, was finally able to be completed once the Tigers stepped in and agreed to trade one of their top prospects, Avisail Garcia, to the White Sox. However, the Red Sox had to give up their gifted shortstop Jose Iglesias (to the Tigers) in the process, as you always have to give up a piece in order to improve (unless you're dealing with David Kahn). Overall though, it was a deal the Red Sox had to make and one that will serve them well in the future.
Jake Peavy is by no means the pitcher that he once was with the San Diego Padres. Not only did Peavy benefit from a pitchers ballpark (in Peavy's Cy Young year in 2007, PETCO Park had a park factor of .755, which was by far the most pitcher friendly in the league), but he also had a lot more velocity on his fastball. In 2007, Peavy's average fastball was clocked at 93.9 MPH. However, ever since he underwent surgery in 2010, Peavy's velocity has been greatly diminished, as his average fastball in 2011 with the White Sox was all the way down to 90.4 MPH. In Peavy's prime years with the Padres, like when he had a league best ERA in 2004 (2.27) and 2007 (2.54), the change in speed between his 94-95 MPH fastball and his mid 80's slider made him so effective. However, while a 4-5 MPH difference in fastball velocity may not seem like a lot, it is enough where the difference in speed between the fastball and slider isn't enough to fool hitters anymore. Thus, batters no longer have to worry about getting a fastball blown by them and can sit on the off-speed pitches.
Nonetheless, every MLB pitcher losses velocity as his career goes on (just ask Tim Lincecum and CC Sabathia), and Peavy has begun to figure out how to pitch without blowing the ball past people. While the former Cy Young winner is no longer a number one type pitcher, he is certainly a valuable asset to have in a rotation as a second or third quality pitcher for a potential playoff team like the Red Sox.
Obviously, when a pitcher goes from a last place team to a club that has one of the best records in baseball, it gives them a jolt of energy. However, it is always a concern for teams when a pitcher has been in perennial losing organizations and is not used to the pressure of the postseason or pitching in win or go home games. Despite the fact that in his 12-year career Peavy has pitched in just 2 playoff games, by all accounts, he will have no problem with the tension of a late season race. Peavy is called by some "the bulldog" because of his fearsome and ultra competitive pitching approach, which will fit perfectly in a city like Boston.
Finally, despite some of his struggles the last couple of years, Peavy has looked a lot better on the mound recently, especially since he came off the disabled list. The velocity on his fastball looks improved, as evidenced by his strikeouts per 9 innings rate (8.55) at its the highest its been since 2009. If Peavy can keep his slider down in the zone and limit the number of home runs that opponents hit off him, the Red Sox will have found a starting pitching steal, especially with Clay Buchholz out for an extended period.
Ultimately, transactions in sports are judged not only on how the player you received performs, but on how the player you gave up performs. For example, in 1987 the Detroit Tigers received Doyle Alexander in a trade with the Atlanta Braves for a minor league pitcher that was drafted in the 22nd round, John Smoltz. In the short term, the trade seemed to be a very smart move by Detroit. On the day of the trade (August 12), the Tigers were sitting 1.5 games back of the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East. Following the trade, Detroit went 33-18 and finished the season 2 games ahead of the Blue Jays, in large part because of the impact of Alexander. In 11 starts with Detroit, the right-hander was 9-0 (he won 8 consecutive starts over a month span) and let up 2 or fewer runs in 8 of those starts. Although Alexander was the main reason why the Tigers made the playoffs in 1987, the trade is widely regarded as one of the worst in baseball history because of the career that John Smoltz went on to have in the big leagues. Smoltz is the only pitcher in MLB history to win 200 games and also have 150 career saves and he is one of just 16 pitchers to ever to have 3,000 career strikeouts. And if that wasn't bad enough for the Tigers: Smoltz is considered one of the best postseason pitchers of all-time. His 15 playoffs wins are the second most all-time behind Andy Pettitte and his 199 postseason strikeouts are the most in the history of baseball.
With all that in mind, the type of player that Jose Iglesias turns out to be will greatly effect how people view the Red Sox trade. Iglesias, who is naturally a shortstop but predominately played third base for the Red Sox, is a defensive wizard. With unbelievably smooth hands and some of the quickest reflexes in the game, Iglesias showed his defensive mastery with the Sox right away. Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said, "This guy [Iglesias] is special, defensively... Somebody that has seen him play just sent me a note and said 'In all my years in the game, the only two defensive shortstops I've seen that are better are Ozzie and Vizquel." While this may seem like a bit of an embellishment from a GM that is happy to have a new infielder, Iglesias is widely regarded around all corners of baseball as already having Hall of Fame defensive skills.
The intriguing part about Iglesias is not that he played outstanding, gold glove caliber defense for the Red Sox (which everybody expected him to do), but that he was actually a productive hitter (which nobody thought he could do after batting .204 to begin the season in AAA). In 63 games with the Red Sox, Iglesias hit .330 and had an on-base percentage of .376. On a team with strikeout victims like Mike Napoli and Jonny Gomes, Iglesias was always making contact, as he struckout on just 12.8 percent of his plate appearances (Iglesias had 30 strikeouts and he came to bat 234 times).
However, it was a very smart move by the Red Sox to sell high on Iglesias because his offensive production has been a bit of an aberration. Iggy has benefited more than any other hitter in the big leagues from fortuitous bounces and infield hits that have just found the right hole. For a batter that hits so many ground balls (55.9 percent of all his hits - which would be the 3rd highest percentage in the AL if he had enough plate appearances to qualify) it is perplexing how Iglesias has reached base on so many grounders. In fact, Iggy's .337 batting average on ground balls is abnormally high for any player. Furthermore, on balls that Iglesias hit in play, his batting average was .376 with the Red Sox, which would be the 4th highest in the entire league if he were qualified for the category. While BABIP can certainly show a players hitting capabilities, it often indicates a hitter's level of fortunate at the plate and shows that Iglesias has been having somewhat of a fluky season.
The Red Sox are also trading away a player in a position of strength within the organization, as Boston is loaded with talent along the left side of the infield. In a league that has a dearth of quality shortstops (when Jhonny Peralta is the best SS in the AL you know things are going poorly), Stephen Drew is a more than reliable middle infielder, as shown by his 4.5 Ultimate Zone Rating (a defensive measure to compare what a player did to what an "average" player would do), which is the 5th best in the AL amongst shortstops. Furthermore, while Will Middlebrooks is currently in AAA, the third baseman was so good in his rookie season that the Sox traded away Kevin Youkilis so that he could play the hot corner every day. In just 75 games last year, Middlebrooks had 15 home runs, 54 RBI's, and a .835 OPS and despite his demotion to Pawtucket, Middlebrooks is still a big part of the Sox future.
But the depth that the Red Sox have at shortstop and third base doesn't even end there. Xander Bogaerts, a 20-year old minor league phenom, is the best prospect in the Red Sox farm system, if not the best prospect in all of baseball (Bogaerts is ranked number 3 overall in Keith Law's top prospects list). Although the Sox still need to figure out whether Bogaerts is going to be a shortstop or a third baseman, one thing is for sure: he is going to be the cornerstone of the Red Sox organization for years to come. Also, while Garin Cecchini is still not ready for the big leagues, he is another third base prospect that is well regarded within the Red Sox organization. Cecchini, who is ranked as the 2nd best prospect in the Sox franchise and the 20th best in all of baseball, is batting .337 this season with both Single-A Salem and Double-A Portland.
Anytime you lose a player with the defensive capabilities of Iglesias, it is a tough pill to swallow. However, with all the talent that the Red Sox have on the left side of the infield and Dustin Pedroia signing an extension through 2021, the Sox were going to have no place for Iglesias. Thus, to get a veteran arm like Peavy, in a rotation that has already lost its best pitcher, the trade was a no-brainer for the Red Sox.
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