MLB trade deadline live updates, rumors: Twins deal Jose Berrios; White Sox concoct poison ‘pen with Kimbrel
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Yankees and Dodgers making trades, looking to postseason
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A World Series winner may not be crowned until November. But for clubs seeking to hoist the commissioner’s trophy, precious minutes remain to find the players to get them there.
Major League Baseball’s trade deadline strikes at 4 p.m. ET on Friday, and while Thursday’s preamble brought several lightning strikes – most notably Max Scherzer and Trea Turner, fitted for Dodger blue – the final hours should bring a flurry of trades. Sure, most of them will be minor – who doesn’t need a veteran relief pitcher? – but a handful of franchise icons figure to change addresses, too.
Keep it locked on this tracker for all the latest updates as reports trickle in, up to 4 p.m. and probably a few minutes after, too. All times ET:
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A’s add Gomes, Josh Harrison
The Oakland A’s, holding the second wild-card slot in the AL, swooped in for the final pieces of the Washington Nationals’ sale, acquiring catcher Yan Gomes and utilityman Josh Harrison.
Washington, according to multiple reports, will receive three A’s prospects: catcher Drew Millas and pitchers Richard Guasch and Seth Shuman.
Gomes and Harrison have been among the Nationals’ most productive players this season, and they join a deadline haul in Oakland that includes center fielder Starling Marte and reliever A
Phils get Kyle Gibson, Ian Kennedy
The eternally pitching-poor Phillies shored up their rotation and bullpen in one costly move, acquiring Kyle Gibson and closer Ian Kennedy from Texas in exchange for Spencer Howard, one of their most promising young pitchers, multiple outlets reported.
Philadelphia entered play Friday 3 1/2 games behind the Mets in the NL East, and recently lost starter Zack Eflin to the injured list. Gibson, a 2021 All-Star, will join Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola to form a very solid front three for the rotation.
Meanwhile, Kennedy has 16 saves and a 1.05 WHIP, and will be an immediate boost to a Phillies bullpen that’s been an Achilles’ heel the past several seasons. This year’s version has a 4.57 ERA, 21st in baseball.
Javy Baez shipped to Mets
For a team 11 1/2 games out of first place, the Chicago Cubs are having a huge impact on the playoff race. Their second huge deal in a matter of minutes shipped shortstop Javy Baez to the New York Mets, according to multiple reports. Baez will be reunited with fellow Puerto Rican Francisco Lindor, who like Baez was set to hit the free agent market this winter.
Instead, Lindor signed a $341 million deal after a trade to New York. Now, for two months, he’ll be playing alongside Baez once he’s activated from the injured list.
Baez may benefit from a change of scenery – he’s slashing just .248/.292/.484 with Chicago, his 22 home runs coming with an NL-high 130 strikeouts.
The price was significant: The Cubs will receive outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, 19, who was the 19th overall pick in the 2020 draft. The Mets also received right-hander Trevor Williams, who will fold into the back end of their rotation.
Craig Kimbrel switches up in Chicago
If the White Sox get any semblance of starting pitching in October, they will be very hard to beat. The Southsiders ensured that much when they acquired Craig Kimbrel from the Cubs, sending the most dominant relief arm on the market from Wrigleyville to 35th and Shields.
The price was stiff – injured second baseman Nick Madrigal and reliever Codi Heuer – but the upside enormous: Good luck scoring after the fifth inning against All-Stars Kimbrel and Liam Hendriks, along with power arms Michael Kopech and Garrett Crochet and righty Ryan Tepera, acquired Thursday from the Cubs.
Milwaukee, boasting three outstanding starters and a shutdown closer in Josh Hader, added a versatile depth piece to its staff by acquiring lefty Daniel Norris from the Detroit Tigers.
Norris has a 5.89 ERA for the Tigers but a 3.78 FIP, and may benefit from a better defensive group behind him in Milwaukee. He is a free agent after this season.
Detroit received high Class A right-hander Reese Olson from Milwaukee.
Braves remake outfield with Rosario, Duvall trades
With Ronald Acuña Jr. out for the season with a knee injury but the Braves just four games out of first place in the NL East, Atlanta struck for a pair of short-term outfield fixes, acquiring Eddie Rosario from Cleveland and old friend Adam Duvall from Miami.
The Braves dealt Pablo Sandoval to Cleveland and catcher Alex Jackson to Miami for Duvall, who hit 16 homers in 57 games for Atlanta in 2020. He’s hit 22 more for the Marlins this season, albeit with a .229 batting average and league-average .755 OPS.
Who’s on the clock? The Twins
Now that Max Scherzer is on his way to the Dodgers, one team holds a significant amount of cards for the remainder of this deadline – the Minnesota Twins.
They played one early on, dealing Jose Berríos to the Toronto Blue Jays. for two significant prospects. And with Berríos off the market, teams may find themselves scrambling for a mid-range pitching prize: Michael Pineda. The former Yankee has recovered from a bout of elbow inflammation and has consistently pitched to a 1.18 WHIP over the course of his career. Several playoff contenders could do worse than anoint him their No. 2 starter.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB trade deadline live updates, rumors: Cubs deal Javy Baez to Mets, Craig Kimbrel to White Sox