Nothing is automatic

One of the things that I think is the hardest to digest being on the other end of the trade deadline is the reality that when you’re buying and not selling, that you’re no longer negotiating simply with one or two teams, but instead competing with other contenders that want the same players that you want. 

Consider Carlos Beltran. Let’s pretend for a second that Beltran was willing to waive his no-trade clause to go to the Pirates and that the Pirates and Mets had real discussions about Beltran. Let’s say that the Pirates told the Mets they’d be willing to give up any prospect in the system except Jameson Taillon for Beltran and the negotiations continued from there. The problem, though, is that the Pirates don’t have anyone like Zack Wheeler in their system. Taillon is much too good of a prospect to give up for a couple of months of Beltran, but Stetson Allie and Colton Cain and Rudy Owens aren’t nearly as attractive as Wheeler. Even if Beltran OK’d the Pirates, it’s possible he would’ve ended up in San Francisco. 

What if the Astros decide they want to trade Hunter Pence and the Pirates make an offer built around someone like Owens? Well, the Braves would probably be willing to part with Mike Minor and, again, the Pirates don’t have anyone like that. They might want Pence, they might make a good offer for Pence, and they still might not end up with him.

The only two big deals made so far were both made yesterday; one was the Beltran trade in which it was obvious to the Mets (and everyone) that no one was going to offer more than Zack Wheeler for Beltran and one was the Colby Rasmus trade in which the Cardinals’ desperation for pitching help and Tony La Russa’s frustration with Rasmus forced a deal forward.

Teams that are frustrated or desperate make mistakes, though, and so the Pirates can’t afford to be either, which means that if anything is going to happen for the club at the trade deadline, it probably won’t happen until the weekend. 

(And now you can cue a BJ Upton trade, I’m sure.)