Trade Deadline Recap

Blue Jays-Rockies
Blue Jays get:
Troy Tulowitzki, LaTroy Hawkins
Rockies get:
Jose Reyes,Miguel Castro, Jeff Hoffman, Jesus Tinoco
This is a tough deal to judge right now because there's a decent chance the Rockies turn around and flip Reyes in a different trade. Unloading a star like Tulo is always difficult, but the Rockies did pretty well here. The main piece of this trade is Hoffman, a stud pitching prospects who possesses a fastball in the high 90s. Castro struggled in his brief time with the big league club earlier this year, posting a 4.38 ERA, but he's only 20 years old and was the number five ranked prospect in the Jays organization. Like I said before, Reyes is likely on his way out, so they'll get more assets for him.
As well as Colorado did in this trade, the Blue Jays just got the best shortstop in baseball. Enough said. On the other hand, they still have serious problems to address, particularly in the pitching staff. Sorry, getting the real life Benjamin Button LaTroy Hawkins doesn't count. Toronto has a collective ERA of 4.07, good for eighth worst in the league. It's weird that they didn't try to use the same package for someone like Cole Hamels or Johnny Cueto. On the other hand the Tulo-Donaldson-Bautista-Encarnacion middle of the lineup is going to be crazy good. If they can outslug other teams it won't matter.
Winner: Blue Jays
Royals-Reds
Royals get:
Johnny Cueto
Reds get:
Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb, Cody Reed
This deal's a no-brainer for the Royals, needing a pitcher with Yordano Ventura failing to build on his encouraging 2014 season and Jason Vargas injured. Cueto will post even better numbers than his 2.68 ERA in Kansas City, teaming up with Lorenzo Cain and the rest of their defensive juggernaut. The Reds continue to rebuild. Finnegan's a former first-rounder who has a 2.96 ERA this year, and got some big-game experience in the playoffs last year, despite being inconsistent. He'll start in Triple-A Louisville for now. Lamb is a former top prospect who's path to the majors was derailed by Tommy John surgery in 2011. However although he's lost velocity, he's managed to be consistently solid since then.
A's-Royals
A's get:
Sean Manaea, Aaron Brooks
Royals get:
Ben Zobrist
First of all, I'd like to congratulate Billy Beane for trading top shortstop prospect Daniel Robertson for two pitchers who are average and slightly above average respectively. This is a solid trade for Kansas City, Zobrist will start out in left field for Alex Gordon then when he comes back they'll be able to use him all around the diamond, possibly at second base for Omar Infante. There's nothing noteworthy about the A's side of the deal. Manaea and Brooks are both solid pitching prospects, but that's about it.
A's-Astros
A's get:
Jacob Nottingham, Daniel Mengden
Astros get:
Scott Kazmir
I love this move for the Astros. They desperately needed another starter to go with Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers, and while Kazmir isn't a sexy choice like Cole Hamels, he gets the job done. His ERA is 2.38 this year, best in his career. It's a pretty good deal for Oakland as well. Mengden is an excellent catching prospect, he's the main part of the deal, while Nottingham projects to be at least a decent reliever.
Analysis on the rest of the deals coming soon