As the season enters and passes through July each year, Major League Baseball general managers assess their teams’ progress and chances of making the postseason. Now that MLB has three division winners and two wild cards in each league, teams do not give up players as easily as they used, but the wheeling and dealing do continue.
The 2014 season has seen its share of July trades. The New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs have had the most activity while the Oakland Athletics have, so far, made the biggest splash. The big names receive the press. Contenders add players to win “this year,” and non-contenders trade veterans for prospects and look to build for the future.
Some trades do not get much notoriety, and some involve only prospects and cash between non-contenders. However, even the most minor of moves can pay off either immediately or later. Here are the MLB July trades via MLB.com through July 30:
July 1: Boston Red Sox traded LHP Rich Hill to Los Angeles Angels for cash.
Washington Nationals traded 1B Brock Peterson to Los Angeles Dodgers for cash.
July 2: Cincinnati Reds traded RHP Jair Jurrjens to Colorado Rockies for 1B Harold Riggins.
July 5: Los Angeles Angels traded RHP Joey Krehbiel and OF Zach Borenstein to Arizona Diamondbacks for LHP Joe Thatcher and CF Tony Campana.
Chicago Cubs traded RHP Jason Hammel and RHP Jeff Samardzija to Oakland Athletics for Player To Be Named Later, SS Addison Russell, CF Billy McKinney and RHP Dan Straily.
July 6: Arizona Diamondbacks traded RHP Brandon McCarthy and cash to New York Yankees for LHP Vidal Nuno.
July 7: Arizona Diamondbacks traded 3B Cesar Carrasco to Houston Astros for LHP Alex Sogard.
Pittsburgh Pirates traded LF Chris Dickerson to Cleveland Indians for Player To Be Named Later.
July 10: Chicago White Sox traded SS Jeffry Santos to Houston Astros.
July 11: Oakland Athletics traded cash and LHP Jeff Francis to New York Yankees for Player To Be Named Later.
July 12: Los Angeles Angels traded LHP Nick Maronde to Cleveland Indians for Player To Be Named Later.
July 14: Baltimore Orioles traded 1B Brett Wallace to Toronto Blue Jays for cash.
July 16: Kansas City Royals traded LHP Ryan Verdugo to Boston Red Sox for cash.
July 19: San Diego Padres traded RHP Huston Street and RHP Trevor Gott to Los Angeles Angels for 2B Taylor Lindsey, RHP R.J. Alvarez, SS Jose Rondon and RHP Elliot Morris.
July 22: San Diego Padres traded Chase Headley and cash to New York Yankees for 3B Yangervis Solarte and RHP Rafael De Paula.
July 23: Texas Rangers traded RHP Joakim Soria to Detroit Tigers for RHP Corey Knebel and RHP Jake Thompson.
July 24: Kansas City Royals traded 3B Jimmy Paredes to Baltimore Orioles for cash.
Minnesota Twins traded 1B Kendrys Morales to Seattle Mariners for RHP Stephen Pryor.
Colorado Rockies traded LHP Chris Capuano to New York Yankees for cash.
July 25: Toronto Blue Jays traded RHP Deck McGuire to Oakland Athletics for cash.
July 26: Boston Red Sox traded RHP Jake Peavy and cash to San Francisco Giants for LHP Edwin Escobar and RHPHeath Hembree.
July 28: Chicago Cubs traded 2B Darwin Barney to Los Angeles Dodgers for Player To Be Named Later.
Kansas City Royals traded 3B Danny Valencia to Toronto Blue Jays for C Erik Kratz and RHP Liam Hendriks.
July 30: Boston Red Sox traded Felix Doubront to Chicago Cubs for a player to be named later.
Cleveland Indians traded RHP Justin Masterson to St. Louis Cardinals for OF James Ramsey.
Los Angeles Dodgers traded RHP Jonathan Martinez to Chicago Cubs.
July 31: Boston Red Sox traded LHP Jon Lester and OF Jonny Gomes to Oakland Athletics for OF Yoenis Cespedes.
Boston Red Sox traded SS Stephen Drew and cash to New York Yankees for Kelly Johnson.
Boston Red Sox traded RHP John Lackey to S. Louis Cardinals for OF/1B Allen Craig and RHP Joe Kelly.
Boston Red Sox trade LHP Andrew Miller to Baltimore Orioles for prospect LHP Eduardo Rodriguez.
Oakland Athletics trade LHP Tommy Milone to Minnesota Twins for OF Sam Fuld.
Arizona Diamondbacks traded RF Gerardo Parra to Milwaukee Brewers for LHP Anthony Banda and RF Mitch Haniger.
Arizona Diamondbacks traded 3B Martin Prado to New York Yankees for C Peter O’Brien and Player To Be Named Later.
San Diego Padres traded RF Chris Denorfia to Seattle Mariners for CF Abraham Almonte and RHP Stephen Kohlscheen.
Cleveland Indians trade INF Asdrubal Cabrera and cash to Washington Nationals for INF Zach Walters.
Chicago Cubs traded 2B Emilio Bonifacio, LHP James Russell and cash to Atlanta Braves for C Victor Caratini.
In a three-team deal, Detroit Tigers Traded LHP Drew Smyly and SS Willy Adames to Tampa Bay Rays; Tampa Bay Rays Traded LHP David Price to Detroit Tigers; Seattle Mariners Traded SS Nick Franklin to Tampa Bay Rays and Detroit Tigers Traded CF Austin Jackson to Seattle Mariners.
Teams may still trade player. However, those players must now clear waivers first. A player must appear on a team’s official 40-man roster by midnight on August 31 to qualify for postseason play unless replacing a player injured before or during the post season.
