Rangers and Giants top our MLB Trade Deadline winners list

Following a busy day of last-second trades, the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers can rest easy. Why’s that? They’ve both made the good side of MLB Network Radio Casey Stern’s MLB Trade Deadline winners and losers list.

For the Giants, they bolstered their pitching staff with the edition of lefties Will Smith and Matt Moore. The new pieces come at the expense of losing rising young talent Matt Duffy, but it’s the cost of prepping for a run this postseason.

“The Giants…they understand, they recognize what they gave up, but look at what they did,” Stern said. “Will Smith in the back end and now Matt Moore…good luck facing that 1-2-3.”

Smith and Moore were always on the top tier of players that the Giants wanted to acquire, general manager Bobby Evans told MLB Network Radio. Of course, that doesn’t make it any easier to give up a young player like Duffy.

“It’s very hard to see these guys go, it’s a very painful part of the business,” Evans said.

In other major news on Monday, the Rangers nabbed catcher Jonathan Lucroy and Jeremy Jeffress from the Brewers and Carlos Beltran from the Yankees. They lost some top prospects in Lewis Brinson, Luis Ortiz and Dillon Tate to get them, but they still have a stockpile of young talent in their loaded farm system.

“We’ve done such a good job scouting and player development, we’ve produced the kind of players that allow you to make these kinds of moves,” Texas general manager Jon Daniels said. With the addition of Lucroy behind the plate, Daniels thinks his team may have solidified themselves as one of the best teams in the MLB.

“The teams with the best catchers are often the last handful of teams standing at the end,” Daniels said “I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”

On the wrong side of Stern’s list, you can look no further than the the Houston Astros and Colorado Rockies. Neither team made a big move, and that has Stern scratching his head.

“Do you see what’s on this team…how do you not go out and give yourself a chance?” ?Stern said. “How about getting a starter to get you in (the playoffs) this year?”

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