The MLB trade deadline can be one of the craziest times in sports, especially with the added playoff teams in recent years.
There are contenders looking to add the right piece to put them over the top, clear sellers looking towards the future, and then a large group of middling teams that could go either way.
However, a change that was made in recent years has indirectly helped that. While there is still the fury of the final days leading up to the deadline, moving the MLB Draft up to July from early June has helped communication between teams earlier than usual.
Seattle Mariners President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto is no stranger to trades. Dipoto joined WEEI’s Rob Bradford on Audacy’s original podcast “Baseball Isn’t Boring” and explained how moving the MLB Draft has helped trade deadline communication.
“I think one of the unique adjustments the game made when we moved the draft to coincide with the All-Star Game in July is we started making our initial rounds of trade check-ins with the other 29 clubs in some cases back in late May,” Dipoto said (10:15 in player above). “Just to make sure we were ahead of it as everybody got into their draft meetings and have a good feel for where teams might situate themselves.”
Granted, a team that is in the hunt in late May could be sellers by mid-July – or sooner. A lot can change, but setting a baseline with another team can go a long way.
“A lot changed in that five or six weeks. We were all underground but by and large, once those calls are made, now you can just check in with a quick text. You can make a call in on your drive to work. Your position changed. Or you might get a ‘hey, add us to the list on so-and-so’ type of check-in,” Dipoto continued. “That made it a little bit easier to where you don’t feel like you’re drinking from a firehose for the two weeks prior to the deadline.”
Of course, there is no way to truly minimize the madness that is the MLB trade deadline. General managers will be going back and forth trying to put their club in the best position to win whether that’s this year or in the future.
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