The Second Wild Card Team Kills the Trade Deadline

The Second Wild Card Team Kills the Trade Deadline

July 31^st is always an exciting day in baseball. The mystery and intrigue surrounding the trade deadline always looms large on the game. What will the contenders do to add those missing pieces? What teams at the bottom of the standings will unload talent and look to rebuild? When 4 o’clock rolls around, the playoff picture should begin to take shape when assessing the moves and roster configurations. However, that has all changed.

Last year Major League Baseball added a second wild card team to the playoffs. The two wild card teams will face each other in a sudden death winner take all game and follow the three division winners into the big dance. This added game brings excitement and ratings, both great things for Major League Baseball. In the inaugural wild card game for the National League last season, the St. Louis Cardinals faced the Atlanta Braves. With Braves legend Chipper Jones retiring at year’s end, there was even the added intrigue of whether this would be Chipper’s last game. What ensued was a classic game highlighted by a horrendous infield fly ruling by umpire Sam Holbrook which could have very well cost Atlanta the game and caused the Braves fans to litter the field with trash.

Major League Baseball couldn’t have asked for a better kickoff to the process given the controversy and the Chipper Jones narrative. What they failed to realize though was how the addition of that second team would kill the trade deadline from then on. Teams who should know better than to think they still had a chance now had the hope of a second chance, and as long as they could get to that game, who knows what could happen. Without the second wild card spot far more teams would be willing to part with players and prospects. Trades will still happen of course, but the days of multiple trades that would change the course of teams seasons are gone.

The trade deadline should be moved back to mid-August, therefore eliminating the waiver deadline and giving those teams with no chance the ability to really wake up and come to their senses in realizing there’s no hope. They can then unload the one or two pieces they have to a contender, and get in return guys that can possibly help them down the line. Pushing the deadline back creates more of a sense of urgency in the contenders to give up more than they probably should to land that missing piece. Obtaining that missing piece helps them on their push to the playoffs and possibly a World Series, and the non-contender reaps the rewards with the addition of prospects that could very well speed up the rebuilding process. None of this will probably ever happen and it will just end up being a pipe dream, but a fan can always hope.