Welcome to the final month of the MLB regular season folks. It should certainly be an exciting one, as many of us try to finish off a run to a fantasy baseball title and/or watch our favorite team fight for the postseason. We will also get to watch with anticipation as September callups offer the chance to showcase the talent of the future for all 30 organizations. Let’s get this Saturday morning started, however, by taking a look back the trades made Friday prior to the “waiver trade deadline”.

 

Deadline Deals

A move away from Toronto for Josh Donaldson had been widely expected and came to fruition, as the three-time All-Star was shipped to Cleveland on Friday. Donaldson has not played in an MLB game since May 28 due to injury but was in the midst of a rehab assignment with the Blue Jays’ Single-A affiliate.

Donaldson is not the only now former Blue Jay on the move, as Curtis Granderson was dealt to Milwaukee in exchange for minor-league outfielder Demi Orimoloye.

The Brewers also came to an agreement with the Nationals that will send Gio González to Milwaukee. It has been a roller-coaster season for the veteran lefty, as he worked to a stellar 2.27 ERA over his first 12 starts of the season but has struggled to a 6.78 ERA across his last 15 starts.

Reliever Ryan Madson is also departing from D.C., as he will join the Dodgers’ bullpen most likely in a setup role. The 38-year-old righty is not having anywhere close to his best season, but he has a long track record of success in the late innings and a wealth of playoff experience.

Greg Jewett made mention of this trade in yesterday’s Daily Round Up, but Andrew McCutchen was officially dealt to the Yankees for a pair of Minor League prospects Friday. McCutchen is expected to be in the Yankees’ lineup Saturday.

 

A Bomber is Back

Gary Sánchez is also expected to be in the Yankees lineup after spending the last week of July and all of August on the DL. Sanchez is hitting a weak .188 on the season, but he does have 14 homers through 66 games and his power has never been in question. For what it’s worth, Sanchez posted an .882 OPS with five long balls over 22 games last September.

 

In Case You Missed It

Indians ace Corey Kluber was in need of a strong rebound outing Friday against the Rays and came up with just that. After surrendering eight earned runs on 18 hits over his last 11.2 innings, Kluber fired 7.0 scoreless frames while giving up only two hits and two walks alongside eight strikeouts.

Asdrubal Cabrera has not been all that productive for the Phillies since being acquired from the Mets back on July 27, but he certainly delivered Friday night, launching a walkoff deep drive to center field to beat the Cubs 2-1 and pull his team to within 2.0 games of the Braves in the N.L. East race.

Speaking of the Braves, Jameson Taillon held them in check Friday evening. The 26-year-old righty surrendered just two runs on five hits and a walk while striking out seven. Taillon has now put up seven straight quality starts and nine in his last 10 outings. Over that 10-start span, he has turned in a terrific 2.60 ERA and 59-to-12 K/BB ratio across 65.2 innings.

 

Saturday on the Hill

Like Sanchez above, Eduardo Rodríguez will be returning from an extended stay on the DL. He’ll take the hill in Chicago versus the White Sox for his first start since July 14.

Facing off with Rodriguez will be fellow southpaw Carlos Rodon who boasts a cool 1.84 ERA over nine starts (63.2 innings) since the start of July. His last time out on August 27, Rodon held the Yankees to two runs on two hits over seven innings in New York.

With all due respect to current DL resident Chris Sale , Blake Snell will have a chance to further build upon his A.L. Cy Young candidacy in Cleveland. Snell will look to become the third pitcher in the league to reach 17 wins and will head to the mound with an incredibly impressive 2.05 ERA. Following his own DL stint during the second half of July, Snell put together a ridiculous 1.04 ERA, 0.65 WHIP and 11.8 K/9 across 26.0 innings (five starts) in August. He’ll battle rookie righty Shane Bieber on Saturday evening.