With the dust settled on the non-waiver trade deadline, it is time to take stock on the winners and losers of the deadline. Christopher and I will be selecting two winners and two losers for teams at the deadline and each of us will be choosing a player we like to improve because of the trade and a player we think will fall back because of the trade that was made.

Winners– Scott Barzilla

Kansas City Royals- Johnny Cueto, Ben Zobrist

Yes, these are both rentals for KC, but they fit what the Royals are doing perfectly. Zobrist will fit in left nicely until Alex Gordon is ready to return. Then, he can shift to replace the ineffective Omar Infante at second base. The Royals have the deepest bullpen in baseball history, so adding a dominant starter gets them that much closer to another World Series.

Philadelphia Phillies– traded Jonathan Papelbon, Ben Revere, Cole Hamels

The Phillies managed to get a bevy of prospects from the Rangers alone, but they finally dealt all of their marketable players in one trading period. They got a good pitching prospect from the Nationals in exchange for Jonathan Papelbon and they got a few for Ben Revere as well. They could not deal Chase Utley or Ryan Howard, but they may find a taker for them in August. If they could deal even one of them, they would solidify their spot here. They may be rebuilding, but their rebuilding period just got a little shorter.

Winners– Christopher Morais

Toronto Blue Jays– Ben Revere, Troy Tulowitzki, Mark Lowe

Alex Anthopoulos and the Toronto Blue Jays are the clear winners of this year’s MLB trade deadline. The Jays GM made a slash by acquiring Troy Tulowitzki from the Rockies and David Price from the Tiger for multiple minor league pitchers. The most powerful offence in baseball got even better and their pitching staff now has a true ace to lead the way. The additions of Ben Revere and Mark Lowe may not be seen as major moves, but both players will be key parts of the team moving forward. Lowe will bring some much-needed stability to the bullpen and Revere will help provide some depth both in leftfield and off the bench. Toronto now has all the pieces needed to make a long playoff run and bring a World Series back to Canada.

Kansas City Royals– Ben Zobrist, Johnny Cueto

The Royals are looking to return to the World Series for the second time in as many years. Kansas City added Johnny Cueto to their pitching staff from Cincinnati and utility man Ben Zobrist from Oakland. The Royals were in desperate need of an ace after losing Jason Vargas to an elbow injury and Yordano Ventura having a disappointing season. The most important add may be that of Zobrist, who can play virtually any position on the field. With Alex Gordon out for the foreseeable future, Zobrist should see the majority of his starts in leftfield. The quest to get back to the finals will be tough, but the Royals have a legitimate shot at doing it with this team.

Losers– Scott Barzilla

Texas Rangers– Cole Hamels

There are good deals and then there are deals that make you want to give the general manager a field sobriety test. I like Hamels just fine, but he is moving to a hitter’s park in a hitters league. Yes, the Phillies are paying off some of his deal, but they surrendered six players in order to get him. Five of them will fit nicely amongst the Phillies top thirty prospects. This is a ridiculous haul for any pitcher, much less Hamels.

Miami Marlins– Dan Haren, Mat Latos, Steve Cishek, Michael Morse

The Marlins eventually dealt two starting pitchers, an outfielder/first baseman, and a reliever and got back two top thirty prospects. Of course, one of those is actually ranked 30th by MLB.com, so really we are talking about one impact prospect. That’s ridiculous. Of course, we know why this is the case. The Marlins have always been about saving money, so it was more important for them to cut bad contracts than it was for them to get anything useful back. I suppose one could be optimistic about them spending money, but under Jeffrey Loria, that has never worked for long.

Losers– Christopher Morais

New York Yankees– Dustin Ackley

The Yankees currently sit six games ahead of the Jays in the American League East but failed to address any of their needs at the deadline. With Michael Pineda on the disabled list and C.C Sabathia having a terrible season, New York was in desperate need of a starting pitcher and failed to get one. The Yankees were only able to make one move; acquiring Dustin Ackley from the Seattle Mariners. The competition in the A.L East got much better, yet the Yankees weren’t able to do anything. They may still win the division, but their depth over the next few weeks will be greatly tested.

San Diego Padres

The Padres currently sit nine games behind the division leading L.A Dodgers but were neither buyer nor sellers at the deadline. San Diego went through a complete team makeover over the offseason, but it hasn’t translated into wins on the field. So many big names were rumored to be traded before Fridays deadline, yet first-year GM A.J Preller came up empty in his attempt to retool his team or add depth to the farm system. Preller may believe that his team still has a chance to clinch a playoff before October, but so far that doesn’t look likely.

Biggest Trade Boost– Scott Barzilla

Mike Leake– San Francisco Giants

It would be simplistic to call Great American Ballpark a launching pad, but in comparison with AT&T Park it is a lauching pad. Leake is more of a fly ball pitcher, so move him into the spacious confines in San Francisco and he moves from a fringe fantasy starter into someone that could be a number two or three fantasy starter overnight. The Giants may struggle to score runs, but we are talking about an improved ERA and WHIP in the process.

Biggest Trade Boost– Christopher Morais

Ben Revere– Toronto Blue Jays

Revere is going from the terrible Phillies to the highflying Blue Jays and should benefit greatly from this move. The 27-year-old is hitting .292 this season with 27 RBI and 49 runs scored. Revere could finish the season with over 100 runs and swipe another 10-15 bases. His .327 OBP isn’t something to write home about, but if he can just find ways to get on base, he could be a top-30 fantasy outfielder by the end of the season. Early indications are that the he will hit at the bottom of the order, but I expect the Jays to give him a chance to hit at the top of the order and be a real threat to steal bases and score runs. For fantasy owners looking for some SB/AVG., Revere is the player to own.

Biggest Trade Dip– Scott Barzilla

Troy Tulowitzki– Toronto Blue Jays

Lost in all the excitement over Tulowitzki moving to Toronto is the fact that his numbers haven’t been as good this season as they have been in season’s past. That’s a peculiar thing to say for a shortstop producing .300/12/46/53/0 for his five fantasy categories, but we are talking about the thin air in Colorado. Look for Tulo to be a lot more human even in the best offense in all of baseball.

Biggest Trade Dip– Christopher Morais

Drew Storen– Washington Nationals

It’s almost impossible to find closers at this point of the year, let alone replace one of the league’s best closers this season. The Washington Nationals acquired closer Jonathan Papelbon from the Phillies to be the teams new closer moving forward, leaving Storen to be the new setup man. Storen has converted 29 of 31 saves and has 48:9 K:BB ratio so far this season. This move definitely hurts Storen’s value from here on out and is almost droppable at this point. Fantasy owners may want to hold on to the 27-year-old incase Papelbon struggles at some point, but considering the timing of the move, it may be time for owners to look around for other options.