Out of nowhere, the Houston Astros got a huge head start on October.
On a dizzying day that featured two dozen trades, the Astros pulled off the biggest and most startling deal, adding ace Zack Greinke to an imposing rotation already loaded with All-Stars Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole.
Plenty of familiar names were on the go Wednesday — Shane Greene and Mark Melancon boosted the Braves’ bullpen, with Scooter Gennett, Jesús Aguilar and Mike Leake among those also moving.
But it was the Astros’ acquisition of Greinke from Arizona for four minor leaguers that quickly became the talk of baseball. The deal came right before the deadline for swapping players to still have them eligible for the postseason.
“We had him high on our list and we didn’t know this was even remotely possible and it really wasn’t until the last 48 hours and really the last 24 hours that we started to get traction on something,” Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow said.
The AL West leaders and 2017 World Series champions added two other pitchers, too, getting starter Aaron Sanchez and reliever Joe Biagini from Toronto.
“Houston made some big deals. They’re really good. They were good before,” Red Sox President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski said.
A lot of contenders were busy.
The Chicago Cubs added Detroit’s Nicholas Castellanos to their lineup, the Phillies got outfielder Corey Dickerson from Pittsburgh and the Washington Nationals added relievers Daniel Hudson, Roenis Elías and Hunter Strickland.
“When it comes to trades, one thing I’ve learned is, just wait,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “You’ve got to wait until the very end and it plays itself out. The 11th hour is the most powerful hour there is. To get things done before that, it normally doesn’t work to get what you want. There’s the 11th hour at work.”
Several players whose named swirled in the tradewinds stayed put.
Giants ace Madison Bumgarner, Mets starters Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler, and Pirates closer Felipe Vázquez remained in place.
“Nothing changed for me. I never expected to be somewhere else until that happened,” Bumgarner said. “I just have a job to do and I’m going to do it. We’re going to miss a few guys we got rid of. That’s going to be tough.”
Major League Baseball made July 31 a hard deadline this year for trades. Now, no deals can be made until after the World Series.
“This was a unique deadline, it felt,” said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, whose AL East-leading team didn’t make any significant moves.
Pitchers Marcus Stroman, Andrew Cashner, Homer Bailey and Jason Vargas were among the players who were traded in recent weeks.
And on Tuesday night, the Cleveland Indians agreed to send pitcher Trevor Bauer to Cincinnati in a three-team swap that brought back outfielder Yasiel Puig. That trade became official Wednesday, setting off a full morning and afternoon of swaps.
The Diamondbacks agreed to pay the Astros $26 million to cover much of the roughly $76 million Greinke is due.
“We have two pitchers on our team, maybe more that are Hall of Fame-caliber,” Luhnow said. “And I think we have a rotation that’s set up to compete in any series against any team for the rest of this year.”
Arizona general manager Mike Hazen said the trade was rushed into place in the final 20 minutes before the 4 p.m. deadline for trades. Astros players learned about the swap at 4:07 p.m. in the visiting clubhouse in Cleveland, and Cole said there was “a lot of hooting and hollering” over “getting a Hall of Fame pitcher, a craftsman.”
“We are just really shocked and ecstatic,” Cole said.
Greinke pitched five innings earlier in the day at Yankee Stadium, giving up two runs to New York. He was pulled from the game during a rain delay, and manager Torey Lovullo interrupted Greinke watching video of the start so Hazen could inform him of the deal.
The 35-year-old Greinke left the ballpark without commenting to reporters. The trade was officially announced after 5:30 p.m., following Arizona’s 7-5 loss.
Houston won its first World Series title in 2017 and lost the 2018 AL Championship Series to eventual champion Boston. The Astros loaded up again with Greinke, getting a six-time All-Star and the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner. He is 10-4 with a 2.90 ERA this season.
Greinke’s addition gives the Astros four starting pitchers with ERAs in the top 15 in the majors this year. Verlander is fifth with a 2.73 ERA, Greinke is ninth, Cole is 11th at 2.94 and Wade Miley ranks 14th at 3.06. Verlander leads the AL in wins (14) and ERA, and Cole tops with the majors with 212 strikeouts.
Verlander is second among active players in victories at 218 and Greinke is third at 197. Those two top the list among active pitchers for career wins above replacement, per Baseball-Reference.com, with Greinke at 70 and Verlander at 68.
“If we stay healthy,” Luhnow said, “this team is as good as any team I’ve ever seen.”
There was a palpable buzz in Houston’s clubhouse. Cole, who is eligible for free agency after this season, credited owner Jim Crane, Luhnow and the front office staff for their work in making the trade happen.
“What a pickup,” Cole said. “They nailed it. They did a magnificent job.”
Over 16 stellar seasons, Greinke has gotten something of a crabby reputation — for instance, he said last month he’d rather never throw a no-hitter because “a bunch of nonsense comes with it.” He was well received over four seasons in Arizona, even becoming a regular in the Diamondbacks war room during the amateur draft. The Diamondbacks raved about his clubhouse presence.
“Zack got a bad rap from places he was before, but everyone here loved him,” Arizona reliever Archie Bradley said.
Arizona agreed to send Houston $24 million to offset much of the $74,161,290 Greinke is owed in salary plus $2 million to cover the assignment bonus he gets for being traded. The Diamondbacks pay the Astros $2 million on Nov. 1 for the assignment bonus and pay Houston $3,333,333 on Oct. 15 plus $10,333,333 each on July 1 in 2020 and 2021.
Greinke’s $206.5 million, six-year contract includes a $31.5 million salary for this year — which has $10,161,290 remaining — plus $32 million in each of the next two seasons. His deal defers $10.5 million in 2019 salary and $11 million in each of the next two years, and Houston assumes responsibility for the deferred money being accrued starting Thursday.