Apparently the MLB Trade Deadline is on July 31, but somebody in the league office must have forgotten to inform the GMs, as Major League Baseball went on a random trading spree Monday that would make Wall Street jealous. Some big names changed locations..or in Ichiro’s case, which dugout he’d walk into in Seattle later that day. The trading probably isn’t over yet (why so down, MLB Rumor Central to throw up his hands and say, “Why bother?”

As always, though, some of these trades will matter more than others. numberFire decided to look at the other two trades from yesterday: New York media, who get to hear all about the sexiness of slap hits.

Want an idea of how well Ichiro’s playing, Yankees fans? Trust me when I say you don’t - his two closest numberFire comparisons are 2011 Erick Aybar and 2011 Coco Crisp. I think it’s safe to say that it’s not a championship-winning move.

Anibal Sanchez

SP Anibal Sanchez (nERD: 2.29) – Miami to Detroit
Tigers Playoff Odds: +1.6%
Tigers Championship Odds: +0.5%

Meanwhile, over there in Car Country, the Tigers pulled off a coup, getting numberFire’s 24th-ranked overall player Anibal Sanchez at a fairly discounted price (including the first ever exchange of draft picks!)

The problem is that the Detroit pitching staff was pitching pretty well anyway. Even Tigers rookie starter "My Name Is".

Sanchez’s K rate is actually lower than either one at 21.8%, but he also doesn’t allow as many home runs as other current Detroit pitchers (2.4% HR rate), leading to the slight increase in odds. The Tigers received the best player yesterday, but internally, the team clearly did not address its biggest weakness.