MINNEAPOLIS -- Nearly two hours before the first pitch Wednesday night, New York Yankees infielders Gleyber Torres and Gio Urshela were sitting in front of their neighboring Target Field lockers, busting out in random bursts of laughter.

At the time, Urshela was holding a cardboard box, delivered to the ballpark from Amazon. It had been opened just enough for him to see that the right contents were inside. He was pleased they were there.

Later in the evening, as fellow Yankees slugger Edwin Encarnacion finished rounding the bases following his milestone 30th homer of the season, the plush piece that was inside that box was finally shared with the world.

"I've been waiting for that," Encarnacion said, smiling. "It looked nice."

"It" was a stuffed animal -- a red, white, yellow and blue parrot, to be precise -- that had been gifted to Encarnacion near the Yankees' on-deck circle at the end of his ninth-inning round-tripper.

This is now the eighth straight season that Encarnacion, 36, has hit at least 30 homers.

"Thank God for blessing me," Encarnacion said of reaching the milestone again. "But I do the hard work every offseason, and trying to be consistent every year, it's not easy to do it. But thank God I've been doing it the past [eight] years, and I feel blessed."

Encarnacion started the streak when he was 29. But among players beyond the age of 30 to have had 30 or more homers in consecutive seasons, his seven such years rank fifth all time. Only Barry Bonds (10 straight 30-homer seasons), Rafael Palmeiro (nine), Mike Schmidt and Babe Ruth (eight) have had more consecutive 30-homer seasons past age 30 in baseball history.

"That's amazing in itself, and to be able to do that consistently and be a guy that's very productive, it's awesome to see," Yankees center fielder Aaron Hicks said. "He's a great hitter, and he does what he has to do to be able to put barrel on the ball and obviously be able to hit the ball out of the ballpark."

The 385-foot solo shot that Encarnacion deposited into the Yankees bullpen extended their lead over the Minnesota Twins, giving the Yankees a 10-7 advantage that they held onto in the bottom half of the ninth. With Wednesday's victory, the Yankees also won the crucial series in Minnesota, taking two of three from the Twins before visiting the Boston Red Sox for four games beginning Thursday.

Encarnacion's long ball also was the 20th and final home run that the Yankees and Twins had hit in a series that doubled as a veritable two-team Home Run Derby. At 7,875 feet, the teams' combined blasts traveled a distance that is nearly the equivalent of 1.5 miles. That's roughly the same distance as the Empire State Building (at 34th Street) is from Columbus Circle (at 59th Street) in Manhattan.

"Similar to us, they do a really good job of making [a pitcher] come into the strike zone," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of the Twins. "They have guys that, when you make a mistake, they don't just get hits, they get it out of the ballpark."

Encarnacion's homer, which followed another he hit Tuesday, also came on the same at-bat in which he drilled an off-speed pitch onto the top of his left foot. In obvious pain after the foul ball, he walked back away from the batter's box and toward the on-deck circle, where Boone and head athletic trainer Steve Donohue chatted with him.

The designated hitter told them he was OK and walked back to the box to finish his at-bat. Suddenly, he unloaded on an 83 mph changeup that was down in the zone, sending it over the wall in left-center field.

"It's just sore," said Encarnacion, who also fouled a pitch off the same foot on Monday. "It got me good. It's just been a little sore.

"We'll see [Thursday] how I'm feeling, but I'm pretty good right now."

Once the Yankees get a better handle on how Encarnacion feels when he wakes up in Boston, they will have a better idea of how to proceed following the injury.

As he began his home run trot, Encarnacion's jog turned quickly into a noticeable limp. Even his typical home run celebration with a single raised arm looked hindered. Normally, he holds his arm up as he lets his imaginary parrot ride there on the first-to-third portion of his trot. But by the time he got halfway between second and third base, Encarnacion dropped his right arm and proceeded to gingerly run the rest of the way.

"When you hit one off the bunion like that, it's always tough to be able to come back and get it," Hicks said.

It was when he began high-fiving teammates while entering the dugout that Torres handed Encarnacion the toy parrot that had arrived at the Yankees clubhouse earlier in the afternoon. Starting pitcher Domingo German then took Encarnacion's helmet and the parrot from him, and placed them both on the bench next to where the veteran power hitter sat down.

Urshela said the idea behind the toy parrot just came to him as he wanted to have a little fun with his older teammate.

TORONTO -- If Wednesday night was Marcus Stroman's final start at Rogers Center as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, he left the home fans with something to remember him by.

Stroman allowed one run and five hits in seven innings in a 4-0 loss to the Cleveland Indians, further burnishing his credentials ahead of next week's trade deadline. The right-hander pitched seven shutout innings to beat the Detroit Tigers on Friday.

The fiery Stroman gestured to the stands and yelled, "This is my house!" as he walked off the field following the top of the seventh.

"I just thought it could be my last outing here," Stroman said afterward, wearing a visor with the words "Let me be me" on it.

"I've always been emotional. I feel like I've had a pretty good tenure as a Blue Jay," Stroman said. "There's been no willingness from the front office to sign me, so I've just kind of come to terms with it and I'm ready to dominate, wherever that may be, absolutely dominate."

The loss was Stroman's first since June 20 at Texas, ending a streak of five unbeaten starts and dropping him to 6-11 with a 2.96 ERA on the season. The game marked the eighth time in 21 starts this season in which Stroman received no runs from his offense.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

It has been slow going on the trade front so far, but the past few years have shown us activity increasingly happens in the final hours before the July 31 MLB trade deadline hits at 4 p.m. ET. The fact that so many teams in the National League are still in the playoff race has also complicated things.

But there's also this: Front offices are increasingly wary of making a big mistake for what might just be a minor upgrade or a small chance at merely winning a wild card. Basically, they don't want to make a trade that ends up on a list like this one -- the worst deadline trade for all 30 teams.

The trade deadline as we know it really began in the early 1990s. By the 2000s, it became expected that your team would make a deal if you were in playoff contention. Now we spend the weeks leading up to the deadline speculating what might happen. Teams are smarter now, so a lot of these bad deals happened in the 1990s and 2000s. Maybe some more recent trades will eventually stand out -- Chris Paddack from the Marlins to the Padres for Fernando Rodney in 2016, for example, or Felipe Vazquez from the Nationals to the Pirates, or last year's trade that sent Austin Meadows and Tyler Glasnow from the Pirates to the Rays for Chris Archer.

Time will tell. For now, a bad trade for every team (OK, two bad ones for the Mets).

The ultimate punch-in-the-gut trades

Boston Red Sox: Trade Jeff Bagwell to the Astros for Larry Andersen (Aug. 30, 1990)

Future WAR traded away: 79.9

WAR acquired: 3.8

The Red Sox actually have another deal that could be considered worse -- we'll get to that -- but this is the classic prospect-for-rental deal that backfired in a big way: a future Hall of Famer for 22 innings of a setup guy. The one that was arguably worse? In 1988, the Red Sox traded Curt Schilling and Brady Anderson to the Orioles for Mike Boddicker -- 115.3 of future WAR traded away. Boddicker did go 39-22 with the Red Sox and helped them win division titles in 1988 and 1990, so it wasn't a complete disaster, however, and the memory of the Bagwell deal is stronger (in part because Schilling never did anything for Baltimore).

Detroit Tigers: Trade John Smoltz to the Braves for Doyle Alexander (Aug. 12, 1987)

Future WAR traded away: 66.4

WAR acquired: 6.3

This is often cited as a win-win transaction because Alexander went 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA in 11 starts down the stretch for the Tigers. Let's cut through it though: It wasn't a win-win trade. Maybe if the Tigers had won the World Series instead of flaming out in the ALCS against the Twins, you could ignore that Smoltz went on to a Hall of Fame career. But you can't. So: bad trade for the Tigers; franchise-altering trade for the Braves.

Seattle Mariners: Trade Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek to the Red Sox for Heathcliff Slocumb (July 31, 1997)

Future WAR traded away: 58.1

WAR acquired: 0.4

The Mariners had a good team in 1997 and would win the AL West that year, but they had a terrible bullpen, driving Woody Woodward into a panic-driven deal that would haunt the Mariners and help the Red Sox break the curse in 2004. Slocumb had saved 31 games in 1996 but had a 5.79 ERA with nearly as many walks as strikeouts. For some reason, the Mariners decided this was the closer they needed. They gave up the first-round pick from 1994 in Varitek plus Lowe, who had already reached the majors. Legend has it that Red Sox GM Dan Duquette asked for Lowe or Varitek and Woodward misheard and agreed to both players.

Special meritorious note because the Mariners are particularly awful at deadline trades: David Ortiz to the Twins for Dave Hollins (Aug. 29, 1996)

Future WAR traded away? 55.3 ... most of that with the Red Sox, of course. Hollins played one month with Seattle.

Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos: Trade Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips and Lee Stevens to the Indians for Bartolo Colon and Tim Drew (June 27, 2002)

Future WAR traded away: 101.4

WAR acquired: 1.9

The Expos were under the stewardship of MLB at the time, after Jeffrey Loria had sold back the team (at a great profit) to purchase the Marlins from John Henry (who had bought the Red Sox). It was a grisly situation all around and with the Expos surprisingly in playoff contention, the front office made the calculated gamble that maybe it could secure a new stadium if the team made the playoffs (much like what happened in Seattle in 1995). So GM Omar Minaya traded three minor leaguers for Colon, a free agent at season's end. The Expos were 6½ games out of first at the time of the trade, so the playoffs were going to be a long shot anyway. Colon pitched well, but the Expos finished 83-79 and the three minor leaguers turned out to be pretty good.

New York Mets: Trade Scott Kazmir and Jose Diaz to the Devil Rays for Victor Zambrano and Bartolome Fortunato and trade Jose Bautista to the Pirates for Kris Benson (July 30, 2004)

Future WAR traded away: 58.4

WAR acquired: 4.2

This was not a good day for the Mets and GM Jim Duquette. The Kazmir trade is famous in Mets lore as they traded away their best pitching prospect for a pitcher who was averaging 6.8 walks per nine at the time of the trade. In fact, Zambrano -- despite playing the final two months in the National League -- still led the American League in walks in 2004. Actually, he didn't even play the final two months as he made only three starts for the Mets before getting injured. He then went 7-12 in 2005 and missed most of 2006. Meanwhile, by 2006, Kazmir was an All-Star with Tampa Bay. What if the Mets had him in 2006, when they lost the NLCS to the Cardinals? Or 2007, when they missed the playoffs by one game? Or 2008, when they also missed by a game?

But that might not even have been the worst trade of the day. Earlier in the day, the Mets acquired Bautista from the Royals, then included him in the Benson trade. Benson would go 14-12 in his year-plus with the Mets and Bautista would eventually blossom after a trade to the Blue Jays. The 2004 Mets? They finished 71-91.

Houston Astros: Trade Ben Zobrist and Mitch Talbot to the Devil Rays for Aubrey Huff (July 12, 2006)

Future WAR traded away: 45.1

WAR acquired: 8.6

The Astros had been to the World Series in 2005 but were 44-46 at the All-Star break in 2006 when they decided they needed Huff to add some power to the lineup. Huff was a rental and would produce 0.2 WAR in his two-plus months with Houston (which missed the playoffs) before signing with Baltimore as a free agent. Zobrist was a 25-year-old hitting .327 in Double-A -- too old at that level to be considered much of a prospect. The Rays believed in the numbers and Zobrist exceeded even the highest of expectations with an outstanding career.

San Diego Padres: Trade Corey Kluber to the Indians as part of three-way trade with Cardinals, receive Ryan Ludwick (July 31, 2010)

Future WAR traded away: 33.1

WAR acquired: 0.2

No Fred McGriff? That 1993 trade with the Braves was a famous one -- 23.7 future WAR for three minor leaguers who would produce negative WAR in the majors -- but the Kluber trade is even worse. Kluber had a 3.45 ERA in Double-A at trade time but also had 136 strikeouts in 122⅔ innings. Baseball America ranked him Cleveland's No. 26 prospect entering 2011, but he would add a little velocity and perfect that curveball and become a two-time Cy Young winner. Ludwick would hit .228 in 160 games for the Padres.

New York Yankees: Trade Jay Buhner to the Mariners for Ken Phelps (July 21, 1988)

Future WAR traded away: 23.1

WAR acquired: 1.0

As Frank Costanza says to George Steinbrenner, "What the hell did you trade Jay Buhner for? He had 30 home runs, over 100 RBIs last year, he's got a rocket for an arm, you don't know what the hell you're doing!"

It's not often that a deadline deal enters popular culture folklore, but this one did thanks to "Seinfeld." As Steinbrenner says on the show, his baseball people loved Ken Phelps -- a 33-year-old platoon DH who would hit 17 home runs for the Yankees over two seasons while Buhner would hit 307 for the Mariners.

Thanks for the painful reminder

Toronto Blue Jays: Trade David Cone to the Yankees for Marty Janzen, Mike Gordon and Jason Jarvis (July 28, 1995)

Future WAR traded away: 22.0

WAR acquired: minus-0.5

This is why you don't make intradivision trades. Cone was one of the best starters in the game, having won the Cy Young Award in 1994 with the Royals (who had traded him to the Blue Jays) and he'd finish fourth in 1995. Two of the three minor leaguers the Jays acquired never even reached the majors and Cone helped jump-start the Yankees dynasty, re-signing with them as a free agent after the 1995 season.

Baltimore Orioles: Trade Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop to the Cubs for Scott Feldman and Steve Clevenger (July 2, 2013)

Future WAR traded away: 32.0

WAR acquired: 4.2

This was an interesting trade because Arrieta wasn't a prospect who then made good, but a major leaguer with a 5.46 career ERA over 63 starts at the time of the trade. He immediately turned things around in Chicago and became the 2015 Cy Young winner. Strop added more value to the Cubs. Feldman went 5-6 with the Orioles, who missed the postseason, and he then signed with the Astros as a free agent.

Chicago Cubs: Trade Josh Donaldson, Matt Murton, Eric Patterson and Sean Gallagher to the A's for Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin (July 8, 2008)

Future WAR traded away: 41.7

WAR acquired: 4.4

It would take five years before the Cubs realized the mistake on this one as Donaldson didn't break out until 2013. He had been a supplemental first-round pick in 2007 and was catching in Class A when the trade was made. With the A's, he eventually overhauled his swing and a move to third base helped him relax and he became the 2015 AL MVP (after a trade to the Blue Jays). The injury-prone Harden was great down the stretch with the Cubs in 2008 (5-1, 1.77 ERA in 12 starts), but he lost his one start in the division series as the Dodgers swept the Cubs.

Special Lou Brock note: The Cubs traded Brock to the Cardinals for Ernie Broglio on June 15, 1964 -- the trade deadline at the time. Brock would earn 41.8 WAR with St. Louis and make the Hall of Fame. Broglio went 7-19 for the Cubs over three seasons. The trade deadline in those days wasn't really like it is now, but if you want to make this the worst deadline trade in Cubs history, that works.

Miami Marlins: Trade Adrian Gonzalez, Ryan Snare and Will Smith to the Rangers for Ugueth Urbina (July 11, 2003)

Future WAR traded away: 42.2

WAR acquired: 3.3

You can argue this was the Marlins' version of the Gleyber Torres-for-Aroldis Chapman trade. Urbina was terrific down the stretch (3-0, 1.41, six saves) and had four saves in the postseason as the Marlins won the World Series. They gave up a future star for a ring -- although, as with Chapman, Urbina had a couple of touchy moments in the postseason, and it's worth noting Josh Beckett went all the way in the clinching Game 6. Gonzalez was the first overall pick in 2000, but he hit only five home runs in the upper minors in 2003, so at the time his star potential appeared limited. Indeed, the Rangers would trade him a few years later to the Padres and he became a five-time All-Star.

Milwaukee Brewers: Trade Nelson Cruz and Carlos Lee to the Rangers for Francisco Cordero, Kevin Mench, Laynce Nix and Julian Cordero (July 28, 2006)

Future WAR traded away: 44.8

WAR acquired: 9.6

The Rangers were .500 when this trade was made -- but just 1½ games out of first place. Lee was an All-Star slugger heading into free agency, so the Rangers gave up the erratic Cordero and a couple of spare parts to get him -- oh, and had the Brewers throw in a Triple-A slugger. Cruz would become the headliner in the deal, and most of Cordero's remaining value came with the Reds, not the Brewers, after leaving as a free agent. (Don't give the Rangers full credit here though: They once removed Cruz from their 40-man roster before he finally broke out in 2009, so any team could have claimed him.)

Pittsburgh Pirates: Trade Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton to the Cubs for Jose Hernandez, Bobby Hill and Matt Bruback (July 23, 2003)

Future WAR traded away: 41.4

WAR acquired: 1.1

The Pirates of this era drafted poorly, developed poorly and boy did they trade poorly. Lofton was veteran center-field insurance for the playoff-bound Cubs, but this trade was mostly about Ramirez for Hill. Ramirez was a young third baseman who had a monster 2001 and wasn't eligible for free agency until after 2006. Hill was actually a couple of months older than Ramirez. Ramirez would play 1,635 games in the majors after the trade. Hill would play 185.

Philadelphia Phillies: Trade Curt Schilling to the Diamondbacks for Travis Lee, Vicente Padilla, Omar Daal and Nelson Figueroa (July 26, 2000)

Future WAR traded away: 43.6

WAR acquired: 22.0

Schilling certainly had one of the most interesting trade histories of any great player ever. The Red Sox dumped him as a prospect, the Orioles traded him to the Astros in a terrible deal, the Astros traded him to the Phillies for Jason Grimsley, the Phillies traded him when he still had many peak seasons left and then the Diamondbacks traded him to the Red Sox and didn't really get anything back. The Phillies actually got some value back (although only 9.5 of that 22.0 WAR came with the Phillies) and 2000 would be the last of seven straight losing seasons, but none of the players in the Schilling trade were around by 2007, when they finally returned to the playoffs.

Colorado Rockies: Trade Andy Ashby, Brad Ausmus and Doug Bochtler to the Padres for Bruce Hurst and Greg Harris (July 26, 1993)

Future WAR traded away: 42.3

WAR acquired: minus-2.5

When the Padres held a fire sale in 1993, the expansion Rockies viewed it as an opportunity to acquire a couple of veteran pitchers. Unfortunately, Hurst and Harris were done as effective major leaguers. Ashby won 70 games for the Padres and became a two-time All-Star with them, and Ausmus had a long career as a defensive stalwart behind the plate.

On second thought, we'd like a do-over

Texas Rangers: Trade Kyle Hendricks and Christian Villanueva to the Cubs for Ryan Dempster (July 31, 2012)

Future WAR traded away: 21.4

WAR acquired: 0.2

Dempster went 7-3, albeit with a 5.09 ERA, in his two months with the Rangers. This was the year Texas blew a four-game lead on the A's with six to play to fall into the wild-card game -- which the Rangers promptly lost to the Orioles. Dempster started that six-game skid with a loss to the Angels (four runs in 5⅔ innings) and he also started the season finale, a loss to the A's in which he gave up five runs in three innings. Hendricks wasn't much of a prospect because of his middling velocity, but the control artist has produced 19.0 WAR and counting so far for the Cubs.

Oakland A's: Trade Mark McGwire to the Cardinals for Eric Ludwick, T.J. Mathews and Blake Stein (July 31, 1997)

Future WAR traded away: 19.3

WAR acquired: 2.7

McGwire was to become a free agent after the 1997 season, so even though he was chasing the single-season home run record -- he would finish with 58 between the A's and Cardinals -- the A's traded him away for three pitchers in what seemed like a reasonable deal at the time. McGwire would sign a three-year, $28.5 million extension with the Cardinals before reaching free agency -- money the A's could have easily earned back in ticket sales the following season if Big Mac had hit 70 for them. More importantly, none of the three pitchers did anything for the A's. If then-GM Sandy Alderson had nailed this trade, maybe the Moneyball A's of the early 2000s win a couple of World Series.

Kansas City Royals: Trade Carlos Beltran to the Astros, receive Mark Teahen, Mike Wood and John Buck in a three-way trade with the A's (June 24, 2004)

Future WAR traded away: 44.9

WAR acquired: 7.8

Beltran was the big trade chip in 2004, a multitooled center fielder heading into free agency whom the Royals wouldn't be able to sign. So you can argue the Royals received three players for a guy who was going to leave anyway. Still, Buck was the best of the group, a journeyman catcher. When trading a guy like Beltran, you hope to hit the lottery. The Royals failed to do that and they would follow 2004 with eight more losing seasons in a row.

Los Angeles Dodgers: Trade Carlos Santana and Jon Meloan to the Indians for Casey Blake (July 26, 2008)

Future WAR traded away: 29.2

WAR acquired: 9.2

Santana had come out of nowhere to post huge numbers for Class A Inland Empire at the time of the trade, but had just started catching the year before so was considered a player without a position. Blake did help the Dodgers reach the NLCS in 2008 and was the team's regular third baseman the next two seasons, but the Indians clearly won the long-term WAR faceoff in this trade.

Cleveland Indians: Trade Drew Pomeranz, Alex White, Matt McBride and Joe Gardner to the Rockies for Ubaldo Jimenez (July 30, 2011)

Future WAR traded away: 9.8

WAR acquired: 2.8

No team might have more good deadline deals than the Indians. Not only are three of the other trades on this list in their favor (the Cliff Lee/Grady Sizemore/Brandon Phillips trade with the Expos, Carlos Santana from the Dodgers, Corey Kluber from the Padres), but you can also include two separate deals with the Mariners (Shin-Soo Choo for Ben Broussard, Asdrubal Cabrera for Eduardo Perez). Even the CC Sabathia trade turned out OK since they got Michael Brantley. They got Carlos Carrasco in a deadline deal for Lee.

The Jimenez trade wasn't so bad in terms of future value lost, but rates as a disappointing trade. It was the rare time the Indians actually traded prospects -- Pomeranz and White had been first-round picks -- to upgrade the current roster. Jimenez had a 5.11 ERA with Cleveland in 2011, went 9-17 with a 5.40 ERA in 2012 and was decent in 2013 (13-9, 3.30) as the Indians lost a wild-card game. Still, Pomeranz and White had a lot of trade value at the time and the Indians didn't cash in as well as they could have.

Los Angeles Angels: Trade Jean Segura, Ariel Pena and Johnny Hellweg to the Brewers for Zack Greinke (July 27, 2012)

Future WAR traded away: 18.2

WAR acquired: 39.7

The Angels, despite being a big-market team, have a curiously uninteresting trade deadline history, at least if you consider big wins or big losses interesting deadline deals. This was a rental and Greinke was fine down the stretch for them, but they still missed the playoffs. He signed with the Dodgers, so only 1.5 of that future WAR came with the Angels. Segura was a top prospect who became a two-time All-Star.

Cincinnati Reds: Trade Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Roenicke and Zach Stewart to the Blue Jays for Scott Rolen (July 31, 2009)

Future WAR traded away: 31.1

WAR acquired: 7.6

It's hard to completely criticize this one. Encarnacion was a bad third baseman, and with Joey Votto at first base there wasn't really room on the roster. Rolen did help the Reds reach the playoffs in 2010 and 2012 (although he had trouble staying healthy in his three-plus years in Cincinnati). Encarnacion, however, has hit 338 home runs since the trade.

San Francisco Giants: Trade Dave Burba, Mark Portugal and Darren Lewis to the Reds for Deion Sanders, Scott Service, John Roper, David McCarty and Ricky Pickett (July 21, 1995)

Future WAR traded away: 28.9

WAR acquired: 2.6

You don't remember Deion with the Giants? That's because he played only 52 games with them. He sat out the 1996 season and then returned to the Reds in 1997. The Giants didn't give up any big names, but all three players were still productive big leaguers while none of the five they acquired did much.

Arizona Diamondbacks: Trade Brad Penny, Vladimir Nunez and Abraham Nunez to the Marlins for Matt Mantei (July 8, 1999)

Future WAR traded away: 17.0

WAR acquired: 2.4

In just their second year of existence, the Diamondbacks were a playoff contender and needed a closer. Mantei was one of the first of the new breed of 100 mph flamethrowers (he would fan 99 in 65⅓ innings in 1999) and saved 22 games for Arizona as it won the NL West before losing to the Mets in the division series. Mantei lost the clinching game when he served up Todd Pratt's walk-off home run. He battled injuries after that while Penny had some good years with the Marlins and Dodgers.

Tampa Bay Rays: Trade David Price to the Tigers in a three-way trade with the Mariners, receive Willy Adames, Drew Smyly and Nick Franklin (July 31, 2014)

Future WAR traded away: 18.7

WAR acquired: 6.3

The worst trade in Rays history was when they selected Bobby Abreu from the Astros in the 1997 expansion and sent him to the Phillies for Kevin Stocker in a prearranged deal. But that came in November, not July. They haven't really had a notable bad deadline trade and this one has a lot of time to age in the Rays' favor, although Adames has really struggled at the plate this season. If you consider the Rays later dealt Smyly for Ryan Yarbrough and Mallex Smith, the trade evens out even more. The only argument is that Price was the big kahuna at the 2014 deadline and had another year of team control and the Rays could have done better than Adames (the Tigers got Matthew Boyd and Daniel Norris a year later for Price).

Some oldies, but goodies (er ... baddies?)

Atlanta Braves: Trade Brett Butler and Brook Jacoby to the Indians for Len Barker (Aug. 28, 1983)

Future WAR traded away: 62.4

WAR acquired: 0.4

Here's a fun older one. Barker was a hard-throwing but erratic right-hander with a 5.11 ERA whom the Braves acquired when they were a half-game up on the Dodgers in the NL West. (Remember when the Braves were in the NL West?) Barker went 1-3 in six starts and the Dodgers won the division. Butler went on to become one of the most underrated players of the 1980s and early '90s, a good center fielder who scored 100 runs six times.

St. Louis Cardinals: Trade Keith Hernandez to the Mets for Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey (June 15, 1983)

Future WAR traded away: 25.9

WAR acquired: 2.7

One reason the Cardinals have remained so successful for four decades is that they don't make many bad trades. This was one of them, especially since it involved a division rival. Hernandez was a free agent and the Cardinals weren't sure they could re-sign him, but Whitey Herzog wanted Hernandez gone because he thought his star first baseman was dogging it, as he would write in his autobiography. "I couldn't live with his attitude," Herzog wrote. "I've got two basic rules -- be on time and hustle -- and he was having trouble with both of them." The Cardinals still won division titles in 1985 and 1987 (after acquiring Jack Clark), but the Mets won in 1986 and 1988 with Hernandez as a team leader.

Chicago White Sox: Trade Doug Drabek and Kevin Hickey to the Yankees for Roy Smalley (July 18, 1984)

Future WAR traded away: 29.2

WAR acquired: 1.9

Drabek was dominating Double-A at the time, when the White Sox for some reason decided they needed the aging Smalley to play third base (he was hitting .239/.286/.349 with the Yankees). Yes, general managers used to do a lot more silly stuff than they do now. Drabek would win a Cy Young -- with the Pirates, after they stole him from the Yankees.

Minnesota Twins: Trade Bert Blyleven and Danny Thompson to the Rangers for Roy Smalley, Mike Cubbage, Bill Singer and Jim Gideon (June 1, 1976)

Future WAR traded away: 55.6

WAR acquired: 32.7

The Twins don't really have an obvious bad trade here. Their two most interesting deadline trades both involved Blyleven. He was traded to the Rangers on June 1, 1976, mostly because cheapskate owner Calvin Griffith didn't want to pay him. Smalley was a good player and the Twins later acquired Greg Gagne from the Yankees for him (their shortstop on the 1987 World Series champs). In 1985, they acquired Blyleven from the Indians for Jay Bell. Bell would have 21 more future WAR than Blyleven, but Blyleven helped those '87 Twins win it all.

The GB international says he made “an incredibly stupid and uncharacteristic mistake”

British international runner Luke Traynor has been provisionally suspended from participating in athletics after being charged with having committed an anti-doping rule violation.

According to a statement released by Traynor on Thursday, he tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine.

His provisional suspension was announced by UK Athletics (UKA), with his case to be handled by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD). UKA says Traynor now has the opportunity to respond to the charge against him including the right to a full hearing of the case.

“I was notified recently by letter from UKAD that I have been charged with a violation of the UK Athletics anti-doping rules for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine. This was devastating news for me and I take full responsibility for it,” Traynor wrote in a statement posted on social media.

“I have made an incredibly stupid and uncharacteristic mistake and for that I am deeply sorry. I am sorry to my family, friends, coaches, sponsors and anybody who has supported my progress at any stage of my career. I want to make it completely clear that my violation was in no relation to sport or enhancing performance. This happened as a one-off and in a purely social situation with a drug I should never had taken.

“I have co-operated fully with all relevant bodies and will now face the severe consequences, the extent to which is still not certain but could be up to a 4 years ban.

“I live a sporting lifestyle to compete. Athletics is my passion. It’s all I think about and it’s what gets me out of bed each morning. I am yet to come to terms with the fact that I have ruined this for myself with one senseless act.

“Over the last three weeks I have had the time to reflect on just how much this has and will continue to affect my life. I do not seek sympathy, I have accepted my mistake and need to fully come to terms with the final punishment. I only ask that people understand that this was a stupid mistake, had nothing to do with trying to enhance performance and in fact, had the opposite effect.”

Please see the below for my statement on the latest UKA announcement. pic.twitter.com/95ckURAJIH

— Luke Traynor (@luketraynor1) July 25, 2019

The 26-year-old made his senior debut for Great Britain at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Valencia in March 2018, where he placed 38th overall and second Brit. He went on to run PBs of 28:31 for 10km and 61:57 for the half-marathon which rank him third on both Scottish all-time lists.

He experienced injury issues with plantar fasciitis toward the end of 2018 but returned to international action at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus in March, where he placed 109th.

He last raced at the České Budějovice Half Marathon in Czech Republic at the beginning of June but collapsed shortly after finishing 10th.

“We are aware of the case involving Luke Traynor,” said Scottish Athletics.

“There is a process to be followed and we have to await the outcome of that process which will involve UK Athletics, UK Anti-Doping and Luke himself.”

Top Diamond League field also set to feature Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Elaine Thompson and Dafne Schippers

Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith will headline a stacked women’s 200m in front of a home crowd at the Müller Grand Prix Birmingham on Sunday August 18.

Fresh from two sub-11 second times of 10.91 and 10.92 at last week’s Müller Anniversary Games and a second place finish in the final, reigning triple European champion Asher-Smith has carried her incredible form into 2019.

Competition to the British record-holder will once again be strong in Birmingham, however, with world leader in the 100m and 200m Elaine Thompson of Jamaica among a crop of global stars also confirmed to race over 200m.

The reigning double Olympic champion, who is now re-finding terrific form in the build up to the world championships, was comfortably victorious over 200m at the Anniversary Games but will come up against stiffer opposition on her return to the UK.

Also joining the line-up is Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo, who is third in the world standings this year ahead of Asher-Smith in fifth, with the Bahamian an incredible talent over both the 200m and 400m. Victorious last time out in Birmingham, Miller-Uibo put down two fast marks in four days over 200m to open her season over the distance, clocking 22.09 in Monaco in mid-July.

Completing the quartet heading up the field is two-time 200m champion Dafne Schippers, who comes off the back of a disqualification in the women’s 100m at the Anniversary Games, hoping to bounce back over her preferred distance.

“The atmosphere at the Müller Anniversary Games in London last week was great. I expect the same energy from the crowd in Birmingham,” said Asher-Smith.

“The British fans are exceptional and the athletes really appreciate the support. It pushes us to even better performances.

“With the World Championships in Doha getting closer, the Müller Grand Prix Birmingham is positioned perfectly to help me prepare and fine-tune my performances.”

The Müller Grand Prix will take place at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium, home of British Athletics. Some moments from last year include Greg Rutherford’s emotional retirement in his final long jump performance as well as Christian Coleman and Reece Prescod’s close finish in the men’s 100m.

Tickets for the Müller Grand Prix are on sale at theticketfactory.com/british-athletics

Top-class action in store at the four-day Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships in Iowa

Arguably the best-standard championships after the Olympics and Worlds will again be high-calibre thanks to the cut-throat selection procedure of which they form a part.

The first three athletes in every event at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships, taking place from July 25-28 in Des Moines, Iowa, will win selection for the IAAF World Championships in Doha provided they have gained the IAAF qualifying standard by this weekend.

Such is the depth of standard in the world’s No.1 athletics nation that this means podium placings in most events will be crucial.

Noah Lyles (pictured above), who produced a stunning 19.50 200m earlier this month, will compete only in that event despite being world ranked No.2 in the 100m. However, Christian Coleman, who leads the world rankings in the short sprint, will be going for the double.

Over 100m, world champion Justin Gatlin will be his main opposition, while Cravon Gillespie, who was second at the NCAAs with 9.93, will also be one to watch.

Michael Norman hinted at 2019 being a world record year with his 43.45 in April and is the standout in the men’s 400m. The top two at the NCAAs, Kahmari Montgomery and Trevor Stewart, plus Fred Kerley, will be chasing.

Perhaps more likely to threaten the world record is Rai Benjamin in the 400m hurdles. The world No.1 has clocked 47.16 this season, although he may need stronger competition than here to spur him on to beat Kevin Young’s 46.78.

World junior record-holder Sydney McLaughlin heads the women’s event, with Olympic and world champion Dalilah Muhammad (pictured below) challenging. Kori Carter goes in the 200m instead, knowing she has a bye for selection as defending champion.

In a repeat of the NCAAs, Grant Holloway and Daniel Roberts battle over 110m hurdles. In the women’s 100m hurdles, world record-holder Kendra Harrison takes on Olympic champion Brianna McNeal and NCAA runner-up Chanel Brissett.

New world under-20 record-holder (10.75), Sha’Carri Richardson looks to do the NCAA/USATF double over 100m. In the 200m she is set for another close battle with collegiate champion Angie Annelus, who ran a winning 22.16 there.

World 100m champion Tori Bowie is entered for both sprints. World 400m champion Phyllis Francis opts for the half-lap as her selection in her main event is already in the bag.

The men’s triple jump should see a great match-up between Will Claye, who leads the world rankings with 18.14m, and Olympic and world champion Christian Taylor.

Claye will also attempt to win the long jump, where Olympic champion Jeff Henderson is looking for better form than of late.

In the women’s jumps, four-time world long jump champion Brittney Reese could be challenged by triple jump favourite Keturah Orji.

The in-form world champion Sam Kendricks (pictured below) goes in the pole vault, where Christopher Nilsen is expected to offer the main threat. The women’s event should be more open as world No.1 Jenn Suhr, world indoor champion Sandi Morris and Katie Nageotte, who won in Lausanne, square off.

After her recent return to form, former world indoor champion Vashti Cunningham should be a class apart in the high jump.

World steeplechase champion Emma Coburn lines up her event with London 2017 silver medallist Courtney Frerichs and Colleen Quigley. However, due to a foot injury, Evan Jager will not be going for an eighth straight US title.

Shelby Houlihan will defend her 1500m title against former world champion Jenny Simpson.

In the men’s 800m, Donavan Brazier is quickest this year as Olympic bronze medallist Clayton Murphy looks to challenge. Ajee Wilson will be favourite in the women’s two-lap race.

In the throws, Ryan Crouser, who earlier this year produced the best shot put in 29 years, and Chase Ealey, who won a Diamond League fixture this year, star in the shot circle. Deanna Price and Brooke Andersen go head to head in the women’s hammer, while Valarie Allman will be favourite in the discus.

In the longer distances, Emily Sisson and Molly Huddle meet over 10,000m, as Olympic bronze medallist Paul Chelimo headlines the 5000m.

The event will also be used as the basis for selection for the Europe v USA match in Belarus and Thorpe Cup combined events match in Germany in September.

An event schedule can be found here, while start lists are here.

CALGARY, Alberta -- The Calgary Flames and forward Sam Bennett avoided arbitration by agreeing to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $2.55 million on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old Bennett had 13 goals, 14 assists and a team-high 93 penalty minutes in 71 games last season. He has 55 goals, 61 assists and 264 penalty minutes in 312 regular-season games in five seasons, all with the Flames. In 20 playoff games, he has six goals and five assists.

Bennett and the Flames were scheduled to have an arbitration hearing Saturday.

Pressure from broadcasters, clubs and a trend of declining attendances and television audiences has resulted in the addition of a fifth team to an expanded Big Bash League finals series for next summer, to be played over five matches after the regular season is compressed into 56 matches in 42 days.

The full BBL fixtures for 2019-20 were released on Thursday and in addition to a more condensed home and away schedule, which was confirmed on Wednesday, the finals series will now include five teams and feature five finals, in a similar set-up to the IPL, albeit with a slight twist.

Teams finishing fourth and fifth will play The Eliminator on Thursday January 30, three days after the final home and away game on January 27. The loser will be knocked out while the winner will progress to play the third placed team in The Knockout on Saturday February 1. First and second will play The Qualifier on Friday January 31 with the winner qualifying to host the BBL final on Saturday February 8.

The loser of The Qualifier will get a second chance and host the winner of The Knockout in The Challenger on Thursday February 6. All finals will be played at night, with the exception of games in Perth which will be twilight fixtures, after last year's epic final between Melbourne Renegades and Melbourne Stars was played on Sunday afternoon.

ALSO READ: Big Bash pins hopes for overseas stars on shorter season

The BBL's rights holders Seven and Fox Sports are believed to have pushed hard for the addition of a fifth team in the finals to reduce the number of "dead" fixtures at the back end of the tournament, meaning 56 games will eliminate only three competing clubs from the competition. Their desire for change followed a season in which the vastly expanded competition continued a gentle slide in attendances and broadcast audiences that has been consistent since the BBL peaked in 2015-16.

That summer the tournament took up a lot of the slack left by a relatively low box office international schedule featuring New Zealand and the West Indies, and the BBL is again expected to take up much of the responsibility for drawing fans to the game, particularly given that the Australian ODI team will be completely absent in January due to a tour of India.

Clubs had also complained over several years that there was not enough reward for teams finishing higher up after the home and away season. Hobart Hurricanes dominated last season's BBL winning 10 of 14 matches to finish two games clear on top of the table, only to lose a knockout semi-final to the Stars, who made the finals with a 7-7 record.

Two teams have won the BBL after finishing fourth and winning two knockout finals, Brisbane Heat in BBL02 and Sydney Thunder in BBL05, while two other BBL's have been won by the third placed team. Perth Scorchers are the only side to ever win the title after finishing first, when they won BBL06 in 2016-17.

New head of the BBL, Alistair Dobson, said the finals revamp was the most important feature of the new fixture.

"The number one element is to make it the best chance for the teams finishing first and second to make it through," Dobson said. "It's an amazing quirk of history that the team finishing first at the end of the season has only won it once and the team finishing third or fourth has for some reason won it more often.

"So we want to reward the teams finishing first and second as well as we can. There is an element though of making the finals more accessible for the fans, and this model also gives us a chance for the team hosting the final to have more preparation going in."

Last season, there was less than 48 hours between second semi-final and the final, with groundsmen at both Marvel Stadium in Melbourne and the SCG unsure as to whether they would be hosting Sunday's final until the end of the semi on Friday night. The final was played on a used surface at Marvel during the day and slowed up significantly in the second innings.

The eight-day gap between the qualifier and the final allows for better pitch preparation as well as a chance to build-up ticket sales for the host venue.

"[It will be] a lot different around preparation time, the hype building into it and the finals structure itself leads to a lot more excitement," Dobson said. "It's been a big focus to end the season in the appropriate fashion."

Dobson said there were no concerns about five teams making the finals instead of four because it was much tougher for the lower ranked teams to win the title under the new format.

"It's actually harder for fifth to win this year than it was for fourth to win it in the previous season," Dobson said. "You have to win four finals to win it from fifth and if a team can go on a run like that at the end of a season they've probably earned the right to win it. But having another team being part of it keeps the season alive and we're really excited about the finals."

One issue that hasn't been solved is how to decide the title should the final end in a tie and then a tied Super Over, as it did the 2019 World Cup when England were crowned World Cup winners by virtue of the boundary countback rule. An IPL game between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders in 2014 was decided the same way. The BBL is currently working through what is the best solution for such an event and will announce that in due course.

"[There has been] lots of chatter about it," Dobson said. "It was an amazing game. If we could have a BBL season that could end with a tie and Super Over it would be a great way to finish. It's available to be discussed with the clubs. We haven't locked it in either way. At the moment it's a similar finish to what we saw at the World Cup and we'll work through that over the next period of time.

"The league and the clubs will collaboratively work on that alongside our broadcasters and there's a whole range of stakeholders we'll have to consult on that."

BBL finals structure

January 30: The Eliminator - 4th v 5th
January 31: The Qualifier - 1st v 2nd
February 1: The Knockout - 3rd v Winner of Eliminator
February 6: The Challenger - Loser of Qualifier v Winner of Knockout
February 8: Final - Winner of Qualifier v Winner of Eliminator

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Baltimore Ravens safety Earl Thomas stands by his flipping the middle finger to Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll 10 months ago.

"I don't regret my decision," Thomas told ESPN's Josina Anderson. "If my teammates felt like it was toward them, I regret that part. But I don't regret doing that to Pete."

Thomas, in his first season with Baltimore, was carted off the field with his leg in an air cast in September, after he went down with a broken left leg that required surgery in the second half of a game against the Arizona Cardinals. He gave the middle finger in the direction of Seattle's sideline because he didn't think Carroll was being genuine when he showed concern on the field after the injury.

Thomas said he hasn't spoken to Carroll since the incident. The Ravens face the Seahawks in Seattle on Oct. 20.

"I gave Pete the middle finger because I felt like he wasn't being honest with me," Thomas said.

When Thomas took heat for the gesture last season, Carroll said people needed to cut him "a little slack."

"People that are criticizing whatever happened don't understand," Carroll said. "This was an earth-shattering moment for a kid. He's trying to play this game he loves, and all of sudden this happens again. He knew exactly what happened to him, so he went right to what it's going to take to get back."

Thomas was one of the best defensive backs in Seahawks history. He made six Pro Bowls in his nine seasons with the team and was named first-team All-Pro three times.

His 28 career interceptions rank third among all players since 2010, when he was drafted by Seattle with the 14th overall pick out of Texas.

Thomas left the Seahawks in free agency, signing a four-year, $55 million contract with the Ravens in March.

"I think my time just ran out," Thomas said. "Pete and the front office didn't value me like they used to, and I just talked to Coach Carroll, and he was saying how he was trying to get me in the plans of getting a new contract. But I got hurt the next week. I think I hurt myself too by my actions getting carted off the field."

Thomas won a Super Bowl with Seattle in February 2014, and signed a four-year, $40 million contract extension a few months later.

But his relationship soured over the past year. Thomas had a contract dispute with Seattle that led him to skip all offseason activities, training camp and preseason last season.

Thomas said he didn't see eye-to-eye with Carroll on many issues, including work ethic.

"We got to walk with each other the rest of our lives because we won a Super Bowl together," Thomas said. "But they'll love you one minute and then hate you the next. That was our relationship."

Don Mossi, a left-handed pitcher who won 101 games in more than a decade as a major leaguer and was an All-Star for the Cleveland Indians in 1957, has died. He was 90.

The Cremation Society of Idaho said Mossi died Friday in Nampa, Idaho.

Mossi made his big league debut in 1954 for the Cleveland team that won the American League pennant with 111 victories. Pitching mostly in relief, he went 6-1 with a 1.94 ERA that year and made three appearances in the World Series against the New York Giants.

He remained a reliever for most of his five seasons with Cleveland, but in 1957 he made 22 starts and earned All-Star honors. That was a sign of things to come, because the Detroit Tigers used Mossi primarily as a starter when he was with them from 1959-63. He went 17-9 with a 3.36 ERA in 1959, throwing 15 complete games.

After five seasons with Detroit, Mossi pitched for the Chicago White Sox in 1964 and the Kansas City Athletics in 1965.