Ben Zobrist’s career with the Royals has started off with a bang…well, make that two

The trade deadline came and went. So many familiar faces are now in new places. Plus, it’s still not Holliday’s day, and Saturday night featured baseball’s clash of the titans in Los Angeles.

This is The Week That Was.

Transaction Action

All the biggest news last week was trade-related, and there was no shortage of superstar talent changing uniforms, either. Let’s go over the important deals and analyze the fudge out of them, eh?

• Royals get RHP Johnny Cueto from Reds for LHPs Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb and Cody Reed

29-year-old Johnny Cueto and his 2.51 ERA (second-best in the majors) obviously make the AL Central-leading Royals even more of a force to reckon with. The Reds got a few good pieces for their future, though. Reed was a second-rounder from 2013, Finnegan was a first-round pick from 2014 and Lamb is a 25-year-old who was considered a top prospect at one point. It’s possible that five years down the road, the Reds end up being the winners of this deal.

• Blue Jays get SS Troy Tulowitzki and RHP LaTroy Hawkins from Rockies for SS Jose Reyes and RHPs Jeff Hoffman, Miguel Castro and Jesus Tinoco

Everyone expected to Blue Jays to upgrade their bats with a high-profile hitter, but no one thought that the club would target a shortstop. I mean, Tulowitzki is a flat-out better player than Reyes as both a hitter and defender. It just seems odd considering that the Blue Jays, a team that leads the league in runs, wouldn’t try to upgrade their pitching instead, or even their outfielders. It’s puzzling that they’d upgrade a position they already had locked down and give up elite prospects Castro and Hoffman to do so. Both guys have ace potential. Even though Hoffman is the better prospect, Castro will likely be an enormous boon to the Rockies’ pitching staff for either the rotation or bullpen someday.

• Mets get RHP Tyler Clippard and cash from Athletics for RHP Casey Meisner

Clippard will bring his 2.79 ERA and 38/21 K/BB in 38.2 innings to the Mets, where he will form a formidable late-game tandem with current closer Jeurys Familia. Meisner is a 2013 third-rounder who has performed very well during the minors and could be a useful arm in Oakland’s rotation at some point.

• Angels get OF Shane Victorino and cash from Red Sox for INF Josh Rutledge

Victorino’s lackluster season is probably due to his hammy and calf ailments, but the Angels got the help at outfielder they’ve been seeking. Victorino should be able to provide some depth for the club at that position. Josh Rutledge is a 26-year-old infielder who has spent all year in Triple-A after only recording a sad 83 OPS+ in 947 career plate appearance in the majors. He needs to improve his hitting before he can help the Red Sox.

• Nationals get RHP Jonathan Papelbon and cash from Phillies for RHP Nick Pivetta

Considering that Pivetta was not even a top-10 Nationals’ prospect, the move is a salary dump by the Phillies. It’s a win-win-win for both organizations and Papelbon. The Phillies save money. Papelbon leaves the organization he’s dismayed with and will now pitch for a winning team. Lastly, the Nationals improve their bullpen. What’s not to like?

• Royals get UTIL Ben Zobrist from Athletics for LHP Sean Manaea and RHP Aaron Brooks

The Royals are really gunning for a title, huh? If one of the league’s best pitchers wasn’t enough, then why not add a switch hitter with a career .784 OPS who can play every position except catcher? The Athletics aren’t coming away empty-handed, though. Manaea is a top-100 prospect who was a 2013 first-round pick and has amassed 185 strikeouts in 152 minor league innings. Brooks isn’t too impressive but should find a place in the majors as a bullpen piece for the Athletics.

• Rangers get LHPs Cole Hamels and Jake Diekman with cash from Phillies for C Jorge Alfaro, RHPs Jake Thompson, Alec Asher and Jerad Eickhoff, LHP Matt Harrison and OF Nick Williams

Hamels will give the Rangers the one-two punch their rotation desperately needs to stay in the playoff hunt. Diekman throws some crazy stuff that’s resulted in a whopping 225 strikeouts in just 173 1/3 minor league innings. He walks too many guys, but can be a good setup man in the majors. The Phillies landed three highly-touted prospects as a thank you for taking Harrison’s $33 million off the Rangers’ books while still covering $9.5 million of Hamels’ salary. Alfaro projects as one of the better major-league catchers. Thompson should be a No. 2 or No. 3 pitcher, and Williams has a pretty decent bat. Asher isn’t a bad pitcher, but Eickhoff was just a throw-in.

• Blue Jays get LHP David Price from Tigers for LHPs Daniel Norris, Matt Boyd and Jairo Labourt

Price gives the Blue Jays a chance to reach the postseason, albeit a still relatively small chance. Boyd and Labourt may not be guys we remember in five years, but Norris is a pitching phenom who has a shot at becoming one of the league’s best pitchers after reaching the majors. Considering that the Blue Jays with Tulowitzki and Price are still far from being a championship contender, it doesn’t make sense from an organizational standpoint to trade away your future. You lose your chance to dominate down the road merely to rent a pitcher in a contract year in an attempt to hinge your entire season upon a one-game wild card playoff matchup, at best. The Blue Jays are the trade deadline’s most improved team, but they still may have not improved enough to become relevant, and now the brightest piece of their future is gone.

• Astros get OF Carlos Gomez and RHP Mike Fiers from Brewers for OFs Brett Phillips and Domingo Santana, LHP Josh Hader and RHP Adrian Houser

The Astros heavily upgraded their pitching staff and outfield without having to give up any of their top pitching prospects. Fiers’ presence should push Scott Feldman to the bullpen and Gomez will undoubtedly send Jake Marisnack to the bench. Phillips could be a decent contact hitter with some slight pop when he hits the majors in about a couple years. Hader is a high-risk, high-reward pitcher who can make an impact eventually while Houser is a No.4 or No. 5 starter at best in the future. Santana is the only guy the Brewers received who can contribute right now, but expect maddening inconsistency from him despite his high potential.

• Giants get RHP Mike Leake from Reds for RHP Keury Mella and 1B-3B Adam Duvall

Leake is the type of guy who can help a team reach the postseason and pitch you straight to elimination once you get there. A career FIP of 4.17 and career ERA+ of 100 don’t bode well for team with aspirations of a deep playoff run. Mella has huge upside and a fantastic arm and is projected to be called up late next year at the earliest. Duvall has a very powerful bat but doesn’t hit for contact too well. There’s little hope his contact will improve since he’s already 26 years old. Overall, the Reds did well in getting compensated for Leake. They probably got a better haul for Leake than what they raked in for Cueto.

• Pirates get RHP Joakim Soria from Tigers for SS JaCoby Jones

The Pirates’ bullpen was already very good, but you can never have too many reliable bullpen arms. Soria will take his 2.85 ERA to Pittsburgh and will likely help reliever Tony Watson shut down hitters in the seventh and eighth frames. JaCoby Jones isn’t a good hitter, in general, and he doesn’t have the defensive skills to play shortstop well. I don’t see him making much noise in the majors.

• Mets get OF Yoenis Cespedes from Tigers for RHPs Michael Fulmer and Luis Cessa

Yoenis Cespedes might give the Mets’ lineup the jolt it needs to finally stick around past September for the first time since 2006. As a Tiger, he recorded 18 homers and a .293/.323./.506 slash line and joins a club that recently acquired Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson to help their ailing offense. Fulmer’s strikeout-inducing slider and mid-90s fastball have helped him earn a 1.88 ERA, .227 opponent batting average and 83 punchouts in 86 innings at Double-A Binghampton. Fulmer is the big get for Detroit and has a really promising future ahead of him. Cessa brings a decent changeup and low-90s fastball to the table, but his lack of any special pitches has netted him a 3.98 ERA on the year in the Mets’ farm system. He may only top out as a No. 5 starter or relief pitcher in the bigs.

• Cubs get RHP Dan Haren and cash from Marlins for RHP Ivan Pineyro and SS Elliot Soto

The Cubbies missed on Hamels and Price, but redeemed themselves somewhat with Haren. Yeah, he’s not the ace they had hoped for, but he’s having his best season since 2011, posting a 3.42 ERA and 1.09 WHIP as a Marlin. He’s been great at keeping guys off base and would be good enough to be the team’s fourth starter. 25-year-old Soto has put together a Double-A slash line of .275/.388/.314 this year. He can get on base, but that alone may not be enough for him to get to the majors. Pineyro has fanned 92 batters and racked up a 3.69 ERA in 107 1/3 innings in Double-A this season, but the jury is still out on whether the 23-year-old can be effective in the majors. This is a vintage Marlins transaction through and through. They effectively received nothing for Haren.

Holliday’s Health and a Head-Scratching Deal

Back in June, All-Star outfielder Matt Holliday tore his right quadriceps and missed five weeks of action as a result. On Wednesday night, Holliday happened to re-injure the same quad and land on the 15-day disabled list.

There’s not yet any timetable for Holliday’s recovery from the Grade 2 strain, however the team is optimistic about his ability to return this year. Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said, “We’re still very hopeful that he will be able to contribute this year.” Considering that Holliday’s current injury isn’t as severe as the initial tear, then odds are good he returns several weeks before the end of the regular season.

Let’s not forget that Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams suffered a quad strain that could potentially end his season. The Cards already needed a bat after Adams went down, so Holliday’s ailment pushed the Cardinals’ gusto to bring in an extra bat all the way up to 11. Understandable, right? What’s not understandable is that the club sent highly-touted pitching prospect Rob Kaminsky to Cleveland in exchange for declining OF/1B Brandon Moss. Moss’ 2015 slash line with the Indians was a meager .217/.288/.407 to go with a -0.5 WAR and 15 homers. The pop is nice, but it doesn’t help all that much if he can’t get on base otherwise. There’s a reason the 31-year-old journeyman is now on his sixth team in nine seasons.

Kaminsky, on the other hand, was a 2013 first-round pick out of high school and is now only 20 years old. In 17 starts and 94 2/3 innings at High-A Palm Beach, Kaminsky has recorded a ground-ball rate of 64% with a 7.5 K/9 and an impressive 2.09 ERA. His fastball is generally in the area of 89-92 mph, but he can scrape 95 mph on occasion. His peripherals should help him to develop into a mid-rotation guy once he hits the majors in two or three years. A No. 3 or No. 4 pitcher would provide much more value than anything Moss can give a ball club at this point in his career. I’m not saying they shouldn’t have tried to acquire a fill-in for Holliday. They needed to. However, St. Louis could’ve fetched a better hitter for what they gave up. The club should’ve aimed higher.

The Streak Lives On

A sore right hip led some to believe that Clayton Kershaw’s scoreless innings streak was put in danger. But instead he just continued to make the impossible possible and add eight more innings to his streak to bump it up to 37. Oh, and he did it against reigning AL MVP Mike Trout in the first-ever duel between two current MVPs.

So what happened when Trout stepped up to the plate with Kershaw on the mound? No hits and two strikeouts for Trout…that’s what!

All in all, Kershaw bludgeoned the Angels over eight innings with 115 pitches, allowing just three baserunners (two hits and a walk) and fanning seven to lead the Dodgers to a 3-1 victory.

What’s extra awesome about his next start is that Kershaw will have the chance to claim his sixth 200-strikeout season, tying the Dodgers’ record with Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax. He only needs eight more punchouts to accomplish this momentous feat. Ya know, I’d honestly be more impressed with that than I would be with a scoreless innings streak in the 40s, as crazy as that might sound.

You what else is crazy?

.@ClaytonKersh22 is first pitcher with multiple single-season scoreless streaks of 37+ IP since Luis Tiant in '68 & '72. (via @eliassports)

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 1, 2015

Kershaw is apparently as healthy as can be, so chalk his injury up as a mere annoyance for him. It didn’t throw him off his game. When you consider that he rendered Trout’s big bat ineffective, much less the entire Angels’ lineup while injured, there is nothing we as baseball fans can do other than celebrate his pitching prowess.

Jonathan Ebanks is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Jonathan, check out his archive and follow him @hogz4lyfe.