When you think of the most obvious, traditional trade deadline deal, chances are it involves a closer on a noncontender moving to a contender that has a back-of-the-bullpen hole to fill. For the noncontender, it's a matter of trading a luxury item -- in the form of low-stakes, present value -- in exchange for what you hope will be higher-stakes value down the road. For the contender, it's a finishing-piece kind of move.
In that way, the deal Saturday in which the San Diego Padres picked up closer Trevor Rosenthal from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for outfielder Edward Olivares and a player to be named later is a pretty normal-looking trade in what is just about the most abnormal trade deadline in a generation.
