Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning you’ll get a fresh, topical column to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
Practically every baseball fan loves to read about the fallout of the July trade deadline, and wants to know which teams “won” and “lost” each deal. As a result, virtually every baseball publication covers the trade deadline with feverish dedication, and tries to immediately ascertain who made out best. Of course, there’s very little evidence to go off of. Sure, maybe we can evaluate each organization’s general strategy and the sticker price each team paid for its shiny new toys. But as far as which toys will actually function as advertised? There’s no way…
