MLB Teams See Buzz Around Players Acquired At Trade Deadline

Teixeira, Other Recently Traded Players Leading To Renewed Buzz For New Teams

Ahead of the MLB trade deadline on July 31, a "host of marquee players were acquired ... to help out in the pennant stretch, and they've lived up to their billing on the field and at the cash register," according to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY. Brewers Exec VP/Business Operations Rick Schlesinger, whose team acquired P CC Sabathia last month, said of demand around the team, "We call it the CC surge. It's been amazing. We've sold out 12 straight games and every game through August. We're selling CC shirts and jerseys as fast as we can bring them in." Red Sox Exec VP and Chief Sales & Marketing Officer Sam Kennedy, whose team acquired LF Jason Bay in the LF Manny Ramirez trade, said that the Red Sox "sold 2,000 Bay T-shirts in one week, ... which he says matches the entire total of Ramirez shirts sold this season." Kennedy: "It just shows you how trade-deadline dreams can impact merchandising and sales. People get caught up in the excitement of a new player, and they have the impulse to buy his jersey." Nightengale reports the Dodgers, who acquired Ramirez, "have almost sold their allotment of 2,500 Ramirez shirts with the new No. 99." Dodgers VP/PR & Broadcasting Josh Rawitch said that the team "sold a franchise-record 30,000 tickets in the 24 hours after the trade and 50,000 in the first three days." Angels VP/Communications Tim Mead, whose team acquired 1B Mark Teixeira on July 29, said that the Angels have "moved roughly half of the inventory" of Teixeira shirts since the deal. The Cubs on July 8 acquired P Rich Harden from the A's, and Cubs Dir of Sales & Promotions Matt Wszolek said, "We've had a 20% jump in merchandising as soon as he got traded here. His jerseys and T-shirts have been impossible to keep in stock" (USA TODAY, 8/8).