Breaking Down the MLB Trade Deadline

Well the MLB trade deadline has come and gone and a lot of good players were on the move over the weekend but a few were surprisingly staying in their place. Let's look back and see what teams made good moves and what teams stayed pat.

Arizona Diamondbacks- Acquired SP Jason Marquis from the Nationals and acquired RP Brad Ziegler from the Athletics for a handful of medium talented minor leaguers. Grade: B-, Marquis isn't flashy and neither is Ziegler but both help the squad. Loss of Stephen Drew to injury hurts though.

Atlanta Braves- Acquired OF Michael Bourn from the Astros for OF Jordan Schafer and 3 minor league pitchers.  Grade: A-, should've gotten another arm but Bourn is a great talent and table-setter.

Baltimore Orioles- Acquired SP Tommy Hunter and 1B Chris Davis from the Rangers for RP Koji Uehara and traded 1B Derrek Lee to the Pirates for Aaron Baker. Grade: B-, Uehara is a great reliever and Lee is old so they certainly upgraded a bit in young talent.

Boston Red Sox- Acquired SP Erik Bedard and minor league P Josh Fields for 3 minor league prospects from the Mariners. Grade: C+, Sox got a pitcher... just not a great one.

Chicago Cubs- Traded Kosuke Fukudome to the Indians for 2 minor leaguers. Grade: C, surprisingly the Cubs didn't shed some payroll since they are on their way to another losing season.

Chicago White Sox- Stayed put... no moves. Grade: C, if they thought they had a shot they should have upgraded their roster a bit but underachievers like Rios and Dunn really hurt.

Cincinnati Reds- No moves over the weekend but they did trade Jonny Gomes to the Nationals for 2 minor league prospects. Grade: C-, their bullpen needs help and they are injured in the middle infield.

Cleveland Indians- Acquired SP Ubaldo Jimenez from the Rockies for 3 minor league players and a player to be named later. They also acquired Kosuke Fukudome as earlier stated from the Cubs. Grade: A-, they gave up a lot for Ubaldo but they feel they have a real shot and they certainly made a big splash.

Colorado Rockies- As I just wrote, they traded away Ubaldo Jimenez for 3 prospects, 2 being highly regarded talent. Grade: C, they gave up Ubaldo who has a reasonable contract for a few prospects, no sure things.

Detroit Tigers- Acquired SP Doug Fister from the Mariners. The Tigers could have used some extra arms in their bullpen but decided they were good enough as is. Grade: B.

Florida Marlins- Stayed put at the deadline. Many thought the Marlins would sell but they are committed to turning it all around next year in their new ball park. Grade: B.

Houston Astros- Acquired OF Jordan Schafer and 3 prospects from the Braves for OF Michael Bourn as well as acquired a few top prospects in 1B Jonathan Singleton and P Jarred Cosart from the Phillies for all-star OF Hunter Pence. Grade: B+, Bourn was somewhat of a losing trade, but they did get a lot of prospects for Pence.

Kansas City Royals- Acquired 2 minor leaguers from the Red Sox for INF Mike Aviles. Grade: C, not much went on for the Royals who are still super young and are gaining some experience.

Los Angeles Angels- Stayed put at the deadline. Angels are in a pennant race and made no moves... seems odd but they are confident. Grade: C-.

Los Angeles Dodgers- Acquired a high minor league prospect in OF Alex Castellanos for oft injured SS Rafael Furcal. Grade: C+, I thought the Dodgers would be more of a seller but they stayed pretty foot but did move a costly piece in Furcal.

Milwaukee Brewers- Acquired INF Jerry Hairston, Jr. from the Nationals for a minor leaguer but their bigger move was after the all-star game, when they acquired RP Francisco Rodriguez from the Mets. Grade: B+, bolstered the bullpen and got infield depth which helps even more since Rickie Weeks went down with an injury.

Minnesota Twins- Stayed put at the trade deadline. Jason Kubel was thought to be moved but was not. Grade: C.

New York Mets- Acquired P Zack Wheeler from the Giants for OF Carlos Beltran. They also traded away costly closer Francisco Rodriguez to the Brewers earlier in July. Grade: A-, Mets were obvious sellers and got good value for Beltran and freed up money to resign Reyes.

New York Yankees- Stayed put at the trade deadline. Unbelievably they did not make a move. Grade: C-, needed another SP and could have used another bullpen arm or two.

Oakland Athletics- Acquired two prospects from the Diamondbacks for RP Brad Ziegler. Grade: C, this move didn't do much and the A's had a few pieces they could have moved like Willingham, Dejesus or Crisp.

Philadelphia Phillies- Acquired Hunter Pence for prospects as mentioned before from the Astros. Grade: A, the Phillies got a huge OF bat and upgrade to Dominic Brown and look primed for a deep run in the playoffs.

Pittsburgh Pirates- Acquired Derrek Lee from the Orioles as stated earlier, and also acquired OF Ryan Ludwick from the Padres for a player to be named later or cash. Grade: B+, the Pirates got 2 bigger bats for a very poor offense, so these moves should really help their playoff push without risking the farm.

San Diego Padres- Acquired two top pitching prospects from the Rangers for RP Mike Adams. Also traded away Ryan Ludwick for almost nothing to the Pirates. Grade: B-, Heath Bell stayed put but they did get a lot for Adams.

San Francisco Giants- Acquired Carlos Beltran from the Mets for top prospect Zack Wheeler. Grade: A-, got a big bat to help in the playoff push and didn't give away any pro-ready prospects.

Seattle Mariners- Traded away SP's Erik Bedard and Doug Fister for a handful of prospects from the Tigers and Red Sox. Grade: B+, the Mariners are going no where fast and these moves are certainly for the future.

St. Louis Cardinals- Traded away OF Colby Rasmus in the three-team deal with the Blue Jays and White Sox earlier in the week and received SP Edwin Jackson and a few relievers. They also acquired SS Rafael Furcal for a prospect from the Dodgers. Grade: B+, they got another power arm and a very good SS replacement.

Tampa Bay Rays- Traded INF Felipe Lopez to the Brewers for cash. Other than that deal the Rays did nothing. Grade: C-, the Rays couldn't find anyone to take BJ Upton off their hands and that will hurt them this year.

Texas Rangers- Acquired relievers Koji Uehara and Mike Adams from the Orioles and Padres respectively to bolster their bullpen and help them return to the World Series. Grade: A-, the Rangers did a great job not giving away their coveted top 2-3 prospects but could have used another bat off the bench since Beltre went down.

Toronto Blue Jays- Acquired Colby Rasmus in that 3 team deal described. Traded OF Juan Rivera to the Dodgers for a player to be named later or cash. Grade: B, Rasmus has a great upside but the Jays need some help in the rotation desperately.

Washington Nationals- Traded away INF Hairston and SP Jason Marquis and acquired a few prospects for them. Grade: C+, could have done more but still look good for the future.

Hope you enjoyed my breakdown of the MLB Trade Deadline!

We've Seen Better Days

I saw Amos Lee perform last night in front of LL Bean in Freeport, Maine for free last night and thoroughly enjoyed his performance. He was fun, personable, his band was phenomenally talented and his songwriting ability was just delightful to sit back and listen to on a beautiful July evening. He was telling a story about how he loves when his young fans (3-5 year olds as he later clarified) ask him to play a song that is their favorite during the concert. He was saying how you never think the songs the young ones love are the ones you would think. This one girl asked for him to sing Better Days and he obliged her by making the band stand behind him extremely awkwardly for 3 minutes while he sang a slow, acoustic song that's lyrics really rang true to me not only in where I am in my life but also where I am as a sports fan. The lyrics go:

(LLBean.com)

The darkness has always been,
The world was born into a blanket of sin,
When all the faith's been gone,
Still we found a reason to carry on,
Through the worrry, worry, worry,
Caught in an endless maze
Oh when the lights go out,
All I can think about,
Is how, we've seen better days...

And since this is a sports blog, I'll just focus on the sports aspect of my life. So how does seeing better days refer to sports? Well let's see, as a sports fan my life has consisted of...

The New York Mets being up and down and for the last 2 + years has been pretty pathetic, oh and add the fact that I've never seen my team win the World Series (they won in 1986, I was born in 1988) certainly is not something I would like to continue.

The Boston Celtics are aging but still have had a good run of late so not a whole lot to complain about there, but before the Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen trades the C's were awful for the prime years of my childhood, when I could actually afford a ticket to see them play live.

The Hartford Whalers (hurts me to type it) moved and deserted us Connecticutans in 1997. I was an enormous fan, many of the players lived in my hometown of Simsbury and I even played with one of their sons (Keith Primeau's son). So not only was I invested as a fan who went to about 10-15 games a year but I was also involved with the players (had every single one's autographed pictures) and families. I now somewhat call myself a Boston Bruins fan but this is recent and I really just enjoy watching great games whether it's in person or on TV.

Don’t forget about the Dallas Cowboys... yes, yes you can call me a bandwagon fan all you want but the truth is, I picked the team during the days of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Daryl "Moose" Johnston and "Primetime" Deion Sanders not because they were winning but because I loved how they played the game and how they were constantly on National Television. So sure, I picked them because they are "America's Team" but I call myself a true Cowboys fan because I have stuck it out for the last 15 or so years during the trying years and have even converted my girlfriend into being a Cowboys fan by purchasing her a Jason Witten Jersey to wear on Football Sunday.

So my professional sports watching has mostly been full of torturous moments like Carlos Beltran watching a called third strike or the Yankees totally dismantling the Mets in the Subway Series World Series in 2000. You can add on Tony Romo fumbling the snap on an extra point and the horrendous Quincy Carter years too.

But of course those woes aren't enough for me, I had to go to a college that is HORRENDOUS at football and not even in Division I, but that didn't bother me nearly as much as having a good basketball team but never good enough to actually make the NCAA tournament. University of Rhode Island Rams were synonymous for being right on the bubble and then imploding year after year after year. All 4 years we had a shot and all 4 years they broke my heart. I attended almost every single home game and even traveled to Duke to see the Rams take on the Blue Devils but it was never enough to cheer them on to victory, always falling just short.

Do I regret any of this though? Not one bit, and I will continue to support all of my teams even if they do break my heart from time to time we just have to remember that “we’ve seen better days”.

 

Trade Deadline Approaches... Who Will/Should Be Dealt and Who Won't

Trades that have been done, will be done, should be done, won't be done but would make sense will be the focus of today's blog post since the MLB trade deadline is only 4 days away.

Today's big news was revolving around the Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals who pulled off the first "blockbuster trade" of the deadline deals with two separate but connected deals. The White Sox traded SP Edwin Jackson, and Utility player Mark Teahan to the Blue Jays for P Jason Frasor, and Minor League P Zach Stewart. The Blue Jays then traded Jackson to the Cardinals with OF Corey Patterson, P Octavio Dotel, P Marc Rzepczynski as well as 3 players to be named later or cash considerations for CF Colby Rasmus, P P.J. Walters, P Trever Miller and P Brian Tallet. What this trade means: St. Louis once again traded an OF for a power arm (last year Ludwick for Westbrook) and have yet another good OF to replace the traded Rasmus with John Jay. White Sox throwing in the towel a bit but did get a good prospect in Stewart for not a whole lot. Blue Jays get a lot of pieces but also a very good young OF Rasmus. 

Colby Rasmus now a Blue Jay (stlcardinals.scout.com)

Trades that will be done-

Seems the Mets and Giants have come to an agreement so it is only a matter of time for it to be finalized. The deal would involved Carlos Beltran being dealt to the Giants for Minor League SP Zach Wheeler. The Mets would also pay somewhere around $4 million of the $6.5 million left owed to Beltran. Carlos was withheld from the starting lineup in Cincinnati tonight, which could mean the deal is all but filed.

Heath Bell seems about to be a Texas Ranger. The Rangers were not willing to part with a top tier prospect but seems they may have budged a bit. Will Bell be the closer and replace Neftali Feliz or will he be a set-up man in Arlington? 

Trades that should be done-

I think Hunter Pence will in fact be traded from Houston. Where he will end up seems to be still a question mark. Many sources say the Phillies and Braves are at the forefront of discussions but it sounds like the Astros want a lot in return for their best player and the Phillies seem unlikely to trade Dominic Brown for anyone. 

More relief pitchers will be on the move, who most people don't know although many teams already out of the race could sell high and reap the benefits for the future. Buyers are the Rangers, Angels, Yankees, Reds, and the Cardinals (made a small move with Dotel and Rzepczynski today but still are buyers).

            BJ Upton's days in Tampa are numbered... all they need to do is find a willing trade partner for him with Jennings being finally ready for the OF.

Players that should be traded but probably won't-

Ubaldo Jimenez should be traded but the Rockies asking price is WAY too high. They want 2 already majors ready pitchers and a few minor leaguers as well. Yankees have the talent but don't really want to sell the farm for Jimenez... King Felix maybe but not Ubaldo.

James Shields has been great this season and Tampa is virtually out of it in the AL East but Big Game James is a fan favorite and Tampa isn't ready to jump ship yet.

Carlos Quentin has been successful on a very unsuccessful White Sox team... imagine him in RF for the Phillies? Yikes.

Andre Ethier being dangled? Dodgers have money issues as everyone knows and he is a hot commodity. Wouldn't be surprised if the asking price is higher than the Padres price for Adrian Gonzalez last year. 

Wandy Rodriguez, the only other good player with Pence on the Astros should be traded but probably won't since the asking price will be high once again.

*Please keep trade rumor updates coming on twitter and the blog! @RamPower2010*

Shout-out to Ervin Santana for throwing a no-hitter this afternoon to get his first career victory against the Indians. Sure he gave up an unearned run but hey that's not his fault, he only issued 1 walk and struck out 10 in the 3-1 win in Cleveland.

Ervin Santana Dealing (profantasybaseball.com)