MLB Trade Deadline: Who's Set?
The trade deadline has now come and gone in baseball. This year saw some big deals, mostly with pitchers. Cliff Lee again packed his bags and went to Texas, Roy Oswalt moved east to Philadelphia, and Lance Berkman found a home in the Bronx.
There were certainly some other notable moves, including Ted Lilly going to the Dodgers, and long time Oriole Miguel Tejada moving from last to first, as he moved to San Diego to join the NL West-leading Padres.
Although this year didn’t provide us with the same amount of blockbuster deals as we saw in previous trade deadline days, some moves were made that may push some teams over the hump.
Perhaps the Texas Rangers are the most primed to make the playoffs. Cliff Lee has proven he can pitch in big games. He was the only pitcher in last year’s playoffs able to figure out the Bronx Bombers even though his two wins in the World Series weren’t enough to stop the Yankees.
The Rangers also added catcher Bengie Molina. They’re set for a run through the playoffs with Josh Hamilton and Vladimir Guerrero slugging the way they are and with their solid pitching. They should really be able to win the West now and might be seen as favourites in the playoffs.
The Yankees were going after the same man in Lee, but they ended up settling for an aging Lance Berkman and an injury-prone Kerry Wood to pitch. The Yankees were also looking for that "BTR" pitcher (Bridge to Rivera) with Joba Chamberlain not filling the setup role well, but they came up short in what they really needed.
The Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox meanwhile were very quiet. Each only made minor additions. That was smart for the Rays as they are going nowhere but up and are giving the Yankees a run for their money. The Red Sox are waiting out the return of their injured players and still believe they can turn the season around with their current team.
The Chicago White Sox did themselves a favour by landing Edwin Jackson and can now very well win the AL Central. However, it would still be tough for them to get past teams like the Yankees, Rangers or Rays in the playoffs.
After swapping second-basemen with the Toronto Blue Jays over a month ago, the Braves stayed quiet at the deadline with no major acquisitions. The Phillies of course acquired Roy Oswalt in search of another starting ace, but trading J.A Happ may hurt them in the future.
Out west, the Padres added Miguel Tejada, while the Dodgers took underperforming players from the Cubs in Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot. However, a trade away from a struggling Cubs team may help these players. Still, the Dodgers chances of turning their season around hinges on Manny Ramirez getting healthy.
Just for fun, why don’t we look at some possible playoff teams and how the trades will help them? The Rangers appear to have things locked up in the West while the White Sox, Yankees and Rays will likely be the other playoff teams.
In the National League, things are still wide open. The Cardinals still have the Reds on their trails and can’t get too comfortable.
The Padres can’t get too comfortable either with the Rockies, Giants and Dodgers still able to catch them, and whoever doesn’t will likely be a wild card team.
In the east, the Phillies are slowly catching fire and are hunting down the Atlanta Braves.
All we can say for now is we’re in for an interesting finish to this season.
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