Trade Deadline review

It's not quite the MLB Network's all-day coverage, but we have trade deadline details:

• VETOED! New Orleans proposed to ship Tomas Julio, he of the 80+ rating and $8.75m salary, to Augusta for a pair of low rated A-level infielders. The requisite 10 owners stepped in and stopped that from happening.
• COMPLETED! Texas shipped hurler Danny Phillips to Philadelphia for Benny Aybar, Luke Swindell and cash. I clearly cannot nurture pitching talent, as evidenced by me breaking Phillips earlier this season. The added arms solidify the staff during the end of the season push.

ACCEPTED!

• Norfolk sends Edgar Pujols and Bum Bennett to Memphis for Benito Valentin and pair of AAA players.
• Little Rock trade Les Bradshaw to Minnesota for two minor-league pitchers.
• Dennis Baek leaves Seattle for Chicago-N, in exchange for a AA pitcher.
• Chicago-N sent Albert Montero and a minor leaguer to Little Rock for Pepe Mateo.

Trade Watch

Recapping the near-deadline deals:

APPROVED

Burlington sends Luke Sanford to Washington, D.C. for Mark Simms.

San Francisco sends Rex Cressan to Augusta for Preston Ross.

PENDING

Kansas City sends Al Hodges to Memphis for Tyler Osbourne.

I'm missing the Nieto and Phillips deals because I voted on them without writing down the pieces I was missing. So, when the judgment passes, I will post analysis.

Deadline Deals Under Review

With the trading deadline passed, let's look at the deals that will shape the rest of the season:

MEMPHIS sends OF Mark Long (AAA), SP Al Barajas (AAA) and P Randall Wheat to BURLINGTON for OF Gary Gruber and P Jimmy Vogelsong plus cash.

I made the deal for Randall Wheat and was unconvinced of his stuff after two starts. jjirish approached me on the Gary Gruber deal and we were able to work in the pitching swap. Vogelsong and Wheat are in their walk years and Gruber has another season at $6.5M. The two prospects hurt, but Long was expendable given my minor league depth in the outfield. A good deal for me in the short term. Probably a better deal for Burlington in the long run.


PORTLAND sends 2B Doug Corrino and P Peter Surhoff to PITTSBURGH for P Ignacio Escobar.

Pittsburgh inherits two rookies from the Beavers organization. Surhoff is a three-pitch starter with okay ratings. He is 5-13 with a 7.30 ERA. Corrino is batting .243 with four homers, 26 RBI
and 21 stolen bases. In return, Portland gets a 26-year-old starter who has spent time between AAA and the majors. Pittsburgh gets a chance to reload here. No slight on Portland but any deal involving Pittsburgh getting new players will benefit the Diamond Kings more.


BURLINGTON sends RF Dario White to NEW YORK for SS Kevin Caufield (AAA) and P Denny Yang (AAA)

Dario White signed out of arbitration, was traded to Burlington and now plays for New York. So, New York gets a solid hitter and an expiring contract in return for a pair of AAA players. Caufield is batting a combined .306 while Yang is 9-7 with a 3.12 ERA and 130 Ks at HiA and AAA.


CHARLOTTE sends P Carlos Eusebio to SANTA FE for CF Jay O'Keefe (AA)

Eusebio is a sinker-slider veteran arm and has solid credentials. He got rocked in his first start with Santa Fe, taking the loss after surrendering seven earned in 3.2 innings. O'Keefe comes
to the Webs organization with a nice swing and quick feet, batting .324 with 36 stolen bases.

Tick, Tick, Tick...

Peter Gammons is working the phones and hasn't called us back yet. We'll have a review of the deadline deals tomorrow.

Trading Deadline Looms (NL)

With the trading deadline looming, let's look at the teams who could make a deal to angle for position in the playoff race. We'll do this in two separate posts as it may get long.

PHILADELPHIA (59-30 leads the East): The Flash have some intimidating HR hitters with the Martin (34), McMasters (32), Takada (30), Wyatt (27) combo. They also have wind machine Al Ward (100 Ks). They could go for a bench bat. The Flash pay their bills on the hill. The starting five is nasty and the closer is hot. The setup crew leaves me squeamish, with Jimmie Brand (7.59) and Nick Terrell (6.75) proving to be liabilities in the pennant run. NEEDS: Another bullpen arm. Maybe a bat. Maybe.

ATLANTA (55-34 leads the South): Atlanta's success this season is thanks, in part, to a core group of good but not great hitters. Of their starters, only Clint Maxwell (.249) is batting under .250. No one hits .300+. The pitching does its part, with a team ERA of 3.95. The front two starters are great. After that, it's a crap shoot. Roscoe Street is 6-2 with a 4.36 ERA, but has gone seven innings just twice this season. Ray Waters has 11 starts but only 57.1 innings pitched. The other starting options just don't impress. NEEDS: At least one, if not two starters.

COLORADO SPRINGS (54-35 leads the West): To to bottom, the Cricket Club has the most consistent pitching staff. James Logan (7-7, 5.78) is the only starter to give pause and Esteban Pena's 6.63 ERA is the only true blemish on the bullpen. Two nicks in the armor for me -- Albert Zurburan and William Comer. Yes, Comer has 17 home runs, but the .317 OBP and 55Ks makes him a liability in an NL lineup. Zurburan is a sub-.700 OPSer with more strikeouts (59) than hits (55). NEEDS: A more reliable bench bat than Zurburan.

CINCINNATI (42-48 leads the North): At six games under .500, you expect problems. To be a division leader at six games under .500 means that the competition is tight. Eight games separate worst to first in the North. The pitching staff has some high points -- No Hit Lon Costello and his 2.06 ERA, Brad Bird and his 101 Ks, team with Doug Linton and Felipe Balboa for a formidable front four. The fifth starter seems undecided with a pair of forgettable 6.00 ERAers. The starting lineup has too many players with a sub .325 OBP and sub .500 slugging percentage. There is a HUGE gap between Pablo Johnon (.305-26), Armando Martin (.360)-18, Steve Austin (.321-21) and Vlad Cust (.285-18) and the rest of the pack. NEEDS: A couple of stronger bats. A bullpen arm.

BUFFALO (57-32 second in the East 2.0 GB, first in the wild card): Why do I think Buffalo is going to the World Series? Is it the chicken wings I had for dinner? Is it the impending trip to Buffalo next week? Or is it the pitching staff without an ERA higher than 5.20? The only thing Buffalo might need to get it done is another lights out bat. There isn't a .300 hitter on the team and only one player has more than 15 home runs. NEEDS: A big fucking bat.

SANTA FE (54-36 second in the South 2.0 GB, second in the wild card): The pitchers are not exciting once you get past Vern Dunwoody. I mean, with a name like Vern, how can it get any more exciting? I digress. The staff is nice and well managed, but nothing about them says lights out. You know what does? Their core of Felix Matsuzaka (.259-30-77), Aurelio Valentin (.353-27-78), Mark Yamamoto (.325-17-66), and so on... This team is good. Thank God I play in the AL. NEEDS: A reliever. A more reliable No. 5 starter.

Trading Deadline Looms (AL)

With the trading deadline looming, let's look at the teams who could make a deal to angle for position in the playoff race. We'll do this in two separate posts as it may get long.

CLEVELAND (63-26 leads the North): Not to say that there is a perfect team, but the Wahoos are about as good as it will get this year. The lineup is tight from top to bottom, with all of their regular hitters batting over .290. Bench depth might be a problem, as a light-hitting Dario White (.143-0-1) leads the bench. Six different pitchers have started for the Wahoos, led by Vasco Lee (10-2, 3.57). NEEDS: Who knows? alsimmons could go for another bench bat, but might be more likely to pursue a reliever. Deacon Barkley and Dennis Andrews aren't the most intimidating combination out of the bullpen.

KANSAS CITY (62-27 leads the West): The Monarchs have hit their stride pitchingwise, finding a starting five with three 13-game winners (Miller, Neruda and Hernandez), a solid innings eater (Navarre) and a forkball specialist (Pujols). Closer Kevin Ong has converted 14-of-17 save opps, but carries a 6.82 ERA and 1.76 WHIP. Tomas Ayala has blown three saves, but is otherwise reliable out of the 'pen. NEEDS: Another reliever. Wouldn't be surprised if braddavis went after a cheap, reliable glove to spell Hunter Pierre (10 errors, .947 fld pct.) in the late innings.

NASHVILLE (55-34 leads the South): The Saints eight-game lead is due to a solid core of a hitters. The team is batting .287, six players are hitting .280 or better and three have 20+ homers. The weak links of the lineup are centerfielder Clay Sefcik (.230-7-45 and 66Ks), utilityman Justin Goldberg (.213-2-15 and a .552 OPS) and shortstop Arnold Lefebvre (.237-9-29 and a .294 OBP). On the mound, Weldon Stanley doesn't instill a great deal of faith in the Nashville fans with a 7-6 record and 6+ ERA. NEEDS: A fifth starter, an infield bat, preferably at shortstop, and a bullpen arm.

BOSTON (45-34 leads the East): As a Yankees fan, I'm conditioned to hate all things Boston. Thus, I should say that all is well with the Minuteman. But, the aren't. Hector Pettitte (.324-11-59), Augie Cepicky (33 homers) and Bob Hernandez (.292-25-69) can't do it all. The lineup has a couple of holes -- most glaringly an off year by centerfielder Darryl Coles (.239-2-32, a .574 OPS and .967 fld pct.) But, if I were AllSox, I'd start with my staff. Two regular starters have ERAs over 7, the closer by committee has blown 14 saves and my staff ERA is 5.71. NEEDS: Pitching. A centerfield upgrade.

DETROIT (51-38, 12GB in the North, 1st place wild card): The offense is sufficient. All regulars are batting .250+. The bench seems to have stabilized. I'd look for zar to go shopping for arms. Ruben Otanez is Cy Young quality (15-1, 2.22, 96K), but what separates him and Mel Petersen (8-3, 3.38) from the rest is a wide gap. Troy Shumaker (4-6, 5.50) and Kris Redmond (4-8, 4.73) are nice innings eaters, but are back end starters. The X-factor is Barry Gruber, who looks sharp in four starts (2-1, 2.81, 16K, 3BB). The bullpen is in good shape here. NEEDS: At least one starting pitcher.

COLORADO (50-39, 12GB in the West, 2nd place wild card): Take KC out of this division and Colorado is in the top two or three teams in the AL. They hit the ball hard: .326BA, .919OPS, 138HR, 655RS. Unfortunately for them, so does the opposing team. All five starters have ERAs over 5.00. The closer, Ryan Witt (18 SV, 1.53 ERA) is nice, but the road to him is rocky. billabercrom may not need pitching, though, if the hitters hold up. NEEDS: Pitchers. All kinds.

MEMPHIS (47-42, 8GB in the South, 3GB in the wild card): We suck. Seriously, though, we've gotten beaten by injuries this year, losing LF Max Broadhurst, utilityguy Pinky Neal and starter Yuni Mantalban to season enders. My bench is okay and my top seven hitters are solid. A little worried about the two rookies batting 8-9. Chip Hayes (.146-1-4) and Mark Long (0/9 this season) are taking their sweet time getting into gear. Pitchingwise, we made our move by acquiring Randall Wheat to round out the rotation. My setup guy, Sammy Williams, could change his name to Steve Karsay and no one would notice. And, I'm in love with my closer. NEEDS: A veteran outfielder who can hit, maybe another reliever.