The West is the Best

The power shifted to West Coast teams at the trade deadline today. Players with a big impact have moved to teams in the Western divisions. It was an entertaining trade deadline and plenty of teams made changes. Lets cover all of them in chronological order.

 The Rangers acquired catcher Giovanni Soto from the Chicago Cubs for minor league pitcher Jake Brigham. That wasn't the only move the Rangers would make before the deadline.

The Braves we're a very sneaky team after they were out of the Ryan Dempster trade talks. They acquired outfielder Reed Johnson and and starting pitcher Paul Maholm. Maholm has a 3.74 ERA in 120.1 innings this year and Johnson has a .307/.361/.452 slashline this season. The Braves only gave up pitchers Jaye Chapman and Arodys Vizcaino.

The Blue Jays and Pirates swap outfielder Travis Snider and reliever Brad Lincoln. Snider hasn't performed well this year in his short time in the big leagues and hasn't been great in his career. Lincoln has a 2.73 ERA this season out of the bullpen for the Pirates.

The Dodgers traded for right handed reliever Brandon League of the Mariners. League will take his 3.63 ERA to the Dodgers in exchange for prospects Leon Landry and Logan Bawcom.

The Dodgers weren't done there. They woke up in the morning and acquired gold glove outfielder Shane Victorino. Victorino is 31 years old and is in the last year of his contract. Victorino will help the Dodgers at the top of the lineup and be on base for when Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier come up to bat. Victorino brings his speed and .324 on base percentage to the Dodgers in exchange for pitching prospect Ethan Martin and major league reliever Matt Lindbolm.

To counteract the trade for Victorino and to boost their own lineup the Giants traded for right fielder Hunter Pence. Pence is still under team control for next year and has been effective for the Phillies, but will bring his talents to the Giants. Pence is 29 years old and in 2012 he has a .336 on base percentage and 17 home runs. Nate Schierholtz, minor league pitcher Seth Rosin and catcher Tommy Joeseph will go to Philadelphia.

The Cardinals will bolster their bullpen with Edward Mujica. Mujica has a 4.38 ERA in 2012 with the Marlins. He will be a definite help down the line. Third base prospect Zack Cox will go to the Marlins.

The Red Sox showed that they are not out of competition for the American League Wild Card. They held onto all aspects of their team and added a reliever. Lefty Craig Breslow will go to Boston in exchange for pitcher Matt Albers and outfielder Scott Podsednik. Breslow has a 2.70 ERA this season with the Arizona Diamond Backs.

After getting Snider the Pirates were not done. They added struggling first baseman Gaby Sanchez from the Miami Marlins. Sanchez lost his job due to the acquisition of Carlos Lee. Sanchez is hitting just .202/.250/.306 this season, but he has done much better in his career. Pitcher Kaminska will also go to Pittsburgh in exchange for Gorkys Hernandez and a future draft pick.

The Reds were unsuccessful in getting a lead off hitter, but they did strengthen their already fantastic bullpen. They added Jonathon Broxton. Broxton will head to Cincinatti for pitchers Donnie Joseph and J.C. Sulbaran. Broxton has a 2.27 ERA this season with the Kansas City Royals and will set up for Aroldis Chapman.

Back to the Rangers. They traded for starting pitcher Ryan Dempster. Dempster was the biggest fish on the market coming into the last day before the deadline. He has pitched 104 innings with a 2.25 ERA in 2012. The Rangers gave up minor league third baseman Christian Villanueva and pitcher Kyle Kendricks. The deal was completed with seconds remaining before the deadline.

The final acquisition of the day was completed by the New York Yankees. With Alex Rodriguez heading to the DL the Yankees needed a part time third baseman. The two teams exchanged reliever Chad Qualls and third baseman Casey McGehee. McGehee has history of success and will have a chance to prove it in New York. The Yankees won't miss Qualls because Joba Chamerlain is back on the team from an injury.

Teams can still make trades with players who pass through waivers. Possible players to move are bench players, relievers, and players with big salaries.

The biggest winners of the day were the Giants and Dodgers. They will be in competition with each other down the line and both made moves to beat each other.

The South Side Strikes Back

After the Tigers acquired Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante it was clear that the White Sox needed to make another move. With an already strengthened bullpen and a legitimate starting lineup the White Sox needed to add a starting pitcher. Fransisco Liriano joined the pitching staff today after being traded from the Minnesota Twins for infielder Eduardo Escobar and pitcher Pedro Hernandez.

Liriano was the second choice for the White Sox, after they couldn't get Zach Greinke. Greinke was traded to the Angels, but the White Sox were heavily pursuing him. Liriano has a lot of success in the past, but in recent years he hasn't performed well. With a 5.31 ERA over 100 inning in 2012 Liriano has been struggling. Maybe with a new team the left hander can turn things around. Liriano will join a rotation anchored by Chris Sale and Jake Peavy.  


On an additional note the Arizona Diamond Backs have acquired third baseman Chris Johnson from the Astros in exchange for outfielders Marc Krauss and Bobby Borchering. The D-Backs recently traded their starting third baseman Ryan Roberts to the Rays.

Come and Get Your Halo

Zach Greinke will be pitching for the Angels for at least the rest of 2012. The Angels sent top infield prospect Jean Segura and pitchers Ariel Pena and John Hellweg to the Brewers in exchange for Greinke. The Angels will make the their rotation even stronger than it already was.

With the addition of Greinke the rotation for the Angels will look just like the following:

Weaver: 13-1, 2.26 ERA, 89 K, 115 IP
Wilson: 9-6, 2.89 ERA, 108 K, 131 IP
Greinke: 9-3, 3.44 ERA, 122 K, 123 IP
Haren: 7-8, 4.76 ERA, 89 K, 109 IP
Richards/Santana

Greinke has never pitched in a big market. The Royals and the Brewers don't pack stadiums and don't put too much pressure on the players. Greinke will be put on the spot and will have to perform. He may be working for a possible extension with the Angels if he performs well. He won't be the ace of the staff in Anaheim, so the pressure may not be all on him. With more run support and the excitement of a playoff race i expect Greinke to shine with the sun in Anaheim.

Moving On Up

Some players will get the chance to move up in baseball. Their teams were in last place, but now they have the chance to reach the playoffs.

Hanley Ramirez and Randy Choate were part of a big trade last night. The Dodgers will receive the 2 players stated in exchange for Nathan Eovaldi and Scott McGough. Hanley Ramirez is hitting .246/.322/.430 this season with 47 RBI and 14 stolen bases. Randy Choate has been sporting a 2.49 ERA over 25.1 innings pitched. The lineup for the Dodgers when everyone is healthy would look like the following: Gordon SS, Abreu LF, Kemp CF, Ethier RF, Ramirez 3B, Loney 1B, M. Ellis 2B, A. Ellis C


Wandy Rodriguez will join playoff contention with the Pirates. He was acquired by the Pirates in exchange for the following minor league players: Rudy Owens, Robbie Grossman, and Colton Cain. Rodriguez will join a rotation with James McDonald, AJ Burnett, Eric Bedard and Kevin Correia. Rodriguez has a 3.79 ERA in 21 games started this season. Over his past 5 seasons Rodriguez has a 3.45 ERA and the Pirates will take that. Their next mission is to find a bat to add to their lineup. 


Cole Hamels is moving on up in the bank as he signed a contract extension for 144 million dollars over 6 years. That is the second most expensive contract given to a pitcher ever. Only CC Sabathias contract is greater. 

A Long Way to Travel

Ichiro had a really far way to travel last night when he heard he was traded to New York. He had to make a very long trip to the other dugout. Ichiro was acquired by the Yankees in exchange for the two minor league pitchers DJ Mitchell and Danny Farquhar. Ichiro will bring an aspect that the Yankees haven't had this year; speed. The injury to Brett Gardner has left the bases basically motionless. Ichiro is batting just .261/.288/.352 this season, but his defense is a definite upgrade over Raul Ibanez and Andruw Jones.

Detroit and Miami completed a trade yesterday as well. Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez are going to Detroit in exchange for Jacob Turner, Rob Brantly, and Brian Flynn. Infante will make a big difference for the Tigers, because their production from second base has been terrible this season. Infrante is hitting .287/.312/.442 this season. Sanchez will make the pitching rotation more stable after Verlander. Sanchez has a 3.94 ERA with 5 wins, but that is result of the Marlins offense.

A trade for Dempster was leaked yesterday before it was official. The rumors say that Dempster will go to Atlanta for young pitcher Randall Delgado. Dempster tweeted that he had not yet been traded, but it is very likely. Dempster will be huge addition to the Braves and keep them in competition with the Nationals.

The South Side Strikes Again

After filling the hole at third base by trading for Kevin Youkilis the White Sox hope to power their bullpen with the addition of Brett Myers. Yesterday the White Sox sent Matt Heidenreich and Blair Walters to Houston in return for the 31 year old closer. Myers was named the closer of the Astros this season after spending multiple seasons as a starter.

With experience as a starter the White Sox can get multiple innings from Myers out of the bullpen. Myers also has been successful as a closer this year. He has recorded 19 saves in 30.2 innings with a 3.52 ERA. The White Sox were pushed into second place yesterday, they are fighting for the central and the wildcard.

Trading Places

Some trades took place today, no really big names were involved, but still exciting. One trade involved the Rockies and Royals. The two teams swap Jeremy Guthrie and Jonathan Sanchez. Perhaps a change of scenery will do well for these two struggling pitchers.

Guthrie traded for the second time this season

The Blue Jays and Astros conducted a 10 player deal that didn't involve any really big names as well. The Blue Jays will receive a trio of pitchers J.A. Happ, Brandon Lyon, and David Carpenter. The Astros will receive  Francisco Cordero, Ben Francisco, and minor league players Joe Musgrove, Asher Wojciechowski, David Rollins and Carlos Perez, and a player to be named later. 


The Orioles acquire Omar Quintanilla from the Mets for later considerations. This was to clear space for the return of Jason Bay. 


We expect a trades of Ryan Dempster and possibly Cole Hamels and Zach Greinke. The latter two are less likely because the Phillies offered Hamels 130 million over 6 years and the Brewers offered Greinke 100+ million over 5 years.