Trader Rater 2.0

The trade deadline is only 5 days away and a couple more deals have recently gone down. Although nothing as significant as the CC Sabathia or Rich Harden deals, more often than not it is the role player type deals that help certain teams get over the hump.

The New York Yankees traded 4 prospects to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Damaso Marte and Xavier Nady. According to the reports and the sources, the Pirates got back prospects who do not have much a chance to be impact players in the big leagues. I am not quite sure why the Pirates would make this deal, as I am sure a team like the Mets or Phillies could have given them a little more. For the Yankees, this was a great move, they picked up a very good situational left handed reliever and a great outfield bat who could play a lot of LF down the stretch. With this move and the Richie Sexson resigning , I am getting a sense of the of the old Yanks.

The Cleveland Indians traded Casey Blake to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a prospect. The Indians are clearly in seller mode and have plenty of young talent they would like to see develop at the big league level. Casey Blake was one of the players that had been rumored to move the most this season and it was a solid pickup for the Dodgers. Blake has 11 home runs already and can play both 3B and the OF. For the Dodgers he will help replace Blake DeWitt and Andy LaRoche at 3B. This move basically signifies that the Dodgers will not be looking for a SS before the deadline.
(Casey Blake in his LA Debut)

It is one of my favorite times of the year and stay tuned for some more trader rater as the deadline approaches!

Trader Rater 1.0

Baseball offseason is upon us and about a week ago I took a look at the contender in the CC Sabathia Sweepstakes. Well, we do have a winner and we also have another big name pitcher off the market as well.

The Milwaukee Brewers were the winners and the team able to land the reigning AL Cy Young. The Brewers gave up 4 top prospects and it centered around Double-A star Matt LaPorta. I had suggested that the Brewers were the most likely landing destination.

The following day, the Chicago Cubs made a splash that essentially came out of nowhere. The Cubs were able to grab Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin from the Oakland A's for a package of 4 decent minor leaguers, with some major league experience. I really do think that the Cubbies stole Harden from the A's, assuming he can make most of his starts this season.

So what does this do for the National League? Well it definitely puts the Brewers and Cubs as the top 2 squads in the NL. Before the Harden deal, the Brewers were definitely pushing the Cubs for NL supremacy. A top of the rotation of Ben Sheets and CC Sabathia could only be matched by a say Carlos Zambrano and Rich Harden top of the rotation.

The next question is, What are your moves Philadelphia Phillies, St.Louis Cardinals, Arizona Diamondback, and New York Mets to counter?