2014 Trade Deadline Reaction: Winners, Losers and Where Does Boston Go From Here

One of the most eventful trade deadlines in the history of major league baseball left nothing to be desired. There was surprise, intrigue, and last minute drama that kept many at the edge of their seats.

This afternoon I’ll present my reaction and the winner’s and losers of this year’s non-waiver trade deadline.

Stretch Run: National League West

After a long weekend trip that took me to my first MLB game this summer, I’m back home ready to hit the [writing] board.

Last week I started a stretch run preview with the National League East and spent a good amount of time talking about a non-contender more than the contenders, mainly because I feel the two beasts of the east are shoe-ins for the playoffs.

That said, the western division of the National League is going to be very, very appealing. As of today, (Tuesday, July 22) you’ve got the Dodgers and Giants tied for the NL West, and not a soul within sight after that. At 56-45, and 55-44 respectively, I think only one of the Dodgers and Giants can make the playoffs because of the four-team race in the NL Central and the top to bottom strong Nats and Braves in the East.

Stretch Run: National League East

With the All-Star break in the rearview mirror now, the second half of the MLB season will take center stage as we go full steam ahead to the trade deadline and then hit the dog days of summer in August. It seems like every year we say “this is going to be one of the most active trade deadlines we’ve seen in recent memory”, in fact I think I said that in a few trade deadline previews I’ve put together already.

As it stand, and if you watched the All-Star game, you probably saw this stat, there are more teams within a game and a half of their respective divisions at the all-star break than at any point in MLB history, as you’ve got five teams that fit that criteria right now.

MLB Trade Deadline Focus: Philadelphia Phillies

As I sit down on a Tuesday afternoon to type this edition of our trade deadline focus, the Philadelphia Phillies remain one of the leagues most intriguing storylines, not because of their play on the field, though that is part of the intrigue. It is in large part is because of the line they flirt with on a daily basis between being contenders and not sellers, and being out of any race and looking to shed a ton of payroll.

MLB Trade Deadline Focus: David Price

The 2014 Major League Baseball non-waiver trade deadline may be one of the most active with big names we have seen in some time.

As the 4th of July weekend approaches, the rumors should start to fly as thick as the mosquitoes on a blazing hot summer night. One story line this summer that has me consumed on Twitter and MLBTradeRumors and many other places is the one involving David Price.

May Prospect Check-In

With the Super 2 status deadline of June 1 quickly approaching, baseball fans, fantasy owners and team owners (though they won’t come out publicly) are all itching to see the next young crop of talent to hit the big league stadiums.

We’ve already seen major call ups in George Springer being the highlight. Rougned Odor, a young stud in the Rangers organization is currently at the big league level. Marcus Stroman, Robbie Ray and Rafael Montero (right) are among the other call ups we have seen in recent weeks to make their big league debuts.

What’s incredibly captivating about how teams are now operating, is how quickly they’re willing to move players through the system. Odor is just 20 years old. He hasn’t played past Double-A, and was signed just three years ago. That’s a major move for a young player.

Jose Fernandez was an opening day starter at the age of 20. He too had not played past Double-A.

March Into May

With the Major League Baseball season a month old at this point, it really is hard to start to get too into the numbers and who’s leading the division and what pitcher leads the league in ERA, because, well, these things change literally overnight this early. I mean, starting the week, 35-year old Aaron Harang led the National League in ERA and Clayton Kershaw hasn’t thrown a pitch since Australia, so while I might come off as getting carried away, please realize I do, in fact, understand just how much baseball is left to be played. That said, I don’t think it’s too early to assess where things are at.

I put out my Power Rankings in February and really received a lot of scrutiny over them. Which is fine. I realize some of the picks weren’t very popular, but at some point, someone wasn’t going to be happy over them.

I think one of the biggest surprises to this point of the year has to be the Milwaukee Brewers. Entering the week, the Brewers opened a seven-game road trip to St. Louis and Cincinnati, and ended up taking two outta three. At 20-8, it is fair to say the majority of people around baseball thought the Cardinals were more likely to have that record, but the Brewers are playing terrific baseball. I dubbed the Brew Crew to be one of the real surprises in baseball this year, but did not see this kind of start coming. I thought their pitching was very solid, especially the starting rotation. The bullpen, setting aside the struggles of Jim Henderson in the 9th, has been terrific as well. And offensively, Milwaukee has just about every bat going. The Brewers are fiery, their feisty and a bunch of fighters (no pun intended Carlos Gomez and Martin Maldonado). The Brewers have the pitching that can certainly keep this run going. I don’t think their ridiculous 100-win pace is anything they will achieve, and I fully expect them to come back to earth at some point, but don’t be surprised if the Brewers are still in the discussion as a divisional contender at the All-Star break.

Staying in the National League Central, so far the biggest disappointment to me has been the Pittsburgh Pirates. Six-games under starting the week doesn’t have me concerned yet, but I will be watching them closely. Normally, the Bucs putrid team average would concern me, but you really have to take any numbers in April, and throw them out the window, especially when you talk about individuals struggling. One primary reason, is pitchers have the upper hand this early. Normally, premier hitters in the northern part of the country especially struggle this time of year. I attribute most of it to the cold weather in April. So while the Pirates’ numbers are concerning, I will hold out getting carried away with them for another month. The Pirates are a hot ten days from righting the ship, and other than Milwaukee, no one in the NL Central is playing exceptional baseball yet.

Switching gears to the American League, the Minnesota Twins have been a pleasant surprise. I didn’t (and still don’t) give this team much a shot at much more than last place in baseball at this point, but it’s nice to see the Twins find some production from guys other than Joe Mauer. Through approximately 100 at bats, Chris Colabello has been terrific. Colabello led the International League in hitting last year at Triple-A, and it wasn’t close. So what Colabello is doing average wise is no surprise. Another solid signing the Twins made in the offseason that is paying dividends in more ways that one, is Kurt Suzuki. Suzuki’s offensive production has been great so far, and I think he will continue to do great work with what could be a decent pitching staff. The Twins pitching so far has not been good, but because they are averaging 5.5 runs per game, Minnesota is above .500. Again, I won’t get carried away with any of this, but it’s nice to see the youthful Twins learning what success feels like.

I thought the Yankees would be much, much better this season. I’ll leave my preview from March to speak for itself, but the Yankees are doing what I thought they’d do. Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury are getting on base and moving 90-feet along via the steal. And the new guys, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran, are doing what I thought they’d do, and that’s drive them in. Yangervis Solarte has been one of baseball’s biggest surprises. A career, minor-league journeyman, Solarte may finally be sticking in New York. Everything you hear on him is he can’t keep his ridiculous pace up, and to this point, he is starting to come back to earth. But he is hitting, and with Jeter in and out of the lineup, and the health issues to Mark Texiera and others, it is refreshing for the Yanks to find production in unexpected places, especially given Solarte’s flexibility in the field.

The offense hasn’t been the only thing going well. The investment in Tanaka has so far harvested an incredible return. We’ll see what the youngster does when the days and nights start warming up in the Bronx and the ball flies out much faster, but for now, Tanaka has been steady and as good as you can ask for. I also like the progress Dellin Betances is making in the bullpen. The Yankees projected him to be a starter, and he didn’t really pan out, but he’s found a spot in their bullpen, and I like what I’ve seen from him. I’m going to make one exception to not getting carried away and realizing how much baseball is left to play. The Yankees are on pace to win approximately 97 games. I don’t think they get that far, but I don’t think 90 wins for this team is out of the question. I liked this team more than many, and I think they can, and will keep up what they’re doing.

Once the Braves lost Brandon Beachy and Kris Medlen, a lot of people kind of wrote them off. They went out and signed Ervin Santana, who’s been nothing but stellar to this point, and David Hale has come up and pitched very well. This might sound crazy, but I’m more concerned about the Braves offense, than I am their pitching. And here’s why: consistency. The Braves of the past three or four years have been an all or nothing group. This team strikes out so much it is so hard to keep a rally going. If a pitcher is on, it will be a long night for Atlanta. They’ve got the hitters, they can score 10 runs a night, but they get so many waves and misses, the pressure will be on these pitchers just as often as the pressure will be off.

Starting the week at 17-7 is terrific, but I definitely don’t count out Washington making a run, and I could see Philadelphia and even Miami giving the Braves some troubles, Miami more so because of their pitching.

When talking about individuals standing out, it’s hard not to talk about Jose Abreu. Abreu may be one of the most prolific power hitters to leave Cuba yet. His 10 April homers and a league leading 31 RBIs was certainly impressive. Abreu impressed me at the World Baseball Classic last spring, and when the White Sox signed him, I thought he took this team from being a near-last place finisher to a .500 finisher, or better. It hurts the Sox (and me and my fantasy baseball teams) that Avisail Garcia went down to season ending shoulder surgery, but the White Sox are getting great production fellow Cubans Alexi Ramirez, Dayan Viciedo and Marcus Semien. Once they call up Matt Davidson, the White Sox have an awful lot of bats, and only a limited amount of lineup spaces available.

But back to Abreu. We’ve seen big start’s like his before, and we’ve seen the league adjust. I’m hopeful, and I think he is, a good enough hitter, even when  the league trying to catch up to him, he’ll still be a step or two ahead. We’ll certainly find out.

When I look back at a lot of the predictions I made, I’m seeing many of those names at the top of the league for their respective categories. Other than Abreu, there isn’t one that stands out above another. When you look at the standings, you get the impression every division in baseball is wide-open at this point. You’d certainly expect that given we’re four and a half weeks into the season.

There’s been a lot of drama. We’ve seen a benches clearing brawl. We’ve seen a great portion of walk-off wins. The league’s pitching is tremendous. The hitting is obviously tremendous.

To this point, if you’re a baseball fan, you’re glad the warmer days of May are here and you have to be happy this brutal winter seems to be all but in the rearview mirror.

If readers are interested, I’ll be putting up a minor league report here in the coming days. I’m looking forward to this one.

2014 Outlook: Los Angeles Dodgers

I’ve been so excited to write this preview, I don’t even know where to start, other than to say I am looking forward to this season of Dodgers baseball.

The Dodgers have always been one of my secondary teams I root for. I’m a Mets fan by association, but being a baseball fan in general, especially the Mets, it’s hard not to be a Dodgers fan.

I look at the 2014 Dodgers, and like the Washington Nationals, who I just wrote about, I find few flaws with this group.

And like Washington, I think a lot of the Dodgers success starts with their pitching. Back-to-back Cy Young award winner, and straight stud Clayton Kershaw needs no words, no introductions, no explanations on why he’s so good. If you’ve watched him for even five minutes, you immediately see his greatness. That should continue in 2013. His stuff is just ridiculous, and while his windup and mechanics are a little unorthodox, they certainly get the job done.

Once you get past Kershaw though, the studs just keep coming. Zack Greinke is one of the best right handed arms in the game, and yet he gets overshadowed by Kershaw so much in LA, sometimes you forget about him. Greinke’s stuff too, is nasty. Greinke’s 2013 likely would have been Cy Young worthy if not for the fight he got into with Carlos Quentin in April that sidelined him for a month. Greinke’s never really had an injury problem. He’s made 30 starts or better three of the last five years, and I can’t see that trend ending in 2014. The duo of Greinke and Kershaw may be so lethal, they may just be competing for that Cy Young award amongst themselves.

But the rotation doesn’t weaken at all once you get past those two studs. Lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu was nothing short of terrific in his rookie US campaign. If the Dodgers don’t get off to a slow start last year, maybe Ryu wins 17 or 18 games, he didn’t get a single win in June, and still won 14. Ryu’s stuff is absolutely stellar, and may end up being one of the top, lesser publicized overseas acquisitions in recent memory (to go along with of course, teammate Yasiel Puig).

When I look at the back end of this team’s rotation though, it’s not great, at least right now. The Dodgers are going to roll out Danny Haren, who in the last few years, has really been on the decline after a terrific career in Oakland and Arizona. I’m not really thrilled about him back there. The Dodgers could also turn to Paul Maholm. But I think a guy that should have an impact in LA by the end of may just might be a shot in the arm this team needs.

Chad Billingsley last year succumbed to Tommy John Surgery. It looked like he was in for a good season. He made two starts where he wasn’t bad. Trying to make a quick recovery from TJS is almost ill advised anymore, and guys are required almost 15 months to get back. I’ve always thought highly of his stuff and his makeup, and while most guys take a while to return to form, I feel like Billingsley may not need as much time as others. He’s probably achieved veteran status, and I think he’s crafty enough to make the comeback look easier than it probably is. If Billingsley can be a factor by the end of May, or sooner, the Dodgers could use his arm in this rotation. I do believe Billingsley comes back strong, and if he ends up being a fourth starter, that takes a lot of pressure off him to be great right away, and really work his way back.

I’m not done talking about the rotation, but I want to make this point while I’m on the topic of Billingsley. If he comes back, the Dodgers will have the luxury of easing him into a heavy workload because of the depth of their bullpen. This bullpen is probably the best in the game as currently constructed. You’ve got four closers out there in Kenly Jansen (the closer to start the year for LA), Brian Wilson, Chris Perez, and Brandon League. Not to mention real live arms in likely future closers Paco Rodriguez and Chris Withrow. The Dodgers are going to have a very deep pen this year, and while I usually go by the modo “bullpens are a crapshoot to predict”, I think I throw that out the window with this group for now. They should allow the Dodgers great flexibility when they don’t get long outings out of their starters, and Don Mattingly should have no problem going to any one of them in any situation.

Now, back to this Dodgers rotation. The Dodgers fifth starter spot is somewhat of a question mark. They have a lot of options at this point to fill that spot once Kershaw comes back. I’ve kind of written Josh Beckett off for his career. He can’t seem to stay healthy, and seemed like a great acquisition in the deal to get Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, but so far he’s done literally nothing in LA. So I almost don’t view him as an option for the Dodgers. Which leaves them with Danny Haren, Paul Maholm, or a young guy I think may just fly under the radar into this rotation, and that’s top pitching prospect Zach Lee (right).

Like I have a thing for college players in major league baseball, I also have a thing for multi-sport athletes, and that is exactly what Zach Lee is. He’ll likely start his season at Triple-A Albuquerque and if he is effect, it may not be a stretch to say we’ll see him sooner than later in LA. Lee has good stuff, good command, and if I had a guess, we see him before the All-Star break if the back end of this rotation is struggling. I’m not saying he’s going to come up and immediately dominate, but he could be what the Dodgers are looking for in the back end of the rotation. A Lee promotion this summer would just flex the muscle of the LA Dodgers and they’re strong MLB lineup, and showcase just many more of the talented young players they feature in their farm system.

The Dodgers made headlines last year because of the flamboyant play of Yasiel Puig. And whether you like Puig or not (I for the record absolutely love this kid, but I knew what he was like long before much of America did), he made a huge impact for the Dodgers. And as time went by, Puig was not afraid of the spotlight, the pressure, or the ridicule he got. I said it last winter, and I’ll say it again, Puig is the next big thing in baseball. This guy has all the tools to be one of the all time greats. He’s shown a greater sense of humility and willingness to learn (from his teammates, not his detractors in the media or public) and so far this year I see a renewed sense of less flash and show, and more hustle from the start, and carrying that all the way through. I’ve written on Puig (and his fellow Cuban defectors), so I won’t say much more on him and what I think of his actions. But his on field production I think is a big reason why I like the Dodgers this year.

The two guys the Dodgers got in a steal of a deal from Boston have been big since they arrived. Adrian Gonzalez has been completely stellar. I thought him going to LA would bring him the recognition of being one of the top first basemen in the game. In Boston, he just didn’t produce to the level he did in San Diego. Turning 32 in May, I think AGon could be in for another 30 home run season and he should be a big key to the Dodgers returning to the postseason.

The other guy that has been very good is Carl Crawford. Crawford’s steals have declined significantly declined in the past three to four years. Crawford’s forte is now getting on base. When he’s on base he can still move station to station via the the steal, though it may not be at the rate he used to. To me, the key to Crawford being successful in LA is getting on base. If he gets on base, guys like Puig, AGon, and Hanley Ramirez can drive him in with extra base hits and home runs of course. To me, Crawford’s value is beyond his steals and now is about his ability to get on base.

I think it will be interesting to see what Matt Kemp does once he comes off the disabled list. We thought Kemp was healthy last year once he returned and just wasn’t the same guy. If Kemp can return to form, the Dodgers may be completely dangerous. I’m not sold Kemp’s career is over by any means. Coming up on 30 years old, Kemp has a lot left in the tank and is so athletic, no matter how old he gets, he’ll always be a threat in any lineup. I actually like Kemp a lot this year to have a bounce back year and return to MVP form.

And if Kemp returns to form, what do the Dodgers do with Andre Ethier? There’s no doubt the back end of their rotation could use a solid arm. Does a team that likely will be out of contention quickly like the Chicago Cubs or New York Mets make guys like Jeff Samardzija or Jon Niese available? Both would be a good fit for the Dodgers. Do the Mariners make one of their pitchers available? Robbie Cano has said the Mariners need a second bat, and they certainly have a plethora of young arms the Dodgers may find intriguing. It will be interesting because the Dodgers have young players that could fill holes that ultimately arise. They also have enough youth they could add an ace like Samardzija. But it all hinges on how Ethier fares this season.

The Dodgers area loaded with talent up down the lineup. The Dodgers could push winning 100 games this year, especially in what I think will be a very down National League West. The Dodgers could be on a World Series or Bust train this year, and I for one don’t think that’s unrealistic. The Dodgers are undoubtedly one of the game’s top teams and should contend for an NL crown.

2014 Outlook: Washington Nationals

Young. Deep. And Balanced. The 2014 Washington Nationals are all those things. And when you’re all those things, you’re going to be one of the best.

That is what I fully expect the Nats to be this year.

2014 Outlook: Detroit Tigers

The window of opportunity for the Detroit Tigers is closing, but there’s no reason in a wide open American League why the Tigers can’t come out on top.