The Colonel: The Yankees and the Rays. The Yankees don't have the lineup and the Rays pitching has been spotty all year. I don't want to get too hot and bothered though by the Jays sudden emergence though. Still a lot of season left to be played.
49er16: Also the Blue Jays still have weaknesses at catcher and shortstop. I know Reyes is suppose to return but he's a tweak away from the DL always. I'm starting to lose faith in the Orioles unless they make some sort of drastic trade for a starting pitcher.
The Colonel: What are you saying? You don't trust a rotation that has Jason Hammel or Freddy Garcia? I know I wouldn't. Did you see their WPA scores from this weekend?
49er16: Kevin Gausman hasn't exactly had a Manny Machado type of effect on the rotation. His 5.84 FIP is dreadful but he's young. The rest of that rotation and parts of the bullpen are downright scary. Thankfully for them they have a nice lineup.
The Colonel: I gotta say the Pirates impressed this weekend. They went to Anaheim and showed the Angels how you win. I still won't trust them until I see how they play in August, but right now I'm impressed. And they're in 2nd place in the NL Central.
49er16: Their pitchers could always regress (Jeff Locke and Francisco Liriano as the top candidates) and that lineup is very trick-or-treat but I'm rooting for them. Their bullpen is really good and it will be interesting to see what they do at the trade deadline. Hopefully they don't trade for pumpkins like they did a couple of years ago when they acquired Derek Lee who was beyond washed up.
The Colonel: The trade market looks kinda gross right now. Who would they trade for? Paul Konerko? Alex Rios would be a nice piece to trade for then they would move Jones to first base full time. Shortstop is probably a need but who could they trade for their? Alexei Ramirez? Yuck. Jimmy Rollins? Doubtful. They'll need someone and it'll be interesting to see who they possibly go after.
49er16: The other problem with the trade market is that with this extra wild card you won't have as many teams looking to make a deal. The teams right now I see possibly trading assets off are the White Sox, Twins, Astros, Marlins, Mets, Brewers, and Cubs with possibly the Dodgers, Angels, and Phillies. Half of those teams have assets I wouldn't want the other half probably will ask for too much.
The Colonel: If I'm the Cubs I wouldn't ask for too much for Matt Garza. I just don't see the Dodgers or Angels conceding defeat on the year. As for the Phillies, RAJ seems reluctant to trade anyone because he probably still sees that team making the playoffs if not this season then the next.
49er16: What do we make of the NL East? The Nationals are under performing but are still in a wild card race. The Braves strike out way too much for me to take them seriously as a championship contender. And the Phillies are kinda sorta hanging around. Who comes out of that division at the end?
The Colonel: I'm with you on the Braves. They strike out way too much to be taken seriously. Fredi Gonzalez is also one of those managers I just don't trust at the end of the day. That being said they'll probably win that division out of default unless the Natinals make a run after the break.
49er16: Any games this week you're looking forward to? The Toronto-Tampa Bay series has all of a sudden become very interesting.
The Colonel: That's a series to watch. The Cincinnati-Oakland series looks like it's going to be great fun. And the Cleveland-Baltimore series will also be one to look at.
Garza, Nolasco, and Norris are a far cry from the salad days when Randy Johnson was available during the trade deadline.
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