We’re into June and a little over 50 games into the Major League Baseball season. Is it time for a contender to make a trade and fill a need? It might depend on who you think the contenders are; so let’s take a look.
The Washington Nationals are cruising in the N.L. East, but there are some questions with the team. I think if you ask most people they’d say that they need a closer. The Nationals have five different pitchers with at least one save led by Koda Glover with 7. Glover has taken over the closers role and has converted his last five saves chances, Glover is and in his first full major league season, but he has around 110 games to fit into that role and if he can the Nationals could look somewhere else for help. Where else could the Nationals look for help; how about centerfield. They acquired Adam Eaton inn the off season., but he’s out for the season with an injury. Michael Taylor has been a top prospects in the Nationals organization for a while now and he’s been playing the majority of the time in center. Taylor is hitting .271, but still has some issues with strikeouts. He’s fanned 47 times in 42 games or once every 2.8 at bats. Would the Nationals make a move for a rent a player type since Eaton will return next season. How about a deal where the Nationals pick up someone like Lorenzo Cain from the Kansas City Royals. If they went after a deal like that could it be expanded to include Royals closer Kelvin Herrera.
Who are the contenders in the N.L. Central? The Milwaukee Brewers are currently leading the division, but are you believing in them? Milwaukee is in the second year of a rebuild and I’d be surprised to see them throw that all away to try to bring in the pieces they’d need. The Brewers would probably need to find multiple starting pitchers to contend and they’d have to move quite a bit of the young talent they recently acquired to get that. Do you see them making those type of moves? While they’ve been a fun story I don’t think they’ll be there in the end.
The St. Louis Cardinals are in 2nd place in the Central, but they just .500 at 26-26. St. Louis hasn’t plated well to start the season and they’re not normally the type of team to make a big in season trade. The everyday line up looks solid as does the starting rotation; so if the Cardinals make a move it could be for a bench piece or for some bullpen help.
The Chicago Cubs are easily the biggest disappointment of the 2017 season. They’re 26-27, but still appear to have the best everyday line up in the division. The Cubs might have too may guys that could be considered everyday players. The starting rotations numbers are way off from last season; so maybe they’d be looking to add some help there. Wade Davis was added to handle the closing duties and he done his job, but they’ve had trouble getting him the ball with a lead. Maybe a bullpen piece could be added. The question might be how long before the line up starts to hit?
The Los Angeles Dodgers have taken over 1st place in the N.L. West this week. Now the Dodgers have done this with their starting 3rd baseman and centerfielder on the disabled list as well as losing one of their platoon leftfielders for the season. They’ve used their minor league system to fill the holes and those players have some through for them. Any rotation with Clayton Kershaw in it is going to be good, but this might be the area where the Dodgers make a move. Alex Wood was h pitching well, but is currently on the disabled list. Rich Hill, Brandon McCarthy and Hyun Jim-Ryu have a history of injuries and prospect Julio Urias was sent back to the minors after 5 starts. The Dodgers have the prospects to go and get a top line starting pitcher if they feel they need one, but will they.
The Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks are both just a 1.2 game behind the Dodgers in the N.L. West. Offense has never been an issue for a team that plays 81 games in Coors Field and Charlie Blackmon is shown that he should be mentioned as one of the top players in baseball. If pitching is the question it would have to be in the staring rotation as the Rockies bullpen has been if not the best than one of the best in baseball. Antonio Senzatela and Kyle Freeland have been nice surprises while Jon Gray has made just three starts di to injury. Could a starter be something the Rockies look to add. Arizona I think is more of a surprise to be here even this early. Robbie Ray has really established himself in the starting rotation along with Zack Greinke, but after those two it’s unclear what the Diamondbacks will get. Tajuan Walker looked like he could be a valuable starter, but he’s landed on the disabled list. The bullpen is also interesting as Fernando Rodney was brought in to handle the closing duties last off season and has had some trouble. Rodney does have 14 saves, but is 1-2 with an E.R.A. of 6.10. If Arizona does make a move it could be for some type of pitching help.
Right now you could say that everyone in the A.L. East is still in contention. The New York Yankees are a nice surprise at the top of the division, but there are some questions. Chase Headley got off to a hot start, but is currently hitting .232; so could an upgrade at 3rd base be something the Yankees would look at? While the bullpen has been good even with Aroldis Chapman been hurt; the starting rotation has some questions. Which Masahiro Tanaka will be pitching. Tanaka has lost his last four starts and only one of them has been a good start. The Yankees are another team that has the prospects to acquire a top of the rotation type of starter, but they have been saying that they want to stay with their young core, but if there in it you’d think they would make a move.
The Baltimore Orioles at in 2nd place and a trade might not be the biggest question with this team, but more like when will Manny Machado start to hit? The Orioles are hanging around the top of the division with Machado hitting just .221. Baltimore isn’t the type of team that makes big trades; so you have to think they just go with the players they have on the roster. Once Machado starts to hit they’ll be better off and of course the return of closer Zach Britton will help the bullpen even though they’ve held their own with him out.
The Boston Red Sox where the top pick to win this division in pre-season, but they currently find themselves in 3rd place. The Red Sox have had some injuries to players who needed to be key contributors to their success. Pablo Sandoval just returned and the offense is waiting for Dustin Pedroia and utilityman Brock Holt to get healthy. Tyler Thornberg was brought in this off season to be the top set up guy, but hasn’t pitched all season due to injury. The starting rotation just got a big lift with the return of David Price. Do the Red Sox need to make a trade or just get healthy?
I’d like to know if you buy the Tampa Bay Rays or the Toronto Blue Jays as contenders in this division? Let me know in the comment section and if you do will take a more in depth loo at them.
Even 50 or so games into the season; did you have the Minnesota twins leading the A.L. Central? The Twins have been a nice story even though I don’t think anyone believes they’ll be in 1st place much longer. Miguel Sano has shown that he’s a top player though. Sano is right at .300 with 13 home runs and 41 RBI’s. Ervin Santana has also been a big surprise. Santana is 7-2 with an E.R.A. of 1.75 in 11 starts covering 77 innings and has to be mentioned in any early season Cy Young talk.
Even with their top two starting pitchers out the Cleveland Indians hung around in 2nd place. While Carlos Carrasco missed just a start or two Corey Kluber was out longer. Kluber returned this week to pitch 6 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts in Thursday’s 8-0 win. Now Danny Salazar struggled again as a starter and has been moved to the bullpen. Trevor Bauer did just have a 14 strikeout performance in his last start, but for the season his E.R.A. is 6.00. Josh Tomlin has also had some trouble posting an E.R.A. of 5.54; so maybe a starting pitcher is something the Indians are looking to acquire. The everyday line up looks to be set especially if Bradley Zimmer can be the full time centerfielder.
The Detroit Tigers find themselves just 3 1/2 games out of 1st place and their bullpen has been terrible. While the offense is still potent even though it’s getting older. Detroit put up 15 runs in Friday nights win, but the bullpen has hurt them. Francisco Rodriquez has been bad; he’s 2-5 with 7 saves an and E.R.A. of 7.79. Rodriquez was moved out of the closers role and has only pitched 2 innings in the last 13 days. Right now the closers job looks to be a combination of Justin Wilson and Alex Wilson unless a deal is made for someone.
The A.L. West is turning into a one team race as the Houston Astros have pulled out to a 12 1/2 game lead in the division. The Astros spent quite some time rebuilding the franchise, but this off season they added the veteran pieces they thought they needed. The question the Astros might have is do they need a back of the rotation starter. Charlie Morton, Joe Musgrove and Mike Fiers all have E.R.A.;s over 4.00; so there could be an upgrade there if that’s a move they want to make. Houston is another team with a top rated minor league system and they could easily make a move for a back of the rotation type of starter.
There’s a little bit of a look at where we are right now in the baseball season. Who do you think will be the first contender to make a trade?
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