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With the Major League Baseball season winding down I just randomly started thinking about next season and I realized something. There is a really good chance that the American League plays out the exact same way that it did this season. And when I say the same I mean division winners wild card teams and even the standings themselves. Here’s what I mean.

In the AL East the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays aren’t going to be playoff contenders even though the Blue Jays have some good young talent at the major league level they’re still a long way away from contending. The New York Yankees should be good again and they could be even better if they just stay healthy. If the Yankees perceive they have a weakness they’ll attempt to sign a free agent or make a trade. The Tampa Bay Rays should contend just because it seems like they always contend even when everyone counts them out. At times you wonder how they do it but they always seem to be in the playoff race. The only thing that could have an effect on the division is what the Boston Red Sox decide to do this off season. The Red Sox fine themselves trapped up against the luxury tax and there aren’t too many choices for them. They can either hang onto their players and pay the luxury tax or they can deal a player or two and try to get under or close to under that luxury tax. Will have to see how the new front office handles things as we head into the off season in about a week.

As we jump into the AL Central again we have two teams that you can eliminate right away. The Detroit Tigers and the Kansas City Royals won’t be contending for a playoff spot next season as their rebuilds continue. Even though the Minnesota Twins seem to be a playoff contender ever other year there’s a good chance will see them at or near the top of this division next season. The Cleveland Indians and the Chicago White Sox hold the keys to how this division goes next year. Remember last off season the Indians where doing everything they could to cut payroll and at the trade deadline they finally moved Trevor Bauer. Will the payroll cut continue or will the Indians go a different route? Cleveland does seem to have built a good young core of pitchers; so maybe they could hang around in the wild card race if they do decide to trade off some of their higher salaried players. The White sox are an interesting team heading into next season because their rebuild seems to be coming along very well and it looks like they’ll have another young player or two in their everyday line up next season. It looks like the White Sox have two very good young pitchers at the top of their rotation, but if they add one of the top veteran starters this off season that could allow them to contend. The question is; are they ready to spend some money?

As we head out to the AL West it is clear that the Houston Astros are at and look like they’ll be at the top of this division for the time being. While the Astros do have some key free agents that they have to make decisions on it appears as even if they loose a couple of them they have young players in their farm system ready to try and step into that opening. The Oakland A’s are an interesting team as they just seem to hang around and the next thing you know they’re a wild card team. The A’s have been waiting for some help from the young pitchers in their organization, but they seem to keep getting hurt; so who knows if or when they’ll get that help. I think that you could lump the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Angels in the same group. It doesn’t look like either team is rebuilding, but it also doesn’t look like either team will contend. It seems like the Angels have been looking for pitching help since Mike Trout was a rookie while the Rangers just seem to have a mix of veterans and they hope they’ll all have big seasons at the same time. Even though they got off to a fantastic start the Seattle Mariners weren’t going to be a payoff team this season and they won’t be a playoff team for the foreseeable future as they just started to tear down this team.

Obviously we’re quite a ways away from next season; so this could all change due to free agent signings and injuries, but even with those moves I’m not sure how much this would change. I believe that there are only a few American League teams that could improve enough to challenge for a playoff spot next season and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if we see the same American League teams in the playoffs next season as this season.

Now the National League is a completely different story. Remember not too long ago there where seven teams that still had a chance at a wild card spot. It seems like the only thing that looks like it might play out the same in the National League next season as it did this season is the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the NL West. There are multiple contenders in the NL East and NL Central; so those divisions should be up for grabs next season.

In the end what I’m wondering is if this is good for baseball if the American League plays out the same next season. Will fans of the rebuilding teams get bored with the fact that there is no movement in the division and wild card races or will they continue to support their team as they pile up losses as they go through those rebuilds?

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This will be the We’re under 20 games left in baseball’s regular season and a couple of teams that are fighting for a wild card spot just lost their top players.

Last week the Chicago Cubs lost Javier Baez to a fractured thumb. Then just last night the Milwaukee Brewers lost Christian Yelich to a fractured kneecap To no one’s surprise both players will be out for the remainder of the regular season.

There are actually some reports that have Baez returning in October, but I think that’s going to be more of a wait and see type of situation.

As for Yelich you have to figure he’s done and you have to wonder if the Brewers playoff chances went with him.

Over the weekend Milwaukee took three of four from the Cubs. The Brewers have won of their last  games and have cut the Cubs lead for the second National League wild card spot to just one game.

Obviously it’s going to be tough for the Brewers to make up even that one game with their best player out, but don’t count them out. The one thing that Milwaukee has on it’s side is going to be the schedule. After the Brewers wrap up this series with the Miami Marlins they head to St. Louis for a three game series with the NL East leading Cardinals. That the series with the Cardinals Milwaukee won’t play a team with a winning record as they close out the season.

Once the Brewers are done with the Cardinals this weekend they’ll have two series at home. One against the San Diego Padres and then one against the Pittsburgh Pirates before they finish the season on the road. They’ll got to Cincinnati to play the Reds before they wrap up the season with 3 games in Colorado against the Rockies.

As for the Cubs they’re wrapping up a series against the Padres before coming home for three series. They’ll host the Pirates for 3 games, the Reds for 3 games and then the cardinals in a four game series. The Cubs also wrap up their season on the road, but there games are in the division as they go to Pittsburgh for 3 games before finishing the season with 3 games in St, Louis against the Cardinals.

The Cubs do have the second best home record in the National League, but they’ve been terrible on the road. The Brewer as have been good at home as well. They have the fifth best home record in the National League, but just like the Cubs haven’t been very good on the road.

You might also be surprised to learn the Brewers actually have a negative run differential. Milwaukee is -27 in that category while the Cubs are a +81.

Don’t forget that if either or both of these teams falter there are still three teams that are close enough to take that final wild card spot away from them. The Philadelphia Phillies are two games back. The Arizona Diamondbacks are two and a half games back while the New York Mets are still in the mix just three games back.

The St. Louis slowly pulling away in the NL Central and the Washington Nationals looking like they’ve locked down one of the NL wild card spots this is the last race left undecided down the stretch.

So who do you have taking the last wild card spot? Will the Cubs hold on? Or can the Brewers continue to stay hot without Yelich? Will one of the other three contenders end up with that final playoff spot?

The Most important part of Yelich’s injury was how it affect the Brewers and their playoff chances, but his injury also affects something else; the MVP race.

Yelich was the National League MVP last season and was definitely in the race for the award again this season. It seems to me that with Yelich most of the reports I’ve heard have just more or less handed the award to Cody Bellinger, but that may be a little quick to judgement there.

Bellinger is clearly the best player on one of if not the best team in baseball, but his batting average has fallen to .306 and he’s had some second half struggles. I’m not sure if this has opened the door for another player, but there are some options out there.

Has no one noticed the kind of season that Anthony Rendon has had and just imagine where the Nationals would be without him. Rendon is currently leading the National League in hitting at .335. He also has 41 doubles, 32 home runs and 114 RBI’s. Sounds like an MVP candidate to me.

I’m also hoping that people are considering Freddie Freeman as an MVP. Freeman is hitting .305 and he has 38 home runs and 117 RBI’s and is the clear leader of this Atlanta Braves team that is running away with the NL East.

Now Yelich is still going to get MVP votes and deservedly so, but missing the final 18 regular season games is going to hurt his chances of repeating.

I’m not even going to get into any kind of debate on who the MVP in the American League is. There are no if and’s or but’s about it; Mike Trout is going to win the MVP and I won’t be surprised if he’s a unanimous choice for the award.

Now there have been a lot of seasons where the media has tried to force Trout into the MVP conversation when he didn’t belong there, but this season is not one of those. Even with though he’s missed a few games lately due to a toe injury he still has 45 home runs and 104 RBI’s for a under .500 Los Angeles Angels team. Trout is also hitting .291 this season and while he has struck out 120 times he has walked 110 times. He has also made it into double digits in stolen bases as he’s at 11 right now.

This will be the sixth time in the last seven seasons that Trout has finished 1st or second in MVP voting and the one time he didn’t finish in the Top 2 he finished 4th. He was also hurt that season and only played in 114 games the year he finished 4th.

Even with Trout putting up these numbers the Angels have only managed to get into the playoffs one time in 2014. Trout is signed with the until 2030, but at this point you have to wonder if will see Trout in the playoffs at some point in time.

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The New York Mets found a way to get themselves back into playoff contention earlier this season when everyone had counted them out. It looks like the Mets have put themselves in another hole as they entered last nights game against the Philadelphia Phillies on a 6 game losing streak. The Mets where swept in back to back series first on the road by the NL East leading Atlanta Braves and then at home by the Chicago Cubs; a team they’re batting for a wild card spot.

With a starting rotation like the Mets have they’d hoped that these type of losing streaks would be avoidable, but each starter had a chance to stop the losing streak and couldn’t get it done. Last night it was Zach Wheeler’s second shot at stopping the streak.

Wheeler pitched well as he allowed just 1 run over 6 innings, but Phillies starter Aaron Nola matched him also giving up just 1 run over 6 1/3rd innings. So as it turned into a bullpen game you had to think that the Mets might be looking at another loss with the bullpen issues they had this season.

Mike Morin came out of the Phillies bullpen to start the 8th inning Mori had been pitching very well for the Phillies out of their bullpen as he had given up just 1 earned run in his last 10 appearances, but the Mets where able to get to him.

Pete Alonso and Michael Conforto started the inning off with singles before J.D. Davis popped into an infield fly rule for the first out before Joe Panik walked to load the bases. Amed Rosario singled to centerfield to score Alonso and Conforto to give the Mets a 3-1 lead and end Morin’s night. Jared Hughes came out of the Phillies bullpen and Todd Frazier greeted him with a 3-run home run to leftfield to give the Mets a 6-1 lead. Frazier was the only better Hughes faced as after the home run Edgar Garcia came in and got Wilson Ramos and Juan Lagares to hit into ground outs to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 8th inning Edwin Diaz was on the mound for the Mets and he worked a 1,2,3 inning picking up two strikeouts in the inning. It looked like it might be a night for Diaz to work 2 innings, but after the Mets top half of the 9th they went a different route.

Jeff McNeil lined out to start the inning, but them Alonso singled again before Conforto hit a 2-run home run to give the Mets a 8-1 lead. Davis drew a walk before Panik doubled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Rosario struck out for the 2nd out and that brought up Frazier who proceeded to hit his second 3-run home run in as many innings to make it 11-1. Ramos struck out to end the inning, but it looked like the Mets losing streak was going to end, but they didn’t make it easy on themselves in the bottom of the 9th.

With a 10 run lead Diaz was taken out of the game and Chris Mazza came in out of the Mets bullpen for some hopefully mop up duty. Mazza got the first hitter he face Scott Kingery to line out for the 1st out. Adam Haseley singled and then pinch hitter Logan Morrison drew a walk. Corey Dickerson singled to drive in Haseley and move Morrison over to 3rd making it an 11-2 game. J.T. Realmuto was able to drive Morrison in with a sacrifice fly to make it 11-3, but that was also the 2nd out; so things where looking good for the Mets. Dickerson moved up to 2nd base on defensive indifference before Bryce Harper drove him in with a double to make it 11-4. That wasn’t quite the end for Mets fans as Rhys Hoskins followed Harper’s double with a double of his own to drive in Harper and make it an 11-5 game. Finally Mazza was able to end the Mets losing streak as he got Jean Segura to ground out to 2nd for the final out of the game.

Not the most convincing way to end a losing streak, but on the plus side the Mets did score 5 runs in each of the final two innings. The Mets losing streak official ends at 6 even with an interesting 9th inning.

The Mets will look to extend this new winning streak to 2 games today. Steven Matz (8-8) gets the start for the Mets this afternoon and he’ll face his former teammate Jason Vargas (6-6) who’ll be making the start for the Phillies.

This is a big series as far as the NL wild card race is concerned. It appears as that both the Mets and the Phillies are too far behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East; so winning the division is out of the question. That leaves both teams in the hunt for a wild card spot. Currently the Washington Nationals have a 2 1/2 game lead over the Chicago Cubs for the first wild card spot while the Cubs are 3 1/2 games ahead of the Phillies with the Arizona Diamondbacks 4 1/2 games back. The Mets and the Milwaukee Brewers are still hanging around in the wild card race, but both teams are 5 games back and really can’t afford to lose any more ground.

If the Mets can win or even sweep this series with the Phillies it would allow them to gain quite a few games on a team ahead of them in the wild card race. The Brewers are in a similar position as they are visiting the Cubs this weekend. The Diamondbacks have a tough weekend series with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Arizona will need to find a way to stay in the wild card race against one of the best teams in baseball.

All of these teams are chasing the Nationals and they seem to have the easiest weekend series as they’re facing the team with the worst record in the National League the Miami Marlins.

Now you didn’t see the St. Louis Cardinals name come up in the wild card talk and that’s because they currently lead the NL Central. St. Louis has a 1 game lead over the Cubs heading into today’s action, but it looks as though the Cardinals schedule isn’t going to do them any favors over the weekend.

After a rain out last night the Cardinals will host the Cincinnati Reds in a doubleheader to make up that game. While there aren’t a lot of doubleheaders in today’s game they’re not unusual. What makes this whole situation odd is the fact that not only are the Reds and the Cardinals scheduled to pay a doubleheader today, but they are also scheduled to play a doubleheader tomorrow.

This is a huge quirk in the schedule and I’m surprised that the players union hasn’t said something about this. Just imagine of the Cardinals lost all four of these games or even three of four it could be a huge swing in the standings. Of course it could go completely the other way of St. Louis won all four of these games or took three of four.

How do you think this goes for the Cardinals?

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I’m not sure how any people remember this and I know that the people who said and wrote it will never admit to it now, but when the New York Yankees signed DJ LeMahieu they didn’t think it would be a good signing. By the time the Yankees had signed LeMahieu they had already added Troy Tulowitzki and believe it or not these people thought that Tulowitzki was the answer at shortstop until Didi Gregorius returned from his injury. How did that work out?

Tulowitzki managed to stay healthy for 5 games and hit just .182 before announcing his retirement. Good thing the Yankees where smart enough to sign LeMahieu as well as Tulowitzki even though there where people out their who thought it was a bad idea.

Of course sign LeMahieu was coming to the Yankees from the Colorado Rockies there was immediately talk about if his stats would translate, but they seem to forget that LeMahieu isn’t a power hitter.

In 7 seasons with the Rockies LeMahieu hit .299 and won a batting title. He only hit 49 home runs in his seven seasons with the Rockies, but he 161 doubles while with them. As a 2nd baseman for the Rockies LeMahieu picked up three Gold Gloves.

There may have been one or two people after the signing who realized that LeMahieu’s swing was going to play really well in Yankee Stadium and it has. LeMahieu is hitting .339 and has set a career high in home runs already with 21. For some reason people seemed to forget that LeMahieu has always been good at hitting the ball to the opposite field and Yankee Stadium has that short porch in rightfield; so that may explain the increase in home runs. LeMahieu is currently sitting at 86 RBI’s; so it looks like he’s on his way to his first career 100 RBI season.

With the injuries the Yankees have had this season imagine if they would’ve listen to some of the people out their and passed on LeMahieu. The Yankees may still be a playoff team if they had made another choice and let LeMahieu sign somewhere else, but they might not have the 10 game lead that they have in the AL East and their road to the playoffs might’ve been a lot tougher.

Pretty much every year they try to stuff Mike Trout down everyone’s throat for AL MVP, but this season there’s no need for that as he is probably going to be a unanimous for that award. If not for Trout having the season he’s having it may be LeMahieu who would be the player being talked about as an MVP. It looks like LeMahieu will finish a strong 2nd in the MVP voting which would be the highest finish in his career.

On the plus side for Yankees fans when they decided to sign LeMahieu they signed him to a two year deal; so he’ll be with the team next season.

Each team in Major League Baseball has a little over 30 games to play and there are still quite a few teams hanging around in the playoff race even if it is just for a wild card spot. We’ve seen wild card teams win the World Series before; so teams just need to get in.

As the Boston Red Sox slowly fade away it looks like there will be three teams in a race to for wild card spots. Right now the Cleveland Indians have one of those wild card spots while the Oakland A’s and the Tampa Bay Rays are pretty much tied for the final wild card spot.

In the National League it’s a different story as you can rightfully say there are seven teams with a legitimate shot at earning one of the two wild card spots. Currently the Washington Nationals and the Chicago Cubs who are holding down the wild card spots, but there are some teams nipping at their heels. The Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets are just 2 games out of a wild card spot. The Milwaukee Brewers are just 3 1/2 games out of a wild card spot. The Arizona Diamondbacks are 4 games out of a wild card spot and even though the San Francisco Giants have cooled off from the way they played in July they are still hanging around just 4 1/2 games out of a wild card spot.

The A’s don’t have any games left against either the Indians or the Rays, but next Friday the Rays will host a three game series with the Indians. Since we are looking at just three games with over 30 games left it might not mean a whole lot in the standings, but it could send one of those teams in a direction they don’t want to go.

Of course with so many teams involved in the wild card race they’re going to have quite a few games against each other. Also the Cubs and the Brewers are still right there in the race for 1st place in the NL Central; so it may be the St. Louis Cardinals as the Central team that’s chasing a wild card berth. The Cubs are just a 1/2 out of 1st place in the NL Central while the Brewers are currently 4 games out of the division lead.

In an interesting move the Atlanta Braves claimed outfielder Billy Hamilton off of waivers from the Kansas City Royals. Hamilton struggled with the Royals hitting just .211 in 93 games with the Royals. Now the Braves have suffered some injuries in the outfield as Nick Markakis and Ender Inciarte have recently joined Austin Riley on the Injury List. The interesting thing about the Hamilton signing is the way the Braves had said they’re goin to use him.

Atlanta has more or less said that they have no plans to let Hamilton make any plate appearances. That means he’ll be used exclusively as a defensive replacement and pinch runner. Hamilton has always bee a top base stealer and even in a down season he still had 18 steals which put him 2nd on the Braves as soon as he was acquired.

How do you think the Hamilton signing will work out for the Braves? Do you think that he’ll get any at bats with them?

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Can you name a team in Major League Baseball that doesn’t need help in their bullpen. Go ahead take some time and let me know if you come up with a team. I think if you did find a bullpen you’re comfortable with it was a stretch to get there. Why is this; well I think I have an idea.

As teams began to protect young starting pitchers more and more those inning had to go somewhere. Think about it. Unless you’re a top tier veteran pitcher with a proven track record as soon as you get close to the 100 pitch mark or you’re about to face the teams you’re pitching against line up for the 3rd time the bullpen is up and going. The you add in that even the best pitcher in baseball is going to have a short start to two as the season goes on. Where do those inning go?

Think about this; if a teams starting pitcher averages just 5 innings a game that leaves 648 innings over the course of a season for the bullpen to cover. It’s insane to expect them to be able to do that.

In the American League the division leaders are currently the New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Minnesota Twins. In the National League you have the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals leading their respective divisions. The Yankees have 22 blown saves, the Astros have 16 blown saves while the Twins have 17 blown saves. On the other side the Dodgers have 20 blown saves, the Braves have 22 blown saves and the Cardinals have 10 blown saves this season.

Looking at this there seems to be an easy fix to it, but teams don’t seem to want to go that route. Just teach your starting pitchers in the minor leagues how to pitch deeper into games. It sounds simple doesn’t it and you have to wonder why teams don’t want to do it. Instead they’d just rather load their bullpens up with hard throwers an hope they can piece together the end of games.

I’m not sure how many people remember this, but when Nolan Ryan was President and CEO of the Texas Rangers from 2008 to 2013 one of the things he said he wanted the team to do was teach starting pitchers how to work deeper into games and he got killed for it by just about everyone.

In case you don’t know baseball history Nolan Ryan was a first ballot Hall of Famer who received 98.8% of the vote the year he was inducted. That is currently the 4th highest percentage of a player who was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Only Mariano Rivera, Ken Griffey Jr. and Tom Seaver have received more votes than Ryan when they where eligible for the Hall of Fame.

As a pitcher Ryan appeared in 827 games; 773 as a starter, He threw 5386 innings in his career. Oh; Ryan is also the leader in career strikeouts by a pitcher with 5714, but when he suggested starters try to pitch longer in games he was treated like someone who was stuck in his era and didn’t understand the way the game has changed.

I’m sure there’s some sabermetric stat or an algorithm out there to back up the way pitchers are handled in today’s game, but you have to wonder if Ryan was right. I understand that the risk of injury goes up the more innings a starter pitchers, but you could say that about anything in baseball. A manager has a better chance of getting injured with the more trips he has to make to the mound.

Now I’m not talking about a starting pitcher having to go out and pitch a complete game in every starter, but even if he could give his team an average of 6 inning a start he’d be helping to save the bullpen. in a 5-man rotation if each pitcher went one more inning in each start it would save the bullpen 810 innings in a season. you can’t tell me that wouldn’t be a big help.

Sadly there’s probably not a team out their that’s willing to step out of line and allow starting pitchers to work deeper in games. I guess there’s no sabermetric stat that figures out the wear and tear on your bullpen when your starters aren’t throwing any innings.

It looks like the NL Rookie of the Year race just lost one of it’s top contenders. San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. was placed on the IL this week with a stress reaction in his back. Padres manager Andy Green said that Tatis Jr. is “most likely done for the season”.

Tatis Jr. was in the thick of the Rookie of the Year race with Pete Alonso of the New York Mets and Mike Soroka of the Atlanta Braves.

Tatis Jr. missed some games earlier in the season with a leg injury, but he had played in 84 games for the Padres this season. Tatis Jr. was hitting .317 with 22 home runs which is 2nd among rookies. Alonso is the home run leader with 39. Tatis Jr. also had 16 stolen bases which is also 2nd among rookies. Victor Robles of the Washington Nationals leads all rookies with 19 stolen bases.  His .317 batting average was also 2nd among all rookie as Bryan Reynolds of the Pittsburgh Pirates is leading all rookies with a .334 batting average.

If he would’ve stayed healthy and played out the season it’s clear that Tatis Jr. would’ve received serious consideration for the Rookie of the Year award. Even if he does miss the rest of the season as expected he’ll still gets some votes for Rookie of the Year, but he wont be in the running to win the award.

Tatis Jr. is just 20 years old and he is definitely one of the building blocks as San Diego tries to catch up the top teams in the NL West. With a 56-64 record it’s probably a better choice for the Padres to just shut Tatis Jr. down for the rest of the season even if there is a chance he could come back. At this point in their rebuild there’s just no reason for them to take a chance with what is clearly a future superstar.

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For the last three seasons the Cleveland Indians have won the American League Central. Unfortunately, those three division win have only equaled one trip to the World Series. In 2016 World Series the Indians lost 4 games to 3 to the Chicago Cubs.

Currently, the Indians are 3 games behind the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central. Cleveland also is holding the top wild card spot in the American League right now. The Indians are currently 2 games ahead in the wild card race. 

Even with a winning franchise the Indians just can’t seem to get fans to show up. Through 53 games this season the Indians ranked 20th out of 30 major league teams. On average Cleveland draws 20,565 fans per game. Besides winning a World Series you have to wonder what else Indians fans need to better support this team.

It appears the low fan turnout has finally gotten to the Indians. This past off season, they allowed Michael Brantley to leave as a free agent and they dealt veterans Edwin Encarnacion and Yan Gomes to try and cut some payroll. There was even talk that the Indians would be willing to deal a couple of their top pitchers be it Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco or Trevor Bauer.

None of the deals for those pitchers materialized during the off season, but it was definitely something that needed to be  kept an eye on. Then Kluber was struck by a line drive and suffered a non-displaced fracture of his right ulna bone. Now Kluber is beginning to throw off a mound in his rehab but he won’t be returning until late August. Carrasco was the next Indians pitcher to hit the IL and his was quite serious as he was diagnosed with leukemia. Carrasco has started a throwing program, but there is no timetable for his return. That left Bauer as the only starter left that they tried to trade in the off season.

Now as far as top of the rotation starters Bauer was an affordable alternative as he was making $13 million dollars this season through arbitration. Bauer has one more year of arbitration before he’ll hit free agency after next season.

In the end it took a three team deal, but the Indians where finally able to move Bauer. It was the Indians, the Cincinnati Reds and the San Diego Padres who coordinated this deal and here’s who landed where.

The Reds were the team that ended up with Bauer. San Diego ends up with Cincinnati outfield prospect Taylor Trammell while the Indians bring 5 players back to Cleveland in this deal. From Cincinnati Cleveland receives Yasiel Puig and Scott Moss. Going from San Diego to Cleveland is Franmil Reyes, Logan Allen and Victor Nova.

It was reported that one of the things Cleveland was looking to acquire was a power hitting outfielder and they got two in Puig and Reyes. Puig has 22 home runs so far this season while Reyes sits at 27 home runs. Carlos Santana was the Indians home run leader with 22 before this trade.

So the Indians end up with 2 quality major league outfielders and three prospects. The Reds get a top of the rotation starter. Which is something they’ve been looking for all season and the Padres get a top outfield prospect who is ranked anywhere from 11th to 33rd depending on which publication you read.

Now the Indians are the only one of these three teams that are in the playoff race and you have to wonder how dealing a top starter like Bauer will affect that. The Indians have a couple of 24 year old starting pitchers in Shane Bieber and Zach Plesac who seem to have started to establish themselves and if Mike Clevenger can stay healthy it looks like Cleveland will be able to hang around not only in the AL Central, but in the wild card race.

Don’t forget if Kluber comes back healthy and is anywhere near the pitcher he use to be the Indians will be adding a former Cy Young award winner to their rotation for the final month of the season.

To be honest, when I first saw this trade reported I wasn’t sure that Cleveland had not gotten enough for a pitcher like Bauer, but now that I’ve had the time to sit down and take a full look at the trade, I think they did vey well. Of course the difficult thing with any deal is you just never know how a prospect is going to turn out. Scott Moss is in Double-A while Victor Nova has only played in Rookie League. Logan Allen made 8 appearances for San Diego 4 of which where starts covering 25 1/3rd innings; so he looks to be major league ready if the Indians want to add him to the roster, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s assigned to Triple-A to begin with.

So now it’s up to you. Who got the better of this deal? Do you like the group of players the Indians got back? Or is it the single players that either the Reds or the Padres got in this deal that have drawn your interest?

While Bauer was the big name pitcher that was dealt yesterday there were two middle relievers traded yesterday that come really help their new teams.

The Chicago Cubs acquired reliever David Phelps from the Toronto Blue Jays for right-hander Tom Hatch who is currently in Double-A. The Atlanta Braves also added some bullpen help as they acquired Chris Martin of the Texas Rangers who’s name was involved with a lot of teams as a bullpen piece. The Rangers received left-hander Kolby Allard who is currently in Triple-A, but did appear in 3 games last season for Atlanta.

It seems as though every team could use some kind of help in the bullpen; so I won’t be surprised if we see a lot of reliever get moved at the trade deadline, but with Bauer off of the board there aren’t too may big time starters out there to trade for.

With the New York Mets acquiring Marcus Stroman over the weekend, will we see them deal Noah Syndergaard, Zach Wheeler or both? The San Francisco Giants are just 2 1/2 games out of a playoff spot, will they keep Madison Bumgarner or trade him? It looks like the Detroit Tigers have decided to hang onto Matthew Boyd, but could the right deal change the Tigers mind? The Arizona Diamondbacks might also be a factor at the trade deadline if they decide to trade Zach Greinke or Robbie Ray.

That’s not a lot of starting pitchers, so there could be some teams battling to acquire one of these guys. This should make it interesting to see what happens later today at the deadline.

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