Yankees looking for help; NFL Preseason begins; Week in Review

1. With Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira both out to begin the season the Yankees are going to need help at the corners. Kevin Youkilis is penciled in at third base but the Yankees are looking at other options. The Yankees have talked to the agents of Derrek Lee and Scott Rolen and Brian Cashman, the Yankees' GM, has tweeted that he would love for Chipper Jones to come out of retirement; which Chipper says won't happen.
2. Percy Harvin, wide receiver for the Vikings, is expected to be traded to the Seahawks on Tuesday in exchange for the Seahawks first round draft pick. This comes a year after Harvin requested a trade due to dislike for the organization's structure.
3. Evgeni Malkin will be sitting out the next one to two weeks due to a shoudler injury. The Penguins star ran into James van Riemsdyk of the Maple Leafs on Saturday night.
WBC Update

Sakamoto

So first round play is completely done but we will start in Tokyo where Japan  (2-0) defeated the Netherlands (1-1) 16-4. Kenta Maeda got the win for Japan throwing 5 innings only allowing one hit while striking out 9. Japan had five home runs including a grandslam by Hayato Sakamoto.
Venezuela (1-2) defeated Spain (0-3) 11-6 thanks to a 3 for 5 night with a double by Omar Infante. Spain was up 3-0 after the first when Yunesky Sachez had a double and Barbaro Canizares hit a two run homer. Venezuela then took the lead with a 6 run fourth.
Canada (1-2) was leading til the eighth when Adam Jones doubled in Willie Bloomquist and David Wright while Shane Victorino singled in  Jones for the US(2-1). This was huge as it kicked Canada out of the tournament and allowed the US to advance to the second round. Heath Bell got the win for the US throwing one scoreless inning striking out one in the 9-4 win.
The Dominican Republic (3-0) scored once in each the 5th, 6th, and 7th to overcome a 2-1 deficit entering the fifth. Robinson Cano tied things up in the fifth with a solo home run and Alex De Aza scored Carlos Santana in the sixth. In the seventh, Nelson Cruz brought in Edwin Encarnacion to wrap up the 4-2 win . Lorenzo Barcelo threw two innings allowing one run for to get the win .
Cuba (2-2) fell to the Netherlands Kingdom (2-1) 7-6 walkoff style earlier this morning when Kalian Sam's sacrifice fly scored Andrew Jones. Loek Van Mil threw a scoreless top of the ninth striking out two to get the win.

WBC Standings- Updated: Mar 11, 2013
Pool A, Round Two	W	L	GB	RS	RA
Japan	2	0	-17	24	7
Netherlands	2	1	.5	17	24
Cuba	1	2	1.5	22	13
Chinese Taipei	0	2	2	3	18
Pool C, Round One	W	L	GB	RS	RA
Dominican Republic(advance)	3	0	-	19	8
Puerto Rico(advance)	2	1	1	11	7
Venezuela	1	2	2	17	21
Spain	0	3	3	9	20
Pool D, Round One	W	L	GB	RS	RA
United States (advance)	2	1	-	17	11
Italy (advance)	2	1	-	22	15
Mexico	1	2	1	0	2
Canada	1	2	1	18	26

NBA Recap

Durant

The Oklahoma City Thunder took care of the Celtics 91-79 in OKC with Kevin Durant getting the double-double scoring 23 and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Kobe Bryant scored 19 and dished out 9 assists while his teammate Dwight Howard had 21 rebounds in the Lakers 90-81 win over the Bulls. Nate Robinson scored 19 with 8 assists for Chicago.
Alan Anderson led the Raptors with 18 points and Amir Johnson had 16 rebounds for them in their 100-96 win over the Cavs.
Jameer Nelson(24 P, 10A) and Nikola Vucevic (14P, 17 R) each had double-doubles as the Magic defeated the 76ers 99-91. Thaddeus Young dropped 26 points and 12 rebounds for the Sixers.

Ellis

The Heat won their 18th in a row with their first win over the Pacers this season 105-91. Mario Chalmers led the Heat with 26 points while Lebron James only scored 13. Dwayne Wade had 23 points with many of them coming of one of his six steals. David West scored 24 for the Pacers.
Wesley Matthews has really stepped his game recently and he had 24 points last night but Ryan Anderson and Greivis Vasquez each scored 20 for the Hornets in their 98-96 win.
The Mavericks destroyed the Timberwolves 100-77 with Vince Carter leading the way scoring 22 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. Derrick Williams dropped 18 points while getting 9 boards.
The Bucks held off a Kings's fourth quarter comeback to win 115-113. Monta Ellis scored 29 for the Bucks while dishing out 9 assists for the Bucks while DeMarcus Cousins scored 24 and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Kings.
Blake Grffin had 22 points and 8 rebounds and his teammate had 14 rebounds as the Clippers easily defeated the Pistons 129-97.

3/4 to 3/10 NBA All-Star Game Rosters
Pos	East Starters	Pos	West Starters
G	MIL- Monta Ellis	G	LAL- Kobe Bryant
G	MIA- Dwayne Wade	G	HOU- James Harden
F	ATL- Al Horford	F	OKC- Kevin Durant
F	MIA- Lebron James	F	LAC- Blake Griffin
F	BOS- Paul Pierce	C	LAL- Dwight Howard

NHL Recap

Duchene

Matt Duchene scored his second goal of the game with only a second left in overtime as the Avs defeated the Sharks 3-2. Semyon Varlamov made 36 saves in the win.
Zach Parise started off the scoring for the Wild 24 seconds into the game and then scored again in the third in the Wild's 4-2 win against the Canucks. Ryan Suter had two assists for the Wild.
Andrew Cogliano tied things up int he second for the Ducks but Patrik Berglund got the Blues the lead again 2 minutes into the third. Bobby Ryan then tied things up again before Corey Perry scored twice to end off the game 4-2.

Gagner

The Flyers were led by Kimmo Timonen's two assists as they were able to fend off a comeback by the Sabres in the 3rd. Jochen Hecht scored in the third for the Sabres but they were unable to must up any other offense. Claude Giroux and Max Talbot also scored for the Flyers in the 3-2 win.
Chris Kunitz scored 3 goals and assisted on two others as the Penguins beat the Islanders 6-1. Sidney Crosby also assisted on five of the goals and Pascal Dupuis scored twice. Brady Boyes scored the one goal for the Islanders.
After starting the season on such a tear the Blackhawks have lost two in a row including one to the Islanders last night. The Oilers got off to a hot start scoring three goals on Ray Emery int he first and after he got pulled 10 minutes into the game they scored another on Corey Crawford. The Blackhawks got things within two by the end of the second and Patrick Kane scored his second in the third but they were unable to score again. Kane also had an assist while Sam Gagner scored twice for the Oilers in the 6-5 win.

The Panthers scored twice in the third but it was not enough as the Canadiens proved victorious 5-2. The Canadiens had 28 shots on net compared to the Panthers 16. Michael Ryder had two goals and an assist for Montreal and P.K. Subban had three assists.
Matt Calvert broke a 1-1 shootout tie to help the Jackets to a 3-2 win. Johan Franzen scored in the very  beginnings of the third for the Red Wings to bring things up to overtime.
Martin Biron saved 28 of 29 shots as the Rangers defeated the Capitals 4-1. Ryan McDonagh had two assists for the Rangers while Steve Olesky scored the only goal for the Capitals two minutes into the game.

3/4 to 3/10 NHL All-Star Game Rosters
Pos	East Starters	Pos	West Starters
F	CAR- Eric Staal	F	ANA- Ryan Getzlaf
F	NYR- Ryan Callahan	F	COL- Matt Duchene
F	PIT- Chris Kunitz	F	CHI- Jonathan Toews
D	MON- P.K. Subban	D	STL- Alex Pietrangelo
D	TOR- Carl Gunnarsson	D	LA- Slava Voynov
G	WPG- Ondrej Pavelec	G	CLS- Sergei Bobrovsky

NL East Fire Sale

NL East Fire Sales

Zach Cox

 Both the Phillies(45-57) and Marlins (47-55) find themselves more than 10 games out of the wildcard and have decided to call it quits at the trade deadline. Both teams were projected to finish towards the top of the NL East but both teams have fallen short. The Marlins participated in their third fire sale in the 20 years after big free agent grabs Jose Reyes, Heath Bell, and Mark Buehrle. Their first move was sending Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante to the Tigers in exchange for pitching super prospect Jacob Turner and solid prospect C Robert Brantly. Shortly following that was the deal that sent Hanley Ramirez and Randy Choate to the Dodgers for the #2 prospect in the Dodger's system P Nate Eovaldi and throw in prospect Scott McGough. On trade deadline day the Marlins worked out a trades with both the Pirates and the Cardinals. The Marlins sent relief pitcher Edward Mujica(0-3, 4.38 ERA, 2 SV, 36 H) to the Cardinals for 3B prospect Zach Cox who is hitting .254 at the AAA level this year. Cox is 23 years old and probably only a year or two away from the majors. I feel that the Marlins are the winners in this trade because middle relievers are not always consistent from year to year and Mujica isn't anything special this year. In a year when all is lost a veteran reliever does nothing and Cox should be able to help the Marlins for years to come.

Gaby Sanchez

  In the deal with the Pirates the Marlins sent off  one time all star 1B Gaby Sanchez and P Kyle Kaminska in exchange for the Pirates Outfielder Gorkys Hernandez. Kaminska seems to be just thrown in and most likely won't make a huge impact in the Pirates future as they are already stocked with young arms. Gaby Sanchez will replace Casey McGehee who the Pirates sent to the Yankees. Hernandez struggled with the big club this year and is doing okay in AAA after an above average year at AAA last year. He will most likely start off in the majors for the Marlins as Giancarlo "Don't Call Me Mike" Stanton is out for the season and Logan Morrison also on the DL.

Tommy Joseph

  The Phillies seem to have ended their era as kings of the NL East today by sending away their two best outfielders. Hunter Pence was traded to the Giants for OF Nate Schierholtz and catching prospect Tommy Joseph. Pence for Schierholtz straight up would be a great trade for the Giants and even with throwing Joseph in there it still is. The Giants have gotten themselves an elite right fielder that will help them beat out the Dodgers who have also been busy with deal. Tommy Joseph is the best catcher in the Giant's organization and #3 overall. The Giants will not be hurt too much by this because they already have Buster Posey and Andrew Susac is right behind Joseph in the Giant's system. With Carlos Ruiz aging the Phillies made a smart move by picking up a young catcher.
  Not to be outdone by the Giants, the Dodgers made a move of their own to pick up a solid outfielder. By giving up P Josh Lindblom and P Ethan Martin, they received Shane Victorino from the Phillies. Victorino is a career .277 hitter with a .776 OPS and should be expected to take over the starting left fielder role from Bobby Abreu. Abreu has slightly better numbers than Victorino this year but Victorino's speed and defense outweighs the older Abreu. Edit: Dodgers Designate Abreu for assignment.  Worse case scenario for Victorino is 4th outfielder but with plenty of playing time as Ethier and Kemp aren't the most durable players. The Dodgers gave up a package that is as valuable to them as Victorino but it is not great for the Phillies. Victorino means more to the Phillies than the Dodgers and they didn't get many prospects for him. Martin is at best a 3rd tier prospect while Lindblom is the#7 prospect in the Dodger's system. Lindblom has spent the whole 2012 season in the majors with 3.02 ERA in 47.2 innings.

Josh Lindblom

  The Phillies moved John Mayberry to starting center fielder status as a result of the trade as well as Domonic Brown. Mayberry will just be a placeholder in the organization as he is not young enough to be part of the franchises great next wave. The Phillies will most likely play out the rest of most of their contracts and then their prospects will be ready to make a run. The Marlins are in the same situation except that their players with heavy contracts have more years left and aren't quite as old. If the Marlins want to go back to rebuilding mode Reyes, Bell, and Buehrle will want to get out of Miami.

Reaction to Ichiro and Hanley Trades

  As I assume many of you may know by now the Marlins have begun there franchise tradition of fire selling. They have already traded away Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez, and Omar Infante, and there has been rumors that they are also willing to trade Heath Bell. The other big trade this past week has been the Seattle Mariners sending longtime face of the franchise Ichiro to the Yankees. Earlier this week Hawks Report posted about possible trades and while neither of these trades were proposed by us, we did assume the Yankees would get an outfielder and the Marlins would try to get rid of some contracts. While both the Hanley and Ichiro trades seem one sided now, I wanted to take a deeper look into what each team was getting and what they were giving up. I took a look from each team's perspective:

Miami Marlins

Nate Eovaldi

  Both trades the Marlins made just show that they are about to start another Fire Sale. The executives know that they just aren't going to win this year and with the trades they are making they don't plan on winning for a couple of years. Hanley was considered the face of the franchise after winning both a rookie of the year and a batting title but with the acquisition of Jose Reyes over the off-season pushing Hanley to third, he has not been on good terms with the franchise. He was due 31.5 million dollars over the next two years so the cash strapped Marlins made a good move by dealing him. LHP Randy Choate was also sent to the Dodgers in the deal. In return they received pitching prospects Scott McGough and Nate Eovaldi. Eovaldi was the #2 prospect in the Dodgers system according to minorleagueball.com and should be able to contribute in the top of the Marlins rotation for years to come. McGough was drafted out of the University of Oregon last year and was not considered one of the Dodgers top prospects but might make it as a reliever because there development and luck sometimes has a lot to do with luck.

Jaocb Tuner

  In the trade with the Tigers, the Marlins really took a "now" hit but there future actually looks much brighter afterwards. C Robert Brantly may never make it to the majors but there is just a good of a chance that he will, no one is expecting him to be a superstar but if things work out in his and the Marlins favor, he could be a quality major leaguer. The other prospect they received in that trade is Jacob Turner and he is considered to be a no doubt ace. He is only 21 years old and although is has a major league ERA of over 8, his minor league ERA has been just over 3.
  Marlins were able to dump the Contracts of Ramirez (2 years/$31.5 mil overall) and Infante($4 mil). Sanchez is due to become a free agent at the end of the season so the Marlins did the right thing by trying to get some prospects out of him. If the Marlins are going to start a fire-sale, I hope they go full blast, I'd like to see Josh Johnson who is about to make $13.75 million next year (while eligible fro arbitration at the end) go as he needs to be put in a situation where he can win. Heath Bell has to go as he was just a dumb signing and I am sure he can help out somewhere. Jose Reyes and his remaining 5 years $96 million need to be sent elsewhere. Johnson would make a good fit in Toronto who is trying to make a push for the playoffs while having the #1 rated farm system allowing them to make moves. Reyes would fit in at almost any playoff contender but I feel the Braves would be the best fit considering their shortstop problems. Every team in the majors needs a relief pitcher so Bell could find a home anywhere, the only problem is that he $18 mil over the next 2 years with a games finished option for 2015.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Randy Choate

  With the Dodgers two games out of the NL West and one game out of the Wild Card, it makes perfect sense to why they would try to improve their team. Although Hanley has not been having the best year of his career, he will surely be an offensive improvement over .196 hitting Juan Uribe at third.  The Dodgers will lose their #5 starter Nate Eovaldi but that is a hole they should be able to fill and in the long stretch relief pitching is very important and Randy Choate should be able to help out. According to mlb.com, the Dodgers are likely to start Stephen Fife, a 25 year old who had an impressive outing against the Phillies this year, Mattling has said that the pitcher will come from within the organization and it will not be Jamey Wright. McGough is a non-prospect and will not figure into much.

Detroit Tigers

Omar Infante

  Boy, the Tigers must be trying to win it all this year. They splurged for 1B Prince Fielder in the off season and are pretty much renting Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante. Sure Infante has next season under his contract so they will be getting 1.5 years out of him instead of .5. The Tigers are currently tied for the division lead but would be half a game out of the two wildcard spots. The addition of Sanchez makes the Tigers rotation a force to be reckoned with, Sanchez and his 3.94 ERA will be one of the best #5 starters in the league. Omar Infante is hitting .284 this season and will be a huge upgrade from Ramon Santiago who is hitting .216. The Tigers do give up a lot though as their #1 pitching prospect is now in Florida but if they are able to re-sign Sanchez they aren't going to have to worry about pitching for awhile. Rob Brantly, is not a sure thing but giving him up could not have been easy either.

Seattle Mariners

D.J. Mitchell 

  This is a weird trade because the Mariners aren't giving up much (Ichiro was only hitting .261) but they aren't really getting anything. On the other hand, the Yankees could revive Ichiro and get a lot out of him while not really being hurt at all. The Mariners are paying most of Ichiro's contract so they aren't exactly getting out of that. The one thing they get is a culture change, this is no longer the Seattle Ichiro's and they have a new target to build around, Felix Hernandez. RHP D.J. Mitchell has not had success at either the Major league or AAA level this year so if the Mariners get something out of him this year, it will be a surprise. He is 25 so unless he is a late bloomer, he has very little upside left but with how bad the Mariners are, I'm sure he will have a spot in the majors. RHP Danny Farquhar has been on waivers twice this season and probably won't pitch for the Yankees until September call ups if he ever does. He is most famous for having a name that is similar to the king from Shrek, don't expect anything out of him.

New York Yankees 

Dewayne Wise had to be
designated for assignment
because of Ichiro

  The Yankees give up two non-prospects for a guy that has been one of the most consistent hitters in baseball history while only having to pay him $2.5 mil. Sounds like a sure fire winner for them right? Possibly... Ichiro just hasn't been himself this year and if things continue to go down for him, they gave up two guys that might fix things up and become contributors. Everyone knew that the Yankees were going to get an outfielder (Hawks Report suggested Justin Upton, younger, more power, more upside), but no one really expected Ichiro. It shouldn't be that surprising because the Yankees love veteran players and very rarely take chances on young players and prefer prime to past prime players that they can get from other teams. Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, and Brett Gardner are the only position players on the Yankees that are home grown. They Yankees were forced to designate Dewayne Wise for assignment, he has been used for defensive substitutions this year and is most famous for making the catch to save Mark Buehrle's perfect game.

No one knows which teams will turn out to be the winners and losers of these trades. It is safe to say that the Yankees will make the playoffs and they could have done it without Ichiro. The Dodgers and Tigers are fighting for their playoff lives while the Mariners and Marlins will continue to try to win 5 years from now.
  

5 Baseball Trades That Should Happen but Won't

  With the baseball non-waiver trade deadline approaching, teams are starting to sort themselves into two groups; buyers and sellers. This year very few teams are willing to give up on making the playoffs because of the added playoff spot, but it looks as if the Marlins, Mariners, Twins, Royals, Phillies, Cubs, Astros, Padres, and Rockies are out of it. Every other should look to improve their team as most division races are close, some of the trades proposed here might seem a little wacky, but both teams will benefit from them in the long run.

  1. Phillies send Cole Hamels (but only 2/3 of his contract) to BoSox for SS Jose Iglesias and C Blake Swihart
  For the first time in what seems like forever the Phillies are long shots to make the playoffs. There have been rumors that Hamels would be moved but no potential trades have been made public. The Red Sox are only 2 games out of the AL East which is quite an accomplishment considering they have the 19th best ERA in the Majors. Hamels would help bolster their rotation with his 3.07 ERA and 11-4 record. He also has the 12th best WHIP in the game at 1.09, the true measure of how effective a pitcher is. Hamels only has one year left on his contract and is set to make $15 million this year, the Phillies should cover at least 1/3 of the remaining money since the Red Sox need Hamels.

Jose Iglesias

  The Red Sox would be giving up two of their top 10 prospects but Jose Iglesias is the #2 SS in their system and Blake Swihart is their #2 catcher. Sure, both players could switch positions but the Red Sox are pretty set at both second and third so their isn't much room for Iglesias and Swihart is blocked by Ryan Lavarnway and Salty behind the plate and by Adrian Gonzalez at first. The 22 year old Iglesias is Major League ready at short stop and since the Phillies have a rapidly aging infield, they could try to move him to either third or second base. In 2012 so far he has hit .261 in 60 games at AAA and .333 in 10 games in the Majors. Swihart is a 20 year old catcher currently hitting .265 while slugging.393 at A, Carlos Ruiz is 33 years old and by the time Swihart is major league ready, Ruiz may be out of his prime.

  2. Marlins send 2B-OF Chris Coghlan and RHP Heath Bell and get C Hector Sanchez, RHP Heath Hembree, and LHP Mike Kickham
  Let's start off with what the Giants will be sending away in this deal, Catcher Hector Sanchez is only 23 years old and on their Major League roster, sounds like he is too good to give away unless you remember that the Giants also have Buster Posey on their team. Yes, Posey has gotten injured in the past but this is a high risk trade that could provide plenty of reward. The Giants also possess two other catchers in their farm system that could back up as well as current back up Eli Whiteside (who is a douche) who is filling in for the injured Sanchez. Hembree is currently in AAA for the Giants and has taken up the closer role. He has 13 saves in 32 appearances for the Fresno Grizzlies. His 5+ ERA might appear scary but opponents are only hitting .217 off of him. Mike Kickham is more of a long shot to make the major leagues since the Marlins are pretty solid in the rotation and Kickham isn't a top prospect but he could help in the bullpen one day. He has spent 2012 at the AA level and has been doing very well. He is 8-7 with a 2.71 ERA and at 23 seems to be soon ready for the Majors albeit with much upside.

Chris Coghlan

Hector Sanchez

  The Giants will be receiving two good players that have struggled recently but with a change of scenery their luck might change.  At 34 years of age, signing Heath Bell to a multi-year was very, very stupid. He has blown 6 saves for them this year but in the past he was an all-star. Sending him out west might be the best thing for him since he was successful with the Padres and maybe he is just a California type of guy. Chris Coghlan was the Rookie of the Year in 2009 but since then he has been sent down twice by the Marlins, now he is 27 and his career either needs to take off again or it might go down the drain. The Yankees could be another good possible fit for him but the New York pressure could get to him. He is very versatile and could fill in almost any where for the Giants. If this trade would go down, it could turn into nothing or it could win the Giants a World Series and revitalize the Marlins Franchise.

  3. Yankees Acquire RHP J.J. Putz and OF Justin Upton in exchange for cash(TBD), OF Mason Williams, and 3B Tyler Austin

Mason Williams

  What the Yankees get here is a flatout superstar in Justin Upton, he might not have been himself so far but he is still young (24) and has the potential to be great. The Diamondbacks are only 7 games out but have made it clear they went to get rid of Upton and they should also try to get something out of the 8.5 million they spent on him. Since the Yankees have lost both Brett Gardner and Mariano Rivera for the what looks like the rest of the season both their bullpen and outfield have held up well. This doesn't mean that they still can't upgrade. The Yankees are use to taking up old washed up players but this is a chance for them to get quality players at a quality age, Putz is 35 and at the tail end of his career but also the tail end of his contract while Upton still has a few years left on his deal. The Diamondbacks would need to find young talent to help replace Upton in the line up. Since the D-Backs already have plenty of pitching prospects (some are already in Majors) they don't need to receive a pitching prospect. Because the Yanks have money, they are loaded with prospects and even if they trade some away, they can always sign a free agent or go to one of their other prospects. Both Williams and Austin are at the tops of the Yankees system and Williams is 85 in Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects. Austin will soon be able to replace Ryan Roberts at 3rd and is quite a hitter, never hitting below .300 at any stop in the minors. Mason provides an average bat with above average speed as well as some power. Both are only in High-A so they are a couple years away from the show.

  4. Braves give up prospects RHP Zeke Spruil and SS Tyler Pastornicky and Receive Shortstop Marwin Gonzalez and if they can LHP Wesley Wright
  Yes, everyone knows that the Braves have a stacked bullpen but why not try to make it better. Venters is currently hurt and someone other than O'Flaherty has to help get the ball in to Kimbrel's hands. The Braves have a gaping hole at shortstop that they have tried to plug with Paul Janish but that will probably not work out. Gonzalez is only 23 years old and hitting just under .300 in his first year of the majors. He does not produce many homers but he can hit the ball with power in the gap for doubles. Wright would only be used against lefties as righties are hitting over .300 against him but he has held righties down to .185 and has a 4 to 1 K to BB ration against them. The Braves need to win the World Series and everyone in baseball would be happy if they did. Chipper Jones is a no doubt Hall of Famer and this move could earn him a ring.

Marwin Gonzalez 

  The Braves would be giving up quite a bit in this deal though. Pastornicky has already been in the majors and has the ability to turn into a great player, it's just that Gonzalez is one year ahead of him and the Braves need Pastornicky to be one year ahead because of the Jones situation. He hit .252 in 161 Plate Appearances in the Majors this year while hitting .268 at the AAA level. Spruill is in his 4th season out of high school and still appears a while away from the bigs. The second round draft pick has a 4.18 ERA in AA this year while possessing a WHIP of 1.263. Maybe a change of scenery will help this young man out since he could make the Astros better.

5. Cubs send Ryan Dempster to St. Louis and Matt Garza to Baltimore while building for the future up the middle
  Let's first talk about the Ryan Dempster situation, the Cardinals, Nationals, and Braves have all been said to be interested in the pitcher. The Nationals do not need to improve their team what so ever, they would only hurt themselves by giving up prospects to get him. It is understood that in a year they have a chance to win a ring they would go all out, but they have a team that could win it already and if they get him and miss, their future might be in doubt. Same thing goes for the Braves, they have to ask themselves, does this really make us that much better. The answer for them is no and they need a shortstop more than another pitcher. Both St. Louis and Baltimore are in contention for the world series and by picking up another pitcher.

Dan Klein

  The Orioles would be giving up a lot in this proposed trade as they would be sending their #2 and #3 pitching prospects as well as their #1 OF prospect. Robert Bundy is the older brother of the O's top pitching prospect Dylan Bundy, so maybe moving out of the shadow of younger brother will be good for him. He will not be a top of the rotation pitcher but could have good effect coming of out of the bullpen or being at the end of the rotation. Dan Klein is 23 years old and has an ERA of 1.11 between AA and High A this year, the only problem is that he is constantly injured. If he can stay healthy, there is no reason why he can't be the future of the Cubs organization. The Outfielder they would be giving up is Glynn Davis, this kid can run and he has an average stick, he will boost their defense by covering a lot of ground but he is only in High A and a couple of years away from the Majors. Some might say that this is giving up way too much for Garza but this might be the only year that everything falls right in their season.

Mitch Harris

  The Cardinals wouldn't have to give up as much because Dempster has the ability to become a free agent after this season unlike Garza, who is still bound by arbitration. They send away RHP Mitch Harris, RHP Trevor Rosenthal, and C Cody Stanley. Mitch Harris is a pitcher that the Cardinals drafted in 2008 but since he attended the Naval Academy he has been busy fulfilling his service obligation and the Cubs could use him for PR since an appearance by him would potentially increase attendance. Rosenthal has a 2.78 ERA in AA this year and if he keeps it up, he could end up in the show soon, but the Cardinal's door is closing and Dempster could help them win now. Stanley is not as hot of a prospect as he is 23 and struggled offensively  in A since being called up from Rookie Ball. In 4 years in the minors he has thrown out 41% of base runners so he has more upside behind the plate than at it.

All these trades have the potential to help one team win the World Series this year and another win it 5 years ago. In baseball, some players become worthless to one team because of either better players at their position or they simply don't fit into the system. Some teams in this trade are obviously winners over the other. Prospects are never a sure thing so teams do take a risk by sending away their star, but when you suck you have to do something.  It is almost 99% sure that none of these trades will happen, but you never know what will happen at the trade deadline.