Sports: MLB

[Tornado]

Their pitching and offense is not what it was last year. If V Mart stays healthy and JD continues to be great and Verlander is good again and we pick up someone for the bullpen, we have a chance. They are doing well in division though so that is certainly encouraging.

[Heroscape Elffy]

Originally Posted by Tornado

Their pitching and offense is not what it was last year. If V Mart stays healthy and JD continues to be great and Verlander is good again and we pick up someone for the bullpen, we have a chance. They are doing well in division though so that is certainly encouraging.

All we need is a guy battling recent bouts of injury to stay healthy, a guy who surprised everyone to continue doing that, a guy who hasn't pitched well in the last year and a half to stop being bad, and the bullpen to recover from its recent bout hitting bats. You know, easy stuff.

As for real life, the Twins are somehow still above .500. So I'm looking for that tank here in the next 3 weeks.

[Heroscape Elffy]

Well, the Twins haven't actually tanked yet. And the Non-Waiver Trade deadline happened, and none of you have said anything?! Come on, guys!

1. Toronto clearly won the trade deadline this year. Netting David Price, Troy Tulowitzki, Ben Revere, and LaTroy Hawkins, they bolstered their rotation, added a solid, yet very old, bullpen piece (he's pitching 3.20 ERA ball through 25 IP), a powerful bat, and very good outfield defense. They want that World Series they were promised in 1994.

2. KC was a pretty close second. Seems like everyone I talk to absolutely hates Johnny Cueto, and as a Twins fan, I will probably jump on that bandwagon after his first start against them. They also got the versatile Zobrist, shoring up their defensive woes (does KC know what those are?) at wherever they have some.

3. The Dodgers are my number 3 team. They got two solid rotation guys, Latos and Wood, and added some bullpen help in Jim Johnson and Avilan.

4a. Rangers tied this spot, simply because they got Cole Hamels. I need no other reason.

4b. Mets' acquisition of Uribe and Johnson early in the deadline rush confused me a little bit, but they also added the power bat/arm of Cespedes and the good backstop of Clippard. They don't really have much for negotiating exclusively with Cespedes about an extention at the end of the season though, and I don't think he'll resign with the Mets.

6. The Houston Astros splashed big, netting themselves Scott Kazmir as a rental, and a year and a half of Carlos "Go-Go" Gomez plus several years of Mike Fiers. Not only was this contention in the first half a surprise, so is the fact that they're STILL contending.

Everyone else, in no particular order:
Cardinals (Brandon Moss, Steve Cishek, Jonathan Broxton): Another corner outfield/ first baseman that strikes out a lot, another decent bullpen side-armer, and an inconsistent back-end guy that should probably start the move to middle relief. Kind of a meh deadline.

Angels (David Murphy, David DeJesus, Shane Victorino): Old guy, Older guy, and slightly younger Old guy. All corner outfield platoon candidates who are veterans? Kinda weird.

Pirates (Joakim Soria, Aramis Ramirez, J.A. Happ, Michael Morse, Joe Blanton): Lets see...Great back end guy, a resurged third baseman, and Happ, Morse, and Blanton.

Cubs (Dan Haren, Tommy Hunter): The Cubs were able to pick up Dan Haren, who might? retire after this season, a season in which he's pitched to a 7-7 record with the Marlin, an East Cost team, with a 3.42 ERA in 129 IP, despite the fact that he said he would retire immediately if he was not going to be a member of a team on the West Coast. Very solid middle rotation guy. They also got Tommy Hunter, a solid bullpen piece, in exchange for not having Junior Lake on their roster. So the Cubs won, that trade flat out.

Nationals (Jonathan Papelbon), Giants (Mike Leake), Twins (Kevin Jepsen), Padres (Marc Rzepczynski): Four teams, three relievers, one starter. All of these teams took one shot, and that's it.

Orioles (Gerardo Parra): I just really like watching Gerardo Parra do his best Dikembe Mutombo impression when someone tries to go first-to-third on him when he plays right field. Otherwise, no opinion.

[Sherman Davies]

I agree that Toronto made the biggest splash, tradewise. Tulowitzki is obviously the big name, but they should benefit from Hawkins as well. He pitched relief for my Mets in 2013 and was great, age be damned. (Then again, I would say that, since my team has a 42-year old starter. ) They are making a serious push to topple the Yankees, and I wish them well.

Cespedes is definitely a rental for my Mets, regardless of what the FO is saying to keep the fans dangling. No matter - if he helps us get to the playoffs it will have been worth the two prospects we sent to Detroit. He hasn't quite gotten the chance to play the hero yet, but his presence (along with Uribe and Johnson) seems to have energized our anemic lineup.

[Tornado]

"A Cespedes, for the rest of us." Jerry Seinfeld

Farewell Centipede. You were a great Tiger.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Oh, ye of little faith!

A season is long. Duda had proven that he could hit. Other key players were playing hurt or injured. While these things are happening, they affect the wa of all the players. Now, not only are the new players energized by their new circumstances, but they are also energizing the rest of the team, and sharing the pressure, making it all fun again. And whose to say Cespedes won't "get it" while playing with the Mets, and wants to be a part of the beginning of an historic baseball team. At the moment, they are greater than the sum of their parts. (Note that a similar thing is happening, though for just this year, with the Yankees.)

[Sherman Davies]

Cespedes staying with the Mets after this season isn't about faith, it's about players of his caliber wanting to be paid what they're worth, and the Mets simply do not have the financial ability to sign him to the kind of contract he will be expecting after this year. That's not even taking into account his unusual contract structure as an international free agent, which would mean he'd have to resign with them before hearing any other offers. It is incredibly unlikely that non-financial motivators like living in NYC or being part of a team that has the potential to be a consistent contender for the next few years will be enough for Cespedes to accept playing for significantly less than he could make elsewhere. That's just the nature of the business, and has been for a while. It's why crying Wilmer Flores was such a sensation last week - that kind of loyalty to a team is rare in this day and age.

Also, the indefinite article "an" is used before vowel sounds, so it should be "a historic baseball team."

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Just watched the final inning and a half of Mets 12-3 sweep-completing game against the (admittedly last place) Rockies. Mets look awfully good.

[Sherman Davies]

Yoenis Cespedes was a baseball god last night - 5 for 6 with 3 HRs, 7 RBIs and a stolen base.

[Tornado]

Yeah, good to see all the traded Tigers doing so well.

[Sherman Davies]

Originally Posted by Tornado

Yeah, good to see all the traded Tigers doing so well.

You guys'll be back; the last few seasons the Mets would've killed to have your records.

In other news, the Mets win a second wild one against the Rockies with a score identical to the first - 14 to 9. Denver is weird; I can't wait until the Mets leave a freaky town where 11-run leads aren't safe.

[Tornado]

Yeah it is selfish to be upset about the Tigers, they have had a good run.
I have to save that bitterness for the Lions.