Now, don't get me wrong, there is still a whole lot of baseball left to be played, and even a number of the teams I listed as sellers aren't completely out of it -- look no further than the Mets, who stood a mere three games out of the NL East lead entering today's action. Like I said, however, those teams would be best suited to sell, regardless of what their short-term outlook may be.
Anyways, onto the teams who have some open-ended questions left before they decide which end of the spectrum they lie on.
Cleveland Indians
With the AL Central still being anyone's to win, even with the Indians being six games under .500, they are only 7.5 games back. Their biggest problem lies in aces C.C. Sabathia, however. Sabathia is a free agent at year's end and with the usual list of suitors already showing interest, which means Cleveland likely won't have the money to compete in that type of market. The Indians have already lost Jake Westbrook for the season, but do have Fausto Carmona set to return soon. Their offense seems set, even with the struggles of and injuries to Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez, if they can tread water until their return, they can still make a run.
Detroit Tigers
Despite the 23-32 start the Tigers got off to, they have gone 16-8 so far this month, and find themselves very much in the thick of things in the AL Central. The season-ending injury to Jeremy Bonderman could end up being their downfall, however. The silver lining for their pitching staff, however, is the recent return of both Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya. Their offense needs to keep hitting, because if the big bats can't start producing at a 5+ runs/game pace like everyone expected, it won't matter what their pitching does. They are also a team which is strapped for young talent right now because of the king's ransom they sent to Florida in the Willis/Cabrera deal, so they could be hard-pressed to find potential prospects to piece together to make a run at the deadline.
Oakland Athletics
The Athletics remain key contenders for both the AL West or the AL Wildcard, despite many insider's beliefs they are still likely to deal aces Rich Harden and Joe Blanton before the deadline. If Oakland does go that route, it's highly doubtful they would have the pitching behind Justin Duchscherer, Greg Smith and Dana Eveland to continue making a run at the post-season. Not to mention, it would be very much against Billy Beane's character to go out and acquire a big-name free agent-to-be at the trade deadline.
New York Yankees
To hear the Steinbrenners say it, the Yankees are never out of contention, no matter where they may be in the standings. I wouldn't be so sure to say they have a chance in the AL East with Boston and Tampa Bay running away with the division, but they do remain the front runners in the Wildcard race with surprises in Oakland and Minnesota being their main contention. As we all know, price is never a problem in New York, so they can make a run at any big name they won't. The main thing with the Yanks is their reliance on older talent right now and how much it is bringing their club down, but I've discussed that to no end. They could stand to drop a few dollars, however, if they intend on making hard runs at Adam Dunn, Mark Teixeira and C.C. Sabathia.
Minnesota Twins
Minnesota has managed to do a whole lot with very little so far this season and, as usual, it's just a testament to their success in trading and developing. They do have a few holes they need to feel though. They could stand to add a bat capable of hitting 15 or so homers between now and the end of the season and another veteran starter to pair with Livan Hernandez so their bullpen doesn't get too stressed down the stretch. It goes against their model to acquire any big names, so it isn't likely they will make a play on any, but they definitely have the young depth to go after a few key role players.
Atlanta Braves
I already have a full entry planned on the state of the Braves, but the long and short of it is the team needs depth: both on the bench and in the bullpen. The club has already said they are set with starting pitchers, namely the youngters Jair Jurrjens, Charlie Morton and Jo-Jo Reyes, so don't expect them to go after Greg Maddux if the Padres make him available. They are going to need a quality bat to take at least some of the strain off Brandon Jones in left, another reliable arm for the bullpen -- which has already seem five relievers make over thirty appearances -- and a bat or two for the bench would be nice. But, all of this will be tackled very soon with a Braves-centric entry.
Florida Marlins
The NL East is a lot like the AL Central right now, with a number of teams still having a very good shot at taking the division, and the Marlins perfectly mirror the situation the Twins are in. Only, the Marlins make their living with big bats whereas the Twins do their thing with pitching and timely hitting. The Marlins, of course, don't have any space financially to pick up any type of contract over a couple million, so any deal they strike is going to have to favor their budget. It isn't going to be easy for them to acquire a veteran starter in a situation like that, so they could end up in a situation where they start to fade before the deadline even arrives.
Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers are surprisingly in a good situation to make a run at this point, the only real thing they need right now is a starter to compliment Ben Sheets and Jeff Suppan in the rotation. The problem they could run into is their need to conserve money in order to pay the type of money Prince Fielder is going to command come season's end. It all depends on where they stand in the coming weeks. If they can keep pace with the Cardinals, they will most likely start looking for an arm; if not, they could dump a few contracts.
As I said, expect the next entry to be a state of the organization report on the Braves. May be tomorrow evening or sometime Monday afternoon, but I'll have it up soon.
Oakland Athletics
The Athletics remain key contenders for both the AL West or the AL Wildcard, despite many insider's beliefs they are still likely to deal aces Rich Harden and Joe Blanton before the deadline. If Oakland does go that route, it's highly doubtful they would have the pitching behind Justin Duchscherer, Greg Smith and Dana Eveland to continue making a run at the post-season. Not to mention, it would be very much against Billy Beane's character to go out and acquire a big-name free agent-to-be at the trade deadline.
New York Yankees
To hear the Steinbrenners say it, the Yankees are never out of contention, no matter where they may be in the standings. I wouldn't be so sure to say they have a chance in the AL East with Boston and Tampa Bay running away with the division, but they do remain the front runners in the Wildcard race with surprises in Oakland and Minnesota being their main contention. As we all know, price is never a problem in New York, so they can make a run at any big name they won't. The main thing with the Yanks is their reliance on older talent right now and how much it is bringing their club down, but I've discussed that to no end. They could stand to drop a few dollars, however, if they intend on making hard runs at Adam Dunn, Mark Teixeira and C.C. Sabathia.
Minnesota Twins
Minnesota has managed to do a whole lot with very little so far this season and, as usual, it's just a testament to their success in trading and developing. They do have a few holes they need to feel though. They could stand to add a bat capable of hitting 15 or so homers between now and the end of the season and another veteran starter to pair with Livan Hernandez so their bullpen doesn't get too stressed down the stretch. It goes against their model to acquire any big names, so it isn't likely they will make a play on any, but they definitely have the young depth to go after a few key role players.
Atlanta Braves
I already have a full entry planned on the state of the Braves, but the long and short of it is the team needs depth: both on the bench and in the bullpen. The club has already said they are set with starting pitchers, namely the youngters Jair Jurrjens, Charlie Morton and Jo-Jo Reyes, so don't expect them to go after Greg Maddux if the Padres make him available. They are going to need a quality bat to take at least some of the strain off Brandon Jones in left, another reliable arm for the bullpen -- which has already seem five relievers make over thirty appearances -- and a bat or two for the bench would be nice. But, all of this will be tackled very soon with a Braves-centric entry.
Florida Marlins
The NL East is a lot like the AL Central right now, with a number of teams still having a very good shot at taking the division, and the Marlins perfectly mirror the situation the Twins are in. Only, the Marlins make their living with big bats whereas the Twins do their thing with pitching and timely hitting. The Marlins, of course, don't have any space financially to pick up any type of contract over a couple million, so any deal they strike is going to have to favor their budget. It isn't going to be easy for them to acquire a veteran starter in a situation like that, so they could end up in a situation where they start to fade before the deadline even arrives.
Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers are surprisingly in a good situation to make a run at this point, the only real thing they need right now is a starter to compliment Ben Sheets and Jeff Suppan in the rotation. The problem they could run into is their need to conserve money in order to pay the type of money Prince Fielder is going to command come season's end. It all depends on where they stand in the coming weeks. If they can keep pace with the Cardinals, they will most likely start looking for an arm; if not, they could dump a few contracts.
As I said, expect the next entry to be a state of the organization report on the Braves. May be tomorrow evening or sometime Monday afternoon, but I'll have it up soon.
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