MLB Trade Deadline - 1

By Kalen Patrick

Big moves have taken place in the last 12-24 hours as we near the Trade Deadline, this is probably a minor leaguers least favorite time of year, and they are on constant watch to see if they will be headed somewhere new. It's always interesting watching the guys being traded hug it out with teammates and then essentially leave right then and there.

PHILLIES GET PENCE, THE RICH GET RICHER

I will go over the moves I really like first. It seems like the NL East just got a whole lot richer with the additions of Hunter Pence to the Phillies and Michael Bourn to the Braves. I have to admit that I love the moves by both teams, and I think the Phillies are now definitely the team to beat in the NL. You combine that pitching staff, along with a lineup including Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Hunter Pence, and solid hitters in Rollins, Ibanez etc etc. pretty scary.


The Bourn addition to the Braves all but ensures them of locking up that Wild Card spot in my opinion. It will really make things interesting once the playoffs kick off. I'm already excited for a possible repeat of a Braves-Giants series. The NLplayoff contenders are stacked with pitching. Gonna be an exciting race down the stretch.

INDIANS NEED JIMINEZ TO COME UP BIG

As for Ubaldo Jiminez going to the Indians, this one is interesting, I feel this could be a boom or bust move. Honestly, when you go out and commit to trading for the biggest pitching trade chip, it says that you're all in. Anything less than Playoffs for the Tribe and this trade doesn't look so great. Plus I always tend to be very skeptical when you get a SP from the NL going to the AL. It's a whole different beast, and the Indians need Jimenez to step it up. Essentially, the Indians are hoping that they get the Ubaldo from the first half of the 2010, or at least something in that ballpark. However, the Rockies did receive some real nice prospects in the deal, and it seems like they are playing it smart and thinking long term.


A trade which left me scratching my head was Orlando Cabrera to my San Francisco Giants. Honestly, I feel the Giants should have been focusing on getting a catcher like Ramon Hernandez instead of Cabrera. The Giants already have 2 guys who are capable of playing at the same level as the 36 year old Cabrera. Mike Fontenot and you could try and argue either Brandon Crawford or even Miguel Tejada could do just as good a job.

This post is just recapping whats happened so far, gonna make another post later today or tomorrow covering all the last minute deals, and possibly looking over at all the key waiver wire pickups are out there.

MLB Power Rankings

By Kalen Patrick

Its been too long to call them my Weekly Power Rankings, but here I go again with the top 5 and bottom 5 teams in Baseball. Honestly, at the top not much has changed in terms of who the better teams are. We have them figured out for the most part. The bottom there will be some surprises. Lets get it going.

Top 5
1 - Boston Red Sox (64-39) - The Red Sox boast the most productive run scoring offense in the Majors (and its not even close). Gonzalez is hitting like a mad man, Ellsbury and Pedroia have been amazing, and the pitching is more than good enough to get them deep in the playoffs.

CARLOS BELTRAN, A WELCOME ADDITION TO SF

2 - San Francisco Giants (61-44) - Tough choice between the Phillies and Giants for #2. However, the Giants just won 2 out of 3 IN Philly, and they just added Carlos Beltran. To me, right now, that puts the Giants above the Phillies. Not to mention the pitching especially the bullpen has been unhittable. Possible repeat of last year in the works.



3 - Philadelphia Phillies (65-39) - They have the best winning percentage in Baseball (.625) are looking to add another bat to the lineup, and have the best starting pitching in Baseball. I can definitely imagine a Phillies/Giants NLCS rematch.

4 - New York Yankees (61-41) - All around good team, they can hit, they have the best closer in the game, and the pitching is doing enough to keep them close to the Red Sox. Will Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and Phil Hughes ultimately be the downfall of the Yankees? Will they acquire a SP before the trade deadline?

5 - Texas Rangers (60-46) - The Rangers are maybe the most dangerous team to face, good (not great) starting pitching, they sure can hit and they look to be very close to getting closer Heath Bell which would help solidify the 9th inning. This team if they get hot can be almost unbeatable.

Bottom 5
26 - Chicago Cubs (42-63) - It was between the Cubs and Padres for this spot, when you look at the difference in payroll. The decision was incredibly easy.

27 - Kansas City Royals (44-61) - The usual bottom feeder teams are out in full force (besides the Pirates)

28 -  Baltimore Orioles (41-60) - That strong start seems like an eternity ago.

29 - Seattle Mariners (44-60) - They lost 16 (or 17?) in a row. 3 weeks ago they were in the thick of the AL West race, now they are done. What a shame.

30 - Houston Astros (35-70) - What a joke. Not worth anyones time or money.

Post Script
Wanna make a note of how well the Pittsburgh Pirates have done this year, as of this second they are only 1 game out of 1st place in the NL Central. Who would have ever guessed that we could say that in late July/early August. Well done for them and hope they can keep it up. Nice to see their awesome stadium actually have people in it.

MLB Weekly Power Rankings

By Kalen Patrick

So here we go with another addition of my Weekly Power Rankings, posts have been few and far between with a hectic work schedule. Don't worry, haven't forgotten about the Sports Cave. Lets get to the top 5

Top 5
1 (1 ) Philadelphia Phillies (53-31) - An incredible 22 games above .500 and not even at the All-Star Break. Best record in Baseball and THE team to beat in the NL

2 (3) New York Yankees (50-31) - On a hot streak (8-2 in their last 10 games) and they have by far the best run differential in baseball at +122.

3 (4) Atlanta Braves (49-35) - This team is so consistent, 7 games above .500 at home and on the road. Pitching has been amazing and the hitting will get better, maybe they trade for a bat too

4 (NR) San Francisco Giants (48-36) - Team has been hitting a lot better, In their last 6 games they have had games where they scored 13, 15 and 6. Also Barry Zito has been a pleasant surprise off the DL.

PABLO SANDOVAL AND THE GIANTS MAY BE THE MOST RESILIENT TEAM IN BASEBALL

5 (2) Boston Red Sox (48-34) - Red Sox had a rough time recently but the Astros cured that nicely. Every team goes though slumps, the Red Sox will rebound right now I expect.

Bottom 5
26 (NR) Baltimore Orioles (35-45) - 2-8 in their last 10 games. Remember when they started the season hot? And everyone said they'd come back down to Earth? Everyone was right.

27 (28) Chicago Cubs (34-50) - They got some lucky timely wins against the Giants, this team is still awful and a waste of money.

ITS A SHAME THIS GREAT FIELD IS RUINED BY THE PRODUCT THE CUBS PUT OUT

28 (NR) Minnesota Twins (35-46) - Twins got hot for a while but now back to reality, and its a bleak one

29 (29) Kansas City Royals (33-50) - Said it before and will say it again, check back on this team in 2013

30 (30) Houston Astros (29-55) - They stink.

Who's Hot?
Drum roll please........San Diego Padres! They are 8-2 in their last 10 games and while odds are they will be crash landing back to Earth soon but hey, they should enjoy it while they can.

Who's Not?
Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics, 2 teams who rarely know what it feels like to score runs, both are 3-7 in their last 10 and both still kind of have a shot in the division? God the AL West is awful.

Kalens MLB Weekly Power Rankings

By Kalen Patrick

Here we go with another addition of my baseball power rankings, big changes all across the board at the top, while the bottom teams continue to struggle. Also have added a new section called Who's Hot and Who's Not. Lets do this.

Top 5
1 (2) Philadelphia Phillies (47-29) - Phillies have the best winning % in baseball at .618, the bats have been waking up as of late and their pitching has allowed the fewest runs in all of baseball. Hard to top that. NL's team to beat.

2 (1) - Boston Red Sox (44-30) - The Red Sox have the best hitter in Baseball (Adrian Gonzalez), the best pitcher (Josh Beckett), the best record in the AL and the best offense in Baseball. Any questions?

3 (5) - New York Yankees (43-30) - Yeesh I promise I don't work for ESPN and I promise I don't have any kind of East Coast bias, but even I can admit that these are the best 3 teams in Baseball. Yankees have the best run differential in the Majors (+92) and are right in line to fight the Red Sox for the AL East/Wild Card crown.

4 (NR) - Atlanta Braves (43-33) - One of the most underrated and forgotten teams in all of Baseball. The pitching has been outstanding, 2nd in ERA, 1st in WHIP and 1st in BAA. The Braves Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson are #1 and #2 respectively in ERA in the NL. While the offense has been struggling the return of Jayson Heyward should help and they look to be right in the thick of the playoff race.

BEST PITCHER IN THE NL IS........JAIR JURRJENS?

5 (NR) Arizona Diamondbacks (42-34) - I guess these D-Backs aren't going anywhere, with all the injuries the Giants have suffered, it really has opened up a great opportunity to make some noise and give them a realistic shot at playoffs. While I question whether they can maintain this level of play through the season, right now they are playing very well.

Bottom 5
26 (27) - San Diego Padres (32-44) - The Padres are tied for the fewest runs scored in Baseball and they somehow have an awful home record at 14-26. 3-7 in their last 10 games and thats including the 2 game win streak they are on now. Weird how things have gone so far south compared to last year.

27 (26) - Florida Marlins (33-42) - The Marlins are 1-9 in their last 10 games, Hanley Ramirez looks washed up (at 27?), the coaching change is a major hit or miss move and they suffer from having almost no fans show up to games. Pretty bleak.

PICTURE OF A RECORD SETTING ATTENDANCE AT A MARLINS GAME (JOKE)

28 (28) - Chicago Cubs (30-44) - This team is the highest paid bunch of losers I have ever seen. Prince Fielder said he would be open to signing with the Cubs in the offseason? Why? (oh yeah the insane money he will get). This is what I wrote last week and nothing has changed.


29 (NR) Kansas City Royals (31-44) - Fewest wins in the AL, 3-7 in their last 10 games, and while the Royals have some promising prospects coming up and playing respectably, this is a team that will be relevant come 2013.

30 (29) - Houston Astros (28-48) - The Astros are already 20 games below .500, have allowed the most runs in Baseball and have the worst run differential at -72. This team is in full rebuild mode, would trading Hunter Pence be the best way to get some promising prospects?

Who's Hot?
Teams that are deserving of honorable mentions here are the Washington Nationals who are 9-1 in their last 10 games and they have beaten some damn good teams lately. This team could be a force in a few years when Strasburg is back, Harper gets to the Majors and other prospects come up. The Oakland A's have stepped their game up, sweeping the Giants and getting a 6 game winning streak going. The Minnesota Twins are 8-2 in their last 10 games and have been just as hot as the Nationals.

Who's Not?
Besides for all the teams in the Bottom 5, the leading teams in the NL Central have been struggling, both the Cardinals (who are now minus Pujols until mid August) and Brewers are 3-7 in their last 10 and have allowed the Reds to get right back in the race despite only playing .500 ball lately.

Check back in next week for another edition of my Weekly Power Rankings and my new section of Who's Hot and Who's Not.

MLB Weekly Power Rankings

By Kalen
Here we go for another dose of the weekly power rankings in Baseball. The Cleveland Indians have fallen all the way back down to Earth and more, throwing away their big lead in the AL Central. Staying in that division, the Twins are showing signs of life and getting Joe Mauer back soon will be huge. Lets now get to the top 5 and bottom 5 teams in my opinion. The rankings I have are based between both Overall record and how the team has played the last week. Lets do this.

Top 5
1 (2)  Boston Red Sox (40-27) - Hitting has been exceptional, pitching has been superb and this team seems almost unbeatable, hence why the Red Sox are 9-1 in their last 10 games. Adrian Gonzalez is making a case for AL MVP so far and Josh Beckett for AL Cy Young.

BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID

2 (NR) Philadelphia Phillies (43-26) - Best record in Baseball, and they are finally getting hot with the bats. The team to beat in the National League for now. With this pitching staff it will be hard to stop them when they can hit too.


3 (5) San Francisco Giants (39-29) - May call this a 'homer' ranking, I will absolutely admit this is not the 3rd most talented roster, but my Giants just keep on winning despite big injuries to notable players at key positions. 7-3 in their last 10 and Aubrey Huff seems to be getting hot.

4 (NR) Milwaukee Brewers (39-30) - The Brewers have snatched the lead in the NL Central from the slumping Cardinals. All round good team, I look for the Brewers to be very active to add a piece or two at the trade deadline as they make a push for the World Series.

5 (NR) New York Yankees (38-28) - Keeping pace with the Red Hot Red Sox, suffered some notable injuries this week (Derek Jeter and Bartolo Colon), this teams depth at pitching will be put to the ultimate test. One stat to note is the Yankees are 37-20 against teams not called the Boston Red Sox.

Bottom 5

THIS SUMS UP THE CUBS FRANCHISE

26 (NR) Florida Marlins (32-36) - My how things have turned for the worse, lost 6 in a row, 1-9 in their last 10 games and Josh Johnson has been put on the 60 Day DL. They are also 3-17 since the game where Scott Cousins took out Buster Posey (Karma?).

27 (NR) San Diego Padres (30-40) - You know your team is in trouble when your home record is 14-26, yet they are 2 games over .500 on the road? The Padres have the fewest runs scored in the Majors.

28 (29) Chicago Cubs (27-40) - This team is the highest paid bunch of losers I have ever seen. Prince Fielder said he would be open to signing with the Cubs in the offseason? Why? (oh yeah the insane money he will get)

29 (27) Houston Astros (25-44) - Worst win % in Baseball (.362) and they have the worst run differential too (-77). What else is there to be said?


30 (30) Oakland Athletics (29-40) - They don't score runs, their pitching has struggled and they have injuries left right and center. Is it any wonder the A's have to offer $2 Wednesdays just to get people to show up to watch this team?

That's the rankings for this week. Let me know what you guys think, give your thoughts on my rankings and let me know where you'd rank the teams. Kalen from the Sports Cave.

SPREAD THE WORD.

MLB Weekly Power Rankings

This is the 2nd week of my Baseball Power Rankings. Just like the first week I will do the top 5 and bottom 5 teams in my opinion. There will be quite a few changes to this week's rankings, especially at the top. My Rankings are based on overall record and how well the teams have done from one week to the next. Lets get this started.

Top 5

1 (2) - St. Louis Cardinals (33-23) - This team has been hot as of late (7-3 in last 10 games), the Cards have an excellent road record (18-13) and they have played 6 more games on the road than at home. The Cards SP has been much better than expected, Salas has stabilized the 9th inning woes and they are tied with the 2nd most runs in the Majors, and with Albert Pujols struggling.
My question is, how will you stop the Cards offense when (not if) Pujols starts hitting .320 with power, and you also got Matt Holliday, Lance Berkman, Colby Rasmus and clutch hitter Yadier Molina to worry about? Yikes. People talk about the Brewers being the best team in the Central? Really?

It's only a matter of time before Pujols (see above) finds his swing again. Watch out Baseball, here come the Cards.

2 (1)- Cleveland Indians (32-20) - They have definitely cooled off as of late, however, the Indians still have the best winning percentage (.615) in the Majors. While we knew they would come back down to Earth, it appears that this Indians team is for real and if they can continue to get good all around production, they should be in my top 5 for quite some time.

3 - Arizona Diamondbacks (30-25) - This team has resembled the weather in Arizona and been extremely hot lately. They have won 13 of their last 15 games, taken a lead in the NL West from the now Buster Posey-less Giants and appear like a legit contender in that division. The last 2 weeks they have had an outburst of offensive production, scoring 15, 11, 9, 8 and 7 in games, while also showing the ability to win the close low scoring games too. They will cool down, but they have a realistic shot in the wide open NL West.

4 - New York Yankees (31-23) - The Yankees have won 4 in a row, while rival Boston has lost 4 in a row. The Yankees have the best run differential in the Majors (+67) and all this with A-Rod and Mark Teixeira not hitting what we know they can. Both Bartolo Colon (3-3 3.26 ERA) and Freddy Garcia (4-4 3.34 ERA) have been pleasant surprises for the Yanks.

5 (3) - Philadelphia Phillies (34-22) - The Phillies do have the best winning percentage in the National League (.607) but just edged out the surging Brewers. They also have allowed the 3rd fewest runs in the Majors even with Cliff Lee having a few rough outings. The Phillies would be higher but losing to the Nationals in 2 straight games when you roll out Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt to the mound doesn't impress me too much. The offense needs to become more consistent.

Bottom 5
26 (28) San Diego Padres (24-31) - The Padres have a bottom 5 winning percentage in the Majors with a meager .436, add to this they are tied for scoring the fewest runs too. It's hard to win consistently when you don't score runs. There is a positive, the Padres have won 4 in a row and are only 6 games behind in a winnable NL West. If they can get some offense going, then they cannot be counted out yet.

27 (27) Kansas City Royals (24-30) - The one thing you gotta like is that they have been pretty decent at home, posting a respectable 18-14 record. That is basically where the good ends for this team, 6-16 on the road, played 10 more home games than road games, and they are 2-8 in their last 10 games. Said it before and will say it again, lets check back with the Royals in 2012 or 2013.

   Rookie 1B Eric Hosmer will be a big piece in Kansas City's Puzzle moving forward

28 (29) Houston Astros (22-34) - The Astros have a dreadful .393 winning percentage, with only the Twins having a worse percentage. Allowing the 2nd most runs is gonna spell disaster for any team, however they are showing some signs of life having just swept the Cubs in Wrigley. Hunter Pence has been extremely productive this year and could be a huge trade asset as we get closer to July.

29 Chicago Cubs (23-31) - This team is slumping bad. They just got swept by the aforementioned Houston Astros at Wrigley Field. They are 3-7 in their last 10 games, they have an awful record at home (12-19) and have allowed the 3rd most runs in the Majors. To add insult to injury their only power hitter Alfonso Soriano is now on the DL. Pray for the Cubbies.

30 (30) Minnesota Twins (17-36) - This team is just awful right now. They are 2-8 in their last 10 games and have by far the worst run differential (-91) and winning percentage (.321) in the Majors. Nothing more to be said here.

Some things to note, had I done a full 30 team power rankings, my San Francisco Giants would have fallen quite a bit from their 4th place last week. Losing Buster Posey and going 4-6 in our last 10 would have a lot to do with that. Also just missing out on the top 5 are the Milwaukee Brewers and Florida Marlins.

And there we have it for this week folks. Let me know what you guys think, agree or disagree with my rankings? Let me know in the comments section.

MLB Power Rankings - Top 5 & Bottom 5

Each week I plan to update the top 5 and the bottom 5 teams in Baseball. Doing all 30 teams is just too time consuming and do you really care who is 13th or 17th or 23rd? Thought not. So lets get this going and we shall start with the teams playing the best Baseball right now.

        Cleveland Indians are all smiles with how their 2011 season is going.

Top 5
1 - Cleveland Indians 30-16 - Cleveland needed this, they needed something, anything to root for. Lebron bolts for Miami, the Browns are well...the Browns. I'm glad for the city of Cleveland that the Indians are playing lights out Baseball. They have the best run differential in Baseball (+65), the only knock I can make on them is that they are 11-11 on the road, but even that is not bad considering the way they play at home.

2 - St. Louis Cardinals 30-20 - The hottest team in Baseball, scoring a bunch of runs, starting pitching has been excellent. They have been this good and take in to account that no doubt Pujols is gonna hit a lot better than .267 and they don't have Adam Wainwright. Question marks in the bullpen and closer but I expect them to make a serious play for Heath Bell at the trade deadline.

3 - Philadelphia Phillies 29-19 - They have had their struggles on the offensive front, however, getting Chase Utley back is huge, and they will soon be getting Shane Victorino back too. These 2 guys fuel the Phillies offense, we know Ryan Howard will hit, but Utley and Victorino get this team moving. Pitching on this team will carry them despite offensive struggles.

4 - San Francisco Giants 27-20 - I may have to switch up the Giants and Marlins after the series they are currently playing. However, the Giants have been racking up the W's lately, they are now 7 games above .500. Keep in mind this is without their best hitter in Pablo Sandoval and Aubrey Huff, Buster Posey, Miguel Tejada and Pat Burrell all underachieving so far at the plate. When they start to hit, watch out!

5 - Florida Marlins 27-19 - They have just been winning, and getting key hits when needed. They have an excellent road record so far (13-7). Will have to check back in on them in a week or two, with their ace and Cy Young candidate Josh Johnson on the DL. One thing to note is that Hanley Ramirez WILL hit better than he has been. This team will challenge Philly all through the season.


Bottom 5
26 - Washington Nationals 21-27 - They have lost 4 in a row and have lost 7 of their last 10 games. Big Money Free Agent Jayson Werth hasn't lived up to the money yet, .247 AVG 8 HR's with only 18 RBI. I do like the Nationals going forward though. Next year or so when they get Strasburg back, and Bryce Harper will be ready to take on Major League pitching. Harper, Zimmerman and Werth projects to be a nice trio of hitters.

27 - Kansas City Royals - 22-25 - As a whole their season hasn't been awful, but they are 2-8 in their last 10 games, Royals Pitcher Vin Mazzaro's 14 Earned Run performance has summed up how they've been playing lately. While the Home Record is solid, their road record of 5-12 leaves a lot to be desired. Royals do have a bright future with some stars moving through the Minor Leagues.

28 - San Diego Padres 19-30 - Was last year just an blip on the radar? Certainly looks like it, trading away Adrian Gonzalez and the pitching struggling this team has gone from borderline playoff team to bottom feeder. I hope Padre fans soaked in last year cause they won't be getting that close to playoffs for a while.

29 - Houston Astros 18-31 - This team just doesn't have much talent, they need to trade Hunter Pence and try and trade Carlos Lee, build through the farm system. Once they have some promising prospects, they have the money to spend in Free Agency. Honestly I don't expect much from this team in the next 3-5 years.

30 - Minnesota Twins 16-31 - Yikes, what happened? Worst run differential BY FAR (-85), just awful at home (5-12) and their star hitters Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer have a combined 2 HR's 17 RBI and just a pathetic .230 AVG and .288 OBP. They better turn it around.

 

Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire has a lot to be upset about with how their season has gone

Check back next week while I update my Top 5 and Bottom 5 Teams in MLB. Lots of action today, my games to watch are:
AL - Red Sox @ Indians (Lester 6-1, 3.68 ERA vs Talbot 1-0, 1.46 ERA) 9:05AM Pacific Time
NL - Cardinals @ Padres (Carpenter 1-4, 4.88 ERA vs Latos 1-6, 4.60 ERA) 3:35PM Pacific Time


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