MLB Trade Deadline: NL Edition

This post sort of inadvertently turned into 2, so here is the NL half of my MLB Trade Deadline summary/homestretch prediction.  Some contenders (cough, Cardinals, cough cough, Pirates) were surprisingly quiet.  These clubs have insane amounts of talent in the minors, and yet decided not to make any major acquisitions.  There were rumors all over the place about whom they might go after, but nothing materialized.  I guess these NL Central powerhouses have the best records in the Majors, though, so if they think they can win from within who am I to argue?  All I know is that it made for a fairly boring Trade Deadline in the National League, but let’s look at what did happen.

LA Dodgers – Ricky Nolasco; Carlos Marmol

The Dodgers are unbelievably good.  My Yankees were lucky to steal a game from them last night, but they are legit.  This isn’t news or anything – ever since Yasiel Puig hit the scene they have been hotter than a dog on the 4^th of July.  Kenley Jansen is a great closer, and so Marmol only gives them one more dangerous weapon out of the bullpen after they got him from the Great Chicago Firesale (a joke so good I thought I’d use it again).  I’ve always thought Nolasco was a little overrated, but he’s basically a fifth starter on this team who may slot into the bullpen once the playoffs start, so I guess I can’t complain.  They could still use a third starter after Kershaw and Greinke I think, but maybe Beckett or Billingsley will come back, or even if not they’re hitting is plenty good enough to make up for that deficiency.  The NL is really tough this year, but if anyone isn’t terrified of the Dodgers right now then I don’t know what game they’ve been watching.

San Diego Padres – Ian Kennedy

I can’t believe I’m doing this.  Why are we talking about the Padres in August. WHY??  Because they somehow pulled off the best trade in the National League, that’s why.  Ian Kennedy has been struggling, but he still nearly won a Cy Young two years ago to the tune of a 2.88 ERA and 21 wins.  This guy has the potential to be an ace starter, and the Padres got him way on the cheap, so kudos to them.  Who knows, maybe we will be talking about them again next August at this rate.  But the bigger story here is the D-Backs, who were serious contenders this year until the Dodgers decided to go crazy.  I don’t know what Arizona was thinking, or what they plan to do at starter now, but I can’t imagine that fans are happy.  Reliever Joe Thatcher, a prospect, and a draft pick.  Really?  Maybe Kennedy struggles and this was a good way of off-loading him before his stock dropped too far, but is this trade really going to help Arizona fend off the Dodgers in any reasonable way? Answer: no.  This was just a weird situation all around, and I think a month from now we will be looking at it as something of a fluke between two teams that weren’t really contenders this year anyway.

Chicago Cubs – The Great Chicago Firesale!

3^rd time’s the charm.  That applies to jokes too, right?  Well since the NL trade market was pretty boring this year, I thought I’d take this time to show a little love to the Cubs.  We all know something about their history of futility, but this was a pretty good month for them.  Theo Einstein, I mean Epstein is at it again, clearing out all that old debris and paving the way for the Cubs to become, oh I don’t know, the next Pittsburgh Pirates?  Soriano, Garza, Marmol, Feldman, Hairston.  All gone.  And a huge influx of prospects.  Give it two years, maybe three, and I’m telling you the Cubs will be on the verge of a surprising playoff berth and an underdog World Series bet.  And good for them.  Who knows what the NL Central will look like by then, since it’s the toughest division in the NL right now by far with some pretty young and good-looking teams.  But Chicago is finally headed in the right direction.

So that about sums it up for NL moves.  Not a lot that really affects the playoff picture, but it looks pretty exciting nonetheless.  The Dodgers are a shooting star leaping through the skies like a tiger defying the laws of gravity.  The Cardinals, Pirates, and Reds still look like the 3-headed hydra that eats dreams of wild card spots for breakfast.  Atlanta is pretty firmly entrenched in that division lead, although I feel like I’ve said something like that before… spooky.  Anyway, it may not be a nail-biter coming down the stretch in the National League, but I could see the Dodgers all of a sudden vying for home field advantage a few weeks from now, or position in the Central shuffling.  Plus, watching LA and Pittsburgh be so good again is fun enough on its own.  In terms of real playoff contenders, I really, really want to like the Pirates, but I just don’t think they have enough to make it to the World Series.  I hope I’m wrong, but I’ll go with the Dodgers and Cardinals, one team that know what it takes to get there, and one that just has such ridiculous star power that it’s hard to bet against them.  To recap…

AL Championship: Rays v. Tigers

NL Championship: Dodgers v. Cardinals

World Series: RAYS over Cardinals

Will it happen? Probably not.  But what the heck, that’s the whole fun of the home stretch.  I’ll be back in approximately two weeks and probably completely change all of my picks.  Enjoy the final 2 months of the season!