As we approach the deadline, which will be tomorrow at 3 in the afternoon, it appears all the big deals have been made. CC Sabathia, Rich Harden, Joe Blanton, Xavier Nady and now Mark Teixeira have all been moved. It seems that most of the names that pop up are swiftly traded, which is definitely counter to previous years. Furthermore, most of the top teams have made their big splash already this year, with the Cubs, Phillies and Brewers adding a top flight pitcher and the Yankees and Angels have found themselves a bat. There really is only one big name still floating out there for a contender to add in Jason Bay, and the Rays seem to be keen on him, and the only other possible big trade seems to be one involving Manny Ramirez, but that seems like it would be more problematic for the Red Sox than beneficial.
So what can we expect tomorrow? Probably a lot of small deals, most of them should be unexpected names switching uniforms, mostly because the rumors have been focused on the big names. The Twins, White Sox, Mets, Marlins, Cardinals, Dodgers and Diamondbacks are within 5 games of first in their respective divisions and have not made any big moves, nor were they mentioned above. None of those teams is the type that is renowned for making a big trade, and it appears that this year will be more of the same.
In the AL Central, the Twins are batting around Latroy Hawkins and Rich Aurilia, while the White Sox might be looking for a reliever like Will Ohman, but Kenny Williams has said he will probably not have an active deadline. The Mets and Marlins are each looking for a a bat, in the Mets case a corner outfielder like Raul Ibanez and the Marlins a catcher like Gregg Zaun. The Cardinals, Dodgers and Diamondbacks have made no indication that they will be doing anything.
So, after such an active offseason, and an active July, is it possible that the trade deadline is a dissipointment? The way I see it, if anything really happens tomorrow, it will be a pleasant surprise. If anything does happen, I’ll be back with some sort of recap on Friday.
Also, all the information I found up there was gleaned from a page that will be refreshed continuously tomorrow, MLB Trade Rumors.
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