Trades...Divisions...Rivalries

From rivals...to best buds in the locker room...to rivals yet again. Hanley and Dodgers shut down the Miami Marlins with a a great game pitched by Chris Capuano who surrendered his first hit in the 7th inning. With the acquisitions of Hanley, Victorino, and Blanton the Dodgers are looking to catch the Giants as they currently only sit a half game behind after their win today.  Reyes did retire Hanley in this photo, but that did not stop him later as he hit a 2 RBI single into left field finishing off the big 5-0 victory. If the Dodgers want to end up taking the NL West, they will to continue getting clutch hits from Hanley along with more from Victorino. Kemp and Eithier are doing their jobs, it is up to the new guys on the team and the arms to be clutch for them to get out in front of the dominant arms from the bay area. Blanton was not very impressive in his first appearance, so he will need to be providing some quality starts and give his offense a chance to strike first and get the momentum in their direction. 

The AL West is driving me nuts! From whether the pitching to current condition of  their hitters, the problematic Texas Rangers still hold the lead with the hot streak Oakland A's who are just full of power and clutch next in line. It is hard for me to believe that the Angels are realistically in third. With Trout who can do nearly everything...to the arms of Weaver, Wilson, Haren, and Grienke...to the other power bats of Pujols, Trumbo, and Morales, the Angels seem to have all the tools to be the dominant team in the AL West. The Deadline sure has helped the Rangers with Dempster and Soto providing some missing pieces with power and pitching, while the addition of Grienke to the Angels has not paid off at all yet. I thought that was the biggest pick up, but switching over to the AL seems to be a little tough for Grienke as he is not putting up good numbers. This division is gonna be a big fight for the lead and for wildcard seats. The A's have definitely let everyone be aware of their presence now. Carter, Reddick and yesterday Johnny Gomes have shown that their team is what the Angels have not been, and that is consistent when it comes to getting hits when needed and picking up wins against the teams they should be beating. I can't wait to see what becomes of this division, and though it seems like a bit of a long shot now, I'm sticking with my pick of the Angels.

 The White Sox shocked the world...or me at least with their amazing season. I called fluke but they are showing that is not the case as they still hold the lead over the Tigers by a game. The White Sox came through with their pitching from Peavy and Sale, along with the bats of Konerko, Dunn, and now Youkilis. The Tigers have been struggling, and though not doing bad, they are still not meeting expectations. They picked up Infante and Sanchez from Miami to try and boost their struggling fielding and offense. Which ever one of these teams does not win the division is put into an even more intense fight for one of the wildcard seats, as multiple teams are in the running right now. The Tigers will need to turn around the one-two run loses and make them wins by one or two and the White Sox will just need to keep hitting and get more out of Youlilis with Konerko down right now and more from Lariano who they recently got on their mound as well. I still say Tigers, but I am sure both teams will make it interesting.

A few last notes...the Washington Nationals have been amazing and are showing no sign of slowing down. With the best record in baseball, you got to think they are looking towards that World Series as they feel there is nothing in their way. But Strasburgh...how long will they let him pitch and how much of a hit will it be to them if they pull him out? Buster Posey has been spectacular on this second half of the season. He is a big piece to the Giants reason of being in first, just imagine what will happen when Posey, Sandoval and Pence are all put together in the lineup. Posey is hitting .444 in the month of August and providing nothing but power. How much of impact has this second half of the season had on his chances for the MVP award?? Finally injuries have been back breakers to teams on the season, the Yankees can't seem to stop having them. Do the Yanks need to worry with Sabathia and Arod both down at the time being? All questions will be answered on the next podcast...check in!