The Pirates are LITERALLY in first place.
Discuss this fascinating turn of events.
Definitely the biggest surprise of this season for me. Always thought the Indians and the Diamondbacks had the talent to be good teams but just never really used it. The Pirates, however, were awful last year. The reason they are so far ahead is because their rotation is pretty damn good, and Hanrahan is a great closer. As far as offense, everybody contributes in little ways. Hope they actually make the postseason.
Also, the Padres are retarded for literally trading away their two best players during the offseason (Correia and Gonzalez). Those two trades alone led to two great seasons for two separate teams.
slowest days in sports today and tomorrow...but we got our first big trade of the season with KRod to the Brewers.
my take? good deal on both sides. Mets spent $5M (the rest of the 2011 contract) to the Brewers to save at least $3.5M (KRod's buyout) and as much as $17.5M (the vesting option). the PTBNL can be crap -- the real objective here was to rid themselves of the KRod vest, which he was on pace to top. money saved can go to Jose Reyes or something else. for a team with financial uncertainty moving forward, this was a good move by Sandy. if the PTBNL are actually somewhat decent, it's even better.
Brewers on the other hand get relief help (do they even need that?) -- much maligned as KRod is, he's still a very good rp. of course, now they gotta manage the vesting option (although even if it vests, the Brewers total liability would be $17.5M for ~1.5 years of KRod, not the worst of contracts) but they already have an established closer in Axford.
It's a good deal, but Mets fans should wary. Wilpon will trade away most of that team to stay on payroll. I wouldn't be surprised if Beltran went to the Sox. He would be disgusting in Fenway or just most AL parks in general, just due to the fact that many of the fly balls he hits in Citi would be hits in a lot of AL ballparks. Anyway, the Brewers need to start playing better on the road if they want a chance to win that division. If K-Rod helps them do that, than thats a great trade. But, if they can't get deep into games to get to K-Rod/Axford, then that's a wasted trade in a way.
But anyway, trade deadline is soon, anyone hear an good/absurd trade rumors? Here's a few I've heard:
Good:
-Colby Rasmus going to the Rays for some starting pitching (Heard on Intentional Talk)
-Derreck Lowe going somewhere for a bit more offense power (No specifiec buyer yet)
-Ethier, Beltran, or Francoeur to the Red Sox (All three very plausible)
-Heath Bell to Cards (Again they need pitching)
Bad:
-Rangers trying to trade for King Felix (Mariners will never give him up)
-Yanks going after Ubaldo (I know they need pitching but really)
-Others on Twitter (All are quite hilarious)
All I hope is that Cashman isn't retarded and actually investigates some starting arms for the Yanks, because even if we don't immediatly need them, we will need them next year.