NL West Trade Deadline Review
By Scott Allen
Five teams. Five different trade deadline plans. The Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants are buyers. The Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies, and San Diego Padres are sellers.
Let’s start with the home team, the Arizona Diamondbacks:
The Dbacks for the first time in a few years, are buyers. They seek starting pitching, relief pitching, and middle infield help. Mission accomplished in the starting pitcher department as they swiped Jason Marquis from the Washington Nationals for Single A product Zachary Walters. Winner – Arizona. Dbacks still working to make other trades. Stay tuned.
San Francisco Giants:
They are set in pitching. They needed offensive help. They got, at least on paper, the help they needed. They obtained Carlos Beltran from the New York Mets and Orlando Cabrera from the Cleveland Indians. The gave up little to get them too. Winner – San Francisco.
Los Angeles Dodgers:
Part of the selling group. Currently mired in bankruptcy, they needed to dump salary. Last night they dealt shortstop Rafael Furcal to the St. Louis Cardinals. Winner – St. Louis. LA loses on this one. That seems to be the general theme for the Dodgers this season.
Colorado Rockies:
How can you view them as anything but a loser at the deadline when you are trading starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez. The mand had a great start to 2010, but hadn’t been the same since the All-Star break last season. He seemed to be heading in the right direction after starting slow this season. Clearly there are teams out there that still feel his worth. He ends up with the Cleveland Indians after rumors out there were that the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox were trying hard for him as well. Winner – Cleveland.
San Diego Padres:
What happened to this team? They were one game away from winning the NL West in 2010 and have gone south ever since getting shutout of the playoffs by the Giants in the last weekend of the 2010 season. Now they are having a fire sale, one a year ago you could not see coming. Heath Bell is rumored to be going to several teams, now which include the Yankees, of course, and a few other pieces of the bullpen. Bell is the big name though. San Diego can not be viewed as anything but a loser in whatever deal they get for Bell because they won’t be asking for much in return.