Hot Stove Recap

As the hours tick by, the baseball world gets closer and closer to the July 31st Non-Waiver Trading Deadline. However, this season has had very little activity around the hot stove, which has more or less turned into the grill at the family barbecue: a lot of talk, and little action to this point.

With the exception of the four major trades, the baseball world should not hold its breath waiting for the next trade.

The Milwaukee Brewers obviously made the biggest splash, acquiring CC Sabathia from the Cleveland Indians for minor leaguers Matt Laporta, Zach Jackson, and Rob Bryson. Ever since, Sabathia is 4-0, with a 1.36 ERA, has held hitters to a .180 AVG, and has thrown three consecutive complete games.

The acquisition of Sabathia instantly makes the Brew crew a playoff contender, as they now have arguably the best 1-2 punch in a rotation, showcasing Sabathia and Ben Sheets, as well as upstart lefty Manny Parra.

The Brewers also can hit well, with an average of 4.7 runs scored per game, and they average 1.3 HR per game.

Come playoff time, the main questions surrounding the Brewers will be: How will this relatively young team fare in the postseason? Will the duo of Sabathia and Sheets carry this team through October, or will they be like the Indians' duo of Sabathia and Fausto Carmona, who both flopped in the ALCS in 2007?

Just 24 hours after the Sabathia trade, the division rival Chicago Cubs acquired Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin from the Oakland A's for prospects Sean Gallagher, Matt Murton, Eric Patterson, and Josh Donaldson.

Harden also has payed off for the Cubs thus far, as he has put up stellar numbers. Through 17.1 IP, Harden has a microscopic 1.04 ERA thanks to two solo home runs, and has struck out 30 for the Cubs, but has yet to record a win. 

In addition, Chad Gaudin has pitched effectively out of the bullpen, with a 1.86 ERA through 9.2 IP.

Harden was by far the more risky of the top starters available, as he has routinely had to battle the injury bug that seems to travel with him in his pocket, as he has only surpassed 20 starts in a season once in his six year career. Nevertheless, Harden is in the upper echelon of starters as long as he is healthy.

As we reach the dog days in Wrigleyville, the usual question about the Cubs is still there: Can they break the curse? Or will there be another Steve Bartman-esque moment?

These Cubs have not let the curse enter their minds, especially with the recent slew of teams that have ended World Series droughts in the past six seasons. The question with these Cubs is simple: Can they keep up the pace? They have been playing well all year long, and now they get back Alfonso Soriano and are set for pitching. They still need to keep winning.

Two weeks passed after the Harden deal, as the trade market cooled off from an explosion to a meat locker, until the less talked about deal of Randy Wolf from the San Diego Padres to the Houston Astros occurred.

This deal was a steal for San Diego, as the cut payroll and got a minor league pitcher back in the process, and managed to ship Wolf off to a team that resides in the cellar of the NL Central with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Four days after the Wolf trade, the Cleveland Indians continued to try to prepare for future years, as they traded Casey Blake to the Los Angeles Dodgers for two prospects in Carlos Santana and Jonathan Meloan.

That very same day, the New York Yankees addressed two issues by acquiring Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte from the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jose Tabata, Jeff Karstens, Daniel McCutchen, and Ross Ohlendorf.

The jury is still out on both of these deals, as each team now will wait and see how their new players will preform in their respective pennant races.

Nonetheless, both the Dodgers and Yankees still have legitimate issues surrounding them.

The Dodgers need more run production, as clearly Andruw Jones has not been the answer, so they still need a big bat. In addition, their pitching staff has a large amount of injuries, and have put together a patchwork bullpen to try and keep the team afloat until the return of Takashi Saito.

The Yankess still dont have a stable starting rotation, and are looking up at two teams in the AL East that do have a strong rotation. That being said, the Yankees need to have someone step up to fill in the back end of the rotation so that Andy Pettite, Mike Mussina, and Joba Chamberlain do not need to be perfect for the team to win three of five.

As the countdown slowly winds down towards 12:01 AM August 1st, four contending teams have made major moves to try and fill holes that they have. Each of them now has roughly 57 games to make the trade look good.

The stove is now lukewarm, and may heat up a little bit in the next 53 hours, but it has to thaw out the meat locker for anyone to be truly interested.