2008 MLB TRADE DEADLINE DEALS

Well this years trading deadline will determine the positions for the postseason. I will break it down division by division to see the winners and the losers of the 2008 trading deadline.. First division is the AL East. The teams that make up the east are the Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays.

      The winner of this division is the New York Yankees. They have acquired some of the best players in the game such as Xavier Nady from the Pittsburgh Pirates, Ivan (Pudge) Rodriguez from the Detroit Tigers. The Yankees also signed Richie Sexson from the Seattle Mariners, with the Mariners Sexson hit .225 and driving in 32 runs and went deep 11 times. Xavier Nady was the star for the Pittsburgh Pirates he knows the game like the back of his hand. He is a smart defender has a good arm which is key for a good outfielder, and he has the soul of the Pirates batting order.

   The loser of this division is the Boston Red Sox. The gave up Manny Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers. In return they didn't get anything. The Sox will not win the East because of that trade when you put David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez next to each other watch out opposing pitchers. I understand Manny is not the type of player that the Red Sox want. He does not hustle or is not very focused during games. He was seen talking on the phone in the Green Monster during a pitching change. Hustling is not a word in Manny's dictionary. It took him 2.70 seconds to run out a ground ball.

   The next division is the AL Central. The winner is the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox acquired Ken Griffey Jr. from the Cincinatti Reds. He fits perfectly with Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome, etc.. Griffey is the key to winning the division and maybe the world series. Ken Griffey is currently at a .249 Batting average he has driven in 55 runs and gone deep 15 times this season.

   The loser of this division is the Minnesota Twins. The Twins are sitting in second place in the AL central but only by 1/2. They are also second in the wild card race behind the Boston Red Sox. Now if the Twins want to win the division or the wild card they would have to find the key pitcher. The have a very weak pitching rotation maybe acquiring Rich Harden from the A's would be a good fit. They do not need a Ken Griffey, or a Manny Ramirez, hey have the hitting in Justin Morneau, and Joe Mauer. What the Twins have to realize is that if they know that Ken Griffey is going to the White Sox you have to make a big move to keep pace on the division. Even if the Twins win the wild card I do not think that they will go that far in the postseason.

   The next division is the AL West. Of course the winner is the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels are a very smart baseball team. They know for a fact that they are going to win their division and they needed a little fix- up in their lineup. On that note the Angels went out and received Mark Teixera from the Atlanta Braves. Now this switch hitter has the feel he was probably the most valuable player on the market because of his fielding and his ability to hit and he can turn on the wheels in a big situation. He is hitting 284 batting average and has 77 RBI and 20 dingers. He is the key to postseason success.

The loser is EVERYONE ELSE

The next division is the NL EAST. Everyone but one Mark Texieria or a Manny Ramirez would be a winner in this division. The team I think that needed to make the biggest move was the Florida Marlins 1 1/2 game out of first. Now there were rumors that Manny was going to be flying to Florida.  Now if the Marlins were to acquire him this would be a tight race for the division crown.

The next division is the NL central. Now when you here that division you think of three teams Cubs, Cardinals, Brewers. Now way before the trading deadline the brewers made a blockbuster trade for the AL Cy young award winner C.C. Sabathia. This means that the Cub and Cardinals have to watch out the Brewers are serious. Now to match that the Cubs went out and acquired rich Harden from the A's. Now it seems like everyone is making big trades. But where are the Cardinals? The Cardinals were very quiet with trades. Since the Sabathia trade the Brewers are tied in second place in the NL central and are tied for the wild card lead. Both teams (Brewers and Cardinals) are both 4 games out of first place. I think that the cubs will run away with the division it is mono-e-mono between the Brewers and Cardinals for the wild Card crown. But the Cardinals did get their ace back Chris Carpenter has an outstanding curve ball and a fastball that gets in the 90's.

The next division is the NL WEST. Now it has been a foot race for fist place between the Arizona Diamondbacks and The Los Angeles Dodgers. In the 07 offseason the Dodgers fired their manager and brought in Yankee Manager Joe Torre. Along with Joe, the Dodgers also signed Andruw Jones from the Atlanta Braves so far this year he has not been brought in for hitting 167. But to replace him another big name was brought to LA Manny Ramirez. He is the key to bringing back success to LA. But the Arizona Diamondbacks didn't to very well in the trade deadline. There were rumours about the Diamondbacks acquiring Mark Texieria but they would have to give up Chad Tracy and a couple minor league players. I'm guessing the diamondbacks didn't think Texieria was worth it. I'm hoping that this does not cost a playoff spot for Arizona.