Mike Adams Traded to Rangers

The Rangers have acquired Mike Adams for Robbie Erlin, who is a top 5 prospect and has done nothing but solidify that and he will be pretty much a number two or three starter and Joe Wieland, a guy who has broken out but is worse than Erlin but he should still be an impact starter.  Adams is the best setup man in all of the MLB and now that the Rangers have him they will have a successful 7-8-9 with Uehara and Feliz will really show up as a great closer.  Adams isn’t a couple year wonder, he will do really good and pretty much the same in Texas and could do even better there.  He will do just as good down the stretch and provide the Rangers with tons of quality innings and a lot of holds.  Adams should have just as good of a second half as he did a first half and I don’t see any way he would be a bust for the Rangers and for what they gave up it was good value, he will be a top-tier setup man for many years.

Diamonbacks Acquire Brad Ziegler

Ziegler was traded for Brandon Allen and Jordan Norberto.  Ziegler will provide the relief help the Diamondbacks need and if Putz shows up they have him, Ziegler, and David Hernandez and that would pretty much be a shut down 7-8-9.  This deal should help the D’Backs a lot and it will lower their bullpen ERA and Ziegler will keep going and will shut teams down almost every time and he will keep his numbers right where they are, the D’Backs had to make this deal to stay in it and now their bullpen is likely to hold up and be successful.  Ziegler will have some bad outings in Arizona but nothing that will hurt the D’Backs too much, ever.  The A’s did get Brandon Allen and he has big , big power that could help him slug 30 homers year in and year out and he could even do that in Oakland.  Allen is something to get excited about and his BABIP is a little high but I think he will still hit okay and his strikeout problem should always be there but it could decrease a bit and he’s a power hitter, he’s just really good.  The A’s also got Norberto who looks like he could be a good power reliever.  Both sides win but EDGE: A’s.  Paul Goldschmit will come up for the D’Backs and he’s even better than Allen and should have success and big power real soon.

MLB Trade Notes

• The Jays and Indians like Chris Iannetta and he’d be a good addition to any contender with his power but you have to deal with a low average.  It would be worth it though because he’s not a horrible defender, nut is pretty bad and will keep getting better.  The Giants should look into him and Miguel Olivo
• Omar Infante is drawing interest, his best fit would be the Braves where he could start at short over Alex Gonzalez
• The D’Backs want a reliever and are looking at Grant Balfour, who would do really well down the stretch and is a greats setup man, he’s worth it for them
• Kevin Slowey is a guy the Twins want to trade, he won’t do real well wherever he goes, especially if it’s in Colorado
• Chad Qualls also looks like he will be leaving San Diego, the Tigers, Angels, Phillies, Cardinals, Pirates, and Diamondbacks are good fits and the Yankees, Red Sox, and Blue Jays aren’t real good fits
• Rajai Davis isn’t drawing much interest but he appears to be expendable, he’s great in the second half and is a true leadoff hitter with speed who will steal, put up a good average and play good defense every year, I like him.
• Erik Bedard could be a Cardinal and boy could he be successful there.
• In a Span for Storen deal I think the Twins would win, even though Span is a great, small ball type of player, Storen could be one of the best soon, both teams would get off good though because Tyler Clippard could be an okay closer.
• Tigers are interested in Joel Peralta, he wuld be great here but I still think I would rather them get Chad Qualls
• The Tigers are also very interested in Jim Johnson thoug a deal is unlikely.  I love this for the Tigers if they find a way to strike this deal, he’s a good reliever
• The Yankees want Wandy Rodriguez and he could do well in New York but they would have to give up Romine and some other good guys most likely so it may not be worth it but Wandy is good
• BJ Upton looks to be staying put.  The Rays could use him and it’s fine, he could still have a really good second half and be really good for the Rays
• Jason Kubel not likely to be traded to the Pirates, too bad for the Pirates a good fit a some power but his defense would have cancelled some of that.
• Ian Stewart drawing interst, good hitter just needs to get it together
• Chris Iannetta to Jays is possible, it’s always great to have three good offensive catchers
• Josh Willingham staying put, will still do very well in Oakland
• Ryan Ludwick to Indians seems likely, he won’t do great there but he will do better than he was doing with the Padres

Braves Acquire Michael Bourn

The Braves have acquired Michael Bourn for Jordan Schafer, Paul Clemens, Brett Oberholtzer, and Juan Abreu.  Bourn will hit leadoff in Atlanta and should keep producing like he did in Houston.  He gives the Braves speed and defense and a good center fielder, which is what they need, so the Braves did a good job here,  Bourn will make the outfield better on defense along with Heyward and will steal another 20 bases at least this season.  Him hitting leadoff bumps Prado to the two hole which is good too because that’s where Prado needs to hit.  Bourn will play great for the Braves this year and beyond.  The Astros got Jordan Schafer to take over center field duties and he looks good and could very well breakout and show us all of his tools in Houston and in that park he will show a ton of power and just play really well.  The Astros also got Oberholtzer who looks like he will be a good pitcher but nothing really special.  The Astros also got Paul Clemens, who looks really good and could rocket through the system and have some good years in Houston and Juan Abreu who will be decent and has major league potential, it’s a good haul for the Astros.  Bourn should always have higher stock than Schafer and do some great stuff in Atalanta.  His speed will solve a lot of problems.  EDGE: Braves

What It Will Take To Get Heath Bell

THE PHILLIES: SP Vance Worely, RP Phillippe Amount
THE BLUE JAYS: C Carlos Perez, SP Asher Wojciechowski
THE YANKEES: C Austin Romine, SP Graham Stoneburner
THE CARDINALS: 3B Matt Carpenter, SP Lance Lynn
THE RANGERS: SP Robbie Ross, SP Joe Wielend
THE ANGELS: SP Trevor Reckling, 3B Kaleb Cowart
BEST DEAL: I say the Yankees and then the Phillies, because Worley is over perfroming a bit but would do great in San Diego and is sstill a really good starter who puts up good numbers, but Stoneburner is available and is very underrated.

Red Sox Acquire Aviles, Harden Deal Falls Through

NON-HARDEN DEAL: It’s best for both teams that this doesn’t go through.  The Red Sox might as well keep Lars Anderson to maybe DH or as trade bait in another deal and Harden will do best in Oakland and could revive his career there and he should do great.  Anderson should do really good in Boston and have good numbers when he finally comes up.  Harden could also keep his ERA low and do some good things in Oakland.
AVILES DEAL: Aviles has underperformed this year and that should chance, especially in Boston.  During his starting time he should do really good and get the job done but he should rake at Fenway and I could see him hitting around .350  for a while and doing a good job in Boston this year and beyond.  He’s a real good player and will d great all-around for Boston.  Yamaico Navarro was acquired by the Royals and he has some good raw talent and could be a good impact player in the MLB.  Kendal Volz looks like he’s a pretty good reliever and could be a major league talent one day, good package back but Aviles is just really good, too good to stay in a slump, the Sox could get a lot.  EDGE: RED SOX

Phillies Acquire Hunter Pence

This will put the Phillies over the top, there batting order should now be

1. SS Jimmy Rollins
2. 3B Placido Polanco
3. 2B Chase Utley
4. 1B Ryan Howard
5. RF Hunter Pence
6. CF Shane Victorino
7. RF Raul Ibanez/Ben Francisco
8. C Carlos Ruiz

That is a winning  line-up and Pence will play a great right field in Philly, will be a bit more productive than Werth was there.  He will hit better and could really just rake in that ballpark the rest of the year.  He will get more homers and RBIs too.  He plays good defense and is just a great player, even better than Beltran at this point.  Pence will do great in Philly for many years but he could be their best offensive player for the rest of this year for sure.  He’s just so good and now that he’s on the best MLB team it will be very special.  Expect huge numbers and everything from Pence.
PROSPECTS THE ASTROS GET
JOSH ZEID: He isn’t a top prospect yet but he looks like he could sneak up and rank high on the Astros list.  He’s more of a reliever right now but could even be a good starter and is a good pitcher.  He isn’t quite ready yet but he will have a good career and should just be a real good pitcher.
JONATHAN SINGELTON: He will be a good bat who will be in the middle of the order and could be the Astros top power hitters for years to come.  I do think he is a bit overrated but he’s still a top prospect who will be a special player, but not as productive as Pence.  The best prospect in the deal.
JARRED COSART: A future middle of the rotation starter who will do everything pretty good and have good numbers has a chance to be a future all-star and will do pretty good, needs to lower his ERA though

EDGE: Phillies

Angels vs Tigers Series Preview Pt. 1

PROBABLE PITCHERS:
THURSDAY
JOEL PINERO: he’s a good pitcher who can do a solid job but the Tigers can crush him and have crushed him before, so I’d expect no different and he could either have a real quick exit or do have way decent but either way the Tigers should find a way to get to him.  PROJECTION: BAD START
BRAD PENNY: Will do decent but will not be untouchable and give up hits and runs but should improve on his last start and not do that bad agin for a while, but he’s not an all-star anymore and should have some great innings and some bad one today.  Expect him to settle in late in the game.  PROJECTION: DECENT START
EDGE: Penny
FRIDAY
TYLER CHATWOOD: He’s a top prospect who could have a really good start at any time, but against this offense he probably won’t be unstoppable tomorrow, but he should do okay and show some flashes of good.  PROJECTION: GOOD START
RICK PORCELLO: Has been good and consistent and I think he going to keep getting better and this is the real Porcello.  He shouldn’t get touched up real bad and Porcello should prove that he’s here to stay on Friday.  PROJECTION: GOOD START
EDGE: Porcello
OFFENSE: For the Tigers Boesch and Cabrera could have real big series and guys like Guillen and Martinez nto far behind.  The Tigers should score a lot.  The Angels should score four or five times today and maybe twice tomorrow with their usual suspects doing the damage like Hunter, Abreu, Kendrick and Trumbo
KEYS: The Tigers need a good start from Penny and at least four runs each game, probably five.  The Angels need both guys to shine at the bottom of their rotation to stay in the race and win these games
PROJECTION
Tigers 8  Angles 6- Thursday
Tigers- 5 Angels-3- Friday
The Angels could sneak one though
TIGERS: They need to win at least two in the whole series and start their offense so they can maintain a lead in the Central.

Power Rankings: Before The Deadline 7/27/11

1. Phillies
2. Red Sox
3. Yankees
4. Rangers
5. Giants
6. Braves
7. Brewers
8. Tigers
9. Cardinals
10. Rays
11. Diamondbacks
12. Pirates
13. Indians
14. Angels
15. White Sox
16. Twins
17. Mets
18. Marlins
19. Nationals
20. Rockies
21. Reds
22. Blue Jays
23. Athletics
24. Dodgers
25. Padres
26. Orioles
27. Royals
28. Cubs
29. Mariners
30. Astros

 

Podcast 3: Prospect Podcast

Back to podcasting, hope you like it!  Here’s the link…
http://niktigs15.podomatic.com/entry/2011-07-27T09_36_13-07_00