National League race hots up, American League hold station
With the trade deadline now passed the battle lines have been drawn and the contenders are readying themselves for the final push. And nowhere are the lines clearer than in the National League.
The Giants, Braves and Phillies all acquired outfield bats to help provide a much needed offensive spark as well as making huge improvements in their outfield defense.
San Francisco started the ball rolling by renting the services of Carlos Beltran, who will be a free agent in the winter, from the New York Mets. Sending pitching prospect Zack Wheeler to the big apple. Beltran, though not quite the force he used to be, is still a good hitter from both sides of the plate and will slot into the middle of their rather thin line up and play the outfield well.
The Phillies, who were also interested in Beltran, went out and picked up the guy who was really the best fit for their ball club, Hunter Pence. Pence was hitting just over .300 with Houston before the trade and importantly he’s controllable for a few seasons beyond this one unlike Beltran and is much younger. He provides the right-handed hitter the Phillies needed to break up the leftie power of Ryan Howard and Chase Utley. However Pence came at a cost. Scouts are very high on first basemen Jonathan Singleton and pitcher Jarred Cosart, but with the Phillies firmly in “win now” mode as their core guys get older.
And so that left the Phillies NL East competitors the Atlanta Braves with few options. They too had been in discussions but balked at the price tag slapped on the two players acquired by their rivals. So they dipped into the Houston Astros for the only player left on that team really worth watching, Michael Bourn.
Bourn is an electric defender in centre field and has outstanding speed, having stolen 10 fewer bases than the ENTIRE Braves side at the point the trade was made. He’ll hit lead-off for them and really provide a good platform for the offense. His .354 on-base percentage is a huge leap forward from what was there before him, and best of all Atlanta was able to hold on to their top pitching prospects such as Mike Minor.
With the big name activity going on in the NL it was surprising to see the AL giants of Boston and New York holding back somewhat. The Yankees had been flirting with the idea of making a trade for Ubaldo Jimenez (who eventually landed in Cleveland) but found the price too steep when Colorado were after a bunch of top-end prospects.
The Red Sox were able to convert some of their kids into leftie starter Eric Bedard from Seattle. But given the recent news of Clay Buchholz’s stress fracture in his lower back one would have hoped that they would have looked at getting a second arm into Fenway too.
No doubt both AL East teams will make it into October, but given the depth in pitching San Fran, Atlanta and Philly have and the extra bat their line-ups now, the balance of power might just be shifting towards the National League.
