Posts Tagged ‘Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’

2010 MLB Trade Deadline Report Cards

August 2nd, 2010 by Adam Markowitz (Bankroll Sports Columnist) | Posted in MLB Baseball   Comments Off on 2010 MLB Trade Deadline Report Cards
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The MLB non-waiver trade deadline came and went on Saturday at 4:00 PM, and though there was a flurry of action right before the wire, several teams were left out in the cold in their quest to better themselves for the rest of this season. Check out how we graded the teams in the hunt for October at Bankroll Sports!

Atlanta Braves: The only move the Braves made during this trade season was picking up SS Alex Gonzalez from the Toronto Blue Jays. How has that move worked out so far? Gonzalez is batting .259 with six extra base hits, one homers, and three RBIs in 15 games with Atlanta. The man he was traded for, SS Yunel Escobar is batting .323 with three dingers and nine RBIs. We won’t mention the two prospects that the Braves gave up in this deal as well. Oops. Look out from behind Atlanta, as the pack is coming to get you in the NL East. Final Grade: D-

Philadelphia Phillies: Give some props to the Phils for going out and getting their man in RHP Roy Oswalt. This is clearly a sign that the boys from the City of Brotherly Love are going for gold once again in the National League. However, this could be a case of too little, too late. The Phils are 3.5 games out of the Wild Card in the race in the NL and are 2.5 back of the Braves. Giving up LHP JA Happ and some prospects to take on all that payroll is risky, but the move worked last year with LHP Cliff Lee. It could work again this year. We love the guts, but aren’t so sure it will be worth the glory. Final Grade: B-

New York Mets: The Mets badly needed to add at least 1-2 starting pitchers at the trade deadline and missed out on everyone. At 6.5 games out from the NL East race and 7.5 back with a trillion teams to hop in the NL Wild Card, the season appears to be over in the Big Apple. GM Omar Minaya badly needed to make a move and failed miserably. Final Grade: F

St. Louis Cardinals: The brass of the Cardinals made a bold move by giving up OF Ryan Ludwick and some minor league prospect talent to get RHP Jake Westbrook from the Cleveland Indians. We aren’t so sure about bringing in a guy who didn’t pitch at all last season and is only 6-7 with a 4.65 ERA this year, but Westbrook does bring some valuable experience. He could be a great fourth pitcher in the postseason behind Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, and Jamie Wright. Final Grade: B

Cincinnati Reds: The Reds really didn’t do much at the trade deadline, and they really didn’t seem all that active on the phones either. There’s a reason for that. Though Cincinnati is in position to make the playoffs now, it is also in a spot to be able to make a run at a number of NL Central titles in the future and everyone knows it. There was no reason to tinker with what was going on. Final Grade: A

San Diego Padres: Hats off to the Padres for getting this trade deadline exactly right. The pitching staff as a whole needed no tweaking whatsoever, as this has been arguably the most consistent unit 1-12 in the majors all season long. A bat would come in handy though in the NL West race, and that’s exactly what San Diego got with OF Ryan Ludwick. Ludwick has all sorts of pop in his bat and has already blasted 11 homers in 77 games this season. Look for him to help boost an offense that struggles at times. Picking up SS/3B Miguel Tejada brings a veteran leader into a very young clubhouse. The Padres are clearly going for glory this year and we love it. Final Grade: A

Los Angeles Dodgers : Someone was going to be trading for Chicago’s LHP Ted Lilly, but at least the Dodgers didn’t give up the farm to get him. Giving up on Blake Dewitt might come back to bit LA in the butt, but at least it acquired handy utility man Ryan Theriot in this deal as well. The Dodgers are 6.5 games behind the playoff chase, but this should at least help a bit in the quest to get back in it. Adding OF Scott Podsednik and RHP Octavio Dotel might help as well. This might not be enough to get the job done, though. Final Grade: B+

Colorado Rockies: Shame on you, Colorado. The Rockies badly needed to go out and find a bat for the middle of the lineup and they failed to do so. Is this a sign on giving up on the season? Didn’t we learn anything last year from the hunt for Rocktober??? Final Grade: F

San Francisco Giants: San Fran had plenty of chances to go out and get a bat in the outfield to improve the team, but the Giants felt the need to stand pat instead. We can’t blame them. This is probably the best chance the team has had to win in years, and the squad has a nice chemistry. 61 wins is tied for the NL lead. Final Grade: B

New York Yankees: The Bronx Bombers added three key pieces to the puzzle on the final hours before the trade deadline, picking up OFs Lance Berkman and Austin Kearns as well as reliever Kerry Wood. Leave it up to GM Brian Cashman to make the moves to make the Yankees win now, but the future seemed to be mortgaged just a bit by giving up a slew of prospects. Final Grade: B-

Tampa Bay Rays: The Rays badly needed a bat, but instead, GM Andrew Freidman elected to go with a bullpen arm instead. He clearly bought RHP Chad Qualls at a cheap price, as his ERA was over 8.00 with Arizona this year. Two seasons ago, the team made a similar move by picking up RHP Chad Bradford at the deadline, and he helped pitch Tampa Bay to the World Series. Could this be the same sort of situation? We’re not ones to doubt the cash strapped Rays. Final Grade: B

Boston Red Sox: If the Red Sox thought they were buyers at the trade deadline, why didn’t they take a chance at giving up some of their pitching in the minors for a quality bat? If they thought they were sellers, why not try to move some of these older pieces to the puzzle that aren’t going to be used in the future? We’re certainly puzzled at the fact that there was no activity in Beantown at the gun. Final Grade: D

Chicago White Sox: They needed a bat, but the White Sox grabbed a great arm instead in the form of RHP Edwin Jackson. Jackson will step into the rotation in the place of RHP Jake Peavy, who has been shut down for the year. With postseason experience, Jackson might be just the man to help pitch the Pale Hose into the second season in spite of the fact that he has had a miserable year. Being back in the AL should help where he thrived with Detroit and Tampa Bay the last two seasons. Final Grade: B+

Minnesota Twins: Yikes. Giving up on the best catching prospect in baseball for Matt Capps? We understand that Capps has had a good season as the Nationals closer, but do the Twinkies really need him? This is a troubling and puzzling move for Minnesota, which didn’t help out its situations in the outfield or in the starting rotation either. Final Grade: F

Detroit Tigers: GM Dave Dombrowski must have thought his Tigers were out of it, as they are currently seven games back in the AL Central. He’s probably right. Final Grade: C

Texas Rangers: The AL West race was probably all but over the day that LHP Cliff Lee was inked by the Rangers. As a team in bankruptcy, Texas certainly did a heck of a job making moves at the trade deadline, bolstering an offense as well that was already potent. With an eight game pad in the AL West, we have to give this team the best grade of any team at the deadline. Final Grade: A+

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Ok, so the Halos are probably out of the playoff race, but that doesn’t mean that they didn’t have a great trade deadline. Picking up RHP Dan Haren from the dismal Diamondbacks was a great move to make, not just for this season, but for the future. Haren is young and is still a great arm at the front end of any rotation. Giving up on a Sabermetric nightmare in LHP Joe Saunders was a very small price to pay. Final Grade: A

MLB Betting: Top Teams to Watch in Interleague Play

May 18th, 2010 by Adam Markowitz (Bankroll Sports Columnist) | Posted in MLB Baseball   Comments Off on MLB Betting: Top Teams to Watch in Interleague Play
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MLB betting action kicks off its first weekend of Interleague play beginning this weekend, and several of the best matchups of the entire year between the American and National Leagues will be underway. Here at Bankroll Sports, we’re taking a look at some of the teams that you need to keep an eye on as the two leagues collide with one another beginning on Friday!

New York Yankees: The Bronx Bombers not only have the second best record in baseball at 25-13 coming into Tuesday, but they also have the best all-time record in Interleague play as well at 133-95. They went just 10-8 in 18 Interleague clashes last season, but their record against their cross town rivals from Flushing was an impeccable 5-1. The Yanks outscored the Mets 18-3 in a three game sweep at the end of June last year, and outscored them by another 26-14 margin over Father’s Day weekend at Yankee Stadium. Who could forget closer Francisco Rodriguez throwing his arms in the air after inducing a pop up to 2B Luis Castillo for what should’ve ended the game? It did. Castillo dropped the ball, two runs scored, and the Yanks won 9-8.

Florida Marlins: It feels like we talk about the Marlins posting solid records every year in Interleague play. They have the best record amongst the National League squads all-time at 120-99 in 219 cross-league battles. Last season, no one in the NL had a better team batting average than the Fish did in Interleague play (.280), and their 78 runs scored was second in the NL. Florida finished a solid 10-8. This weekend, it will face off with the Chicago White Sox, a team that it has faced six times in team history. The Marlins took too out of three games from the Pale Hose both in 2007 at US Cellular Field and in 2004 in South Beach. Florida has won six of its L/10 games overall and is a game over .500 coming into Tuesday’s action, so expect to see the Fish try to make a move during their best time of year.

Colorado Rockies: The Rocks rolled to an 11-4 record in Interleague play last season as a part of their most improbable comeback from the depths of the NL West to the make the postseason. They’ve got a fantastic draw at the start of Interleague play this season, getting to travel to a Kansas City team that is a mess at this point after the firing of manager Trey Hillman. Colorado had won four of its previous five games before losing the first game of a series at Wrigley Field on Monday night, but it is still just four games back in the tightly contested NL West race. The only concern about the Rockies in this one is that they have actually never won a game at Kauffman Stadium, going 0-3 all-time there from a series sweep in 2008. The team may be five games under .500 all-time in cross-league play, but Colorado is still a team to watch to make a move over this summer.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Manager Mike Scioscia had better hope that his team can come back from the depths of obscurity in the AL West race with a strong Interleague season! The Halos are just 18-22 through 40 games and are in dire need of a winning streak to get back in contention in the divisional race. No one posted a better Interleague mark in the bigs last year than did the Angels, who went a whopping 14-4. This will be the third trip to Busch Stadium for Anaheim in team history (ironically, the Cardinals have never traveled to the Big A). The Halos have captured three of the L/4 meetings and are an even 3-3 in six games against the Redbirds all-time. With a .557 winning percentage all-time in Interleague play, Scoscia’s boys aren’t ones to mess around with.