Fan News

It's been a busy week, so I’m forfeiting the intro. I put all of it into my Dan Haren diatribe. Enjoy.

1– Overall Yahoo! pitcher ranking for St. Louis hurler Adam Wainwright . The man is referred to in some circles as “XXX: Return of Zander Cage ,” because his curveball is so extreme it could win the X-Games and fight terrorism at the same time.

The Detroit Tigers have acquired Jhonny Peralta (and cash) from the Cleveland Indians for minor league pitcher Giovanni Soto, according to the team’s official Twitter feed.

Detroit Tigers

They have been beaten up with injuries recently, especially on the infield, with both Brandon Inge and Carlos Guillen being placed on the DL.  

It's not often that the Indians make a trade that the fans can be happy about.

Think back to last year, when the Tribe dealt Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez away, or to 2008, when CC Sabathia was shipped out of town after his refusal to negotiate a contract extension at a reasonable price.

Even the Bartolo Colon deal of 2002—a phenomenal deal in retrospect—was heart-wrenching at the time, as it signaled the end of the team's streak of success.

Chad Billingsley happily handed his three-hit shutout in the sixth inning to reliable setup man Hong-Chih Kuo, whose lights out relief pitching allowed Jonathon Broxton to close the Los Angeles Dodgers' 2-0 victory against the San Diego Padres last night at Petco Park.

The Dodgers' pitching looked unstoppable, unflappable, and simply unbeatable Tuesday night, which has been a rarity for this ailing pitching staff.

EDIT: Scott Podsednik has since been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Chicago White Sox made a big mistake this past offseason. Needing a lead-off hitter, Kenny Williams had to decide whether or not to bring back Scott Podsednik.

Williams decided not to cede to Podsednik's request for a multi-year deal. Now, the White Sox are paying Juan Pierre almost double Podsednik's current salary to be a scrub.

Take a look at their numbers up to this point in the season:

Red Sox All-Star third baseman Adrian Beltre could fetch a "nice haul" on the trading block this week, according to MLBTradeRumors.com's Tim Dierkes. While Dierkes cautions trade mongers that Boston wouldn't "go there" unless they believed the 2010 team had "no chance," he also suggests Beltre could be worth more than any other Red Sox were he made available.

The Red Sox are at a fascinating and unpredictable crossroads at the 2010 trade deadline.

Despite being ten games over the .500 mark, playing their best baseball in ten years, and being in the playoff race this late in the season for the first time since the Clinton Administration, the Cincinnati Reds still find time to hit the snooze bar at the wrong time.

What is it about Sunday that has this team spooked or jinxed?

It’s like their personal Bermuda Triangle.

While some members of the media are clamoring for the Giants to trade for a big bat and Brian Sabean is kicking the tires on every non-impact bat available, the Giants' best trade option is right in front of them: John Bowker.

Despite their 52-49 record, the Blue Jays are a full 10 games behind Tampa Bay in the wild card race. With little chance of a postseason berth, Jays' fans seemingly don't have much to be excited about. The biggest holding point of interest right now is the looming trade deadline on Saturday. Any number of Jays vets could get moved between now and then.

The MLB trade deadline is almost exactly three days away, and so far the only acquisition the Dodgers have made is the re-acquisition of veteran infielder Juan Castro on Tuesday. Castro will be making his third tour with the Dodgers, and many analysts see Castro's addition in many different ways.

Castro may be trade bait, or he may be insurance should the Dodgers move other veterans such as Jamey Carroll, Ronnie Belliard, and/or Garret Anderson.

Even though the Dodgers have been quiet so far, it may be the calm before the Ned Colletti storm.