Did You Know?

When Orlando Cabrera was traded to the Giants at the deadline, it marked the third time that he has been a deadline deal since 2004. The Giants are his 9th team since 2003 and 7th since 2007. 

This Day in Baseball History

8/1/1945: Mel Ott of the New York Giants hits his 500th career home run, then third on the all time list. His 11th homer of the season comes off of Johnny Hutchings, who was in the midst of the best season of his career: 7-6, 3.75 ERA. Interestingly, Hutchings led the National league by giving up 21 home runs. To add to the coincidence, Ott would hit 21 that year. 

News

Jim Thome (Twins) hit his 597th career home run.

A recap of the top deadline deals:

Rockies traded Ubaldo Jimenez (6-9, 4.46 ERA, .251 BAA, age 27) to the Indians for Alex White (1-0, 3.60 ERA, .255 BAA, age 22) and minor leaguers Drew Pomeranz (3-3, 1.98 ERA, .202 BAA at High Class A and AA, age 22), Joe Gardner (7-8, 4.99 ERA, .287 BAA at AA, age 23), and Matt McBride (15 HR, 56 RBI, .279 AVG, 3 SB at AA and AAA, age 26).   

My opinion: Rockies got the upper hand, as Pomeranz by himself has the potential to be better then Jimenez.

Astros traded Hunter Pence (11 HR, 62 RBI, .308 AVG, 7 SB, age 28) to the Phillies for minor leaguers Jarred Cosart (9-8, 3.92 ERA, .243 BAA at High Class A, age 21), Jonathan Singleton (9 HR, 47 RBI, .284 AVG, 3 SB at High Class A, age 20), Josh Zeid (2-3, 5.65 ERA, .265 BAA at AA, age 24) and a player to be named later. 

My opinion: With the addition of Pence, the Phillies should have no problem phighting off the Braves for the NL East crown.

Astros traded Michael Bourn (1 HR, 32 RBI, .303 AVG, 39 SB, age 28) to the Braves for Jordan Schafer (1 HR, 7 RBI, .240 AVG, 15 SB, age 24) and minor leaguers Brett Oberholtzer (9-9, 3.74 ERA, .249 BAA at AA, age 22), Paul Clemens (6-5, 3.73 ERA, .249 BA at AA, age 23), and Juan Abreu (4-2, 2.25 ERA, .193 BAA, 1 save at AAA, age 26). 

My opinion: Bourn isn't as good a player as Pence, so the Braves will need to step it up to catch the Phillies.

Padres traded Mike Adams (3-1, 1.13 ERA, .155 BAA, 1 save, age 33) to the Rangers for minor leaguers Robbie Erlin (8-4, 3.34 ERA, .219 BAA at High Class A and AA, age 20) and Joe Wieland (10-3, 1.80 ERA, .233 BAA at High Class A and AA, age 21). 

My opinion: Both teams should benefit as Adams is a lights-out reliever and the Padres acquired two of the top arms in the Rangers' system.

Mets traded Carlos Beltran (15 HR, 66 RBI, .289 AVG, 3 SB, age 34) to the Giants for minor leaguer Zack Wheeler (7-5, 3.99 ERA, .224 BAA at High Class A, age 21).

My opinion: This trade looks to be just centered around this year for the Giants, as Beltran is leaving his prime and this may be his final solid season. Wheeler was the Giants' top pitching prospect.

Please try to follow me in this 11-player, 3-team deal.

Cardinals -> Blue Jays: Colby Rasmus (11 HR, 40 RBI, .246 AVG, 5 SB, age 24), Trever Miller (0-1, 4.02 ERA, .306 BAA, 1 save, age 38), Brian Tallet (0-1, 8.31 ERA, .339 BAA, age 33), and P.J. Walters (0-0, 9.00 ERA, .188 BAA, age 26). 

Blue Jays -> Cardinals: Octavio Dotel (2-1, 3.68 ERA, .187 BAA, 1 save, age 37), Corey Patterson (6 HR, 33 RBI, .252 AVG, 13 SB, age 31), and Mark Rzepcynski (Rez-Pin-Ski, 2-3, 2.97 ERA, .201 BAA, age 25).

Blue Jays -> White Sox: Jason Frasor (2-1, 2.98 ERA, .244 BAA, age 33) and Zack Stewart (0-1, 4.86 ERA, .382 BAA, age 24).

White Sox -> Cardinals: Edwin Jackson (7-7, 3.92 ERA, .283 BAA, age 27).

White Sox -> Blue Jays: Mark Teahen (3 HR, 11 RBI, .203 AVG, 0 SB, age 29).

My opinion: I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out what the heck happened in this trade.

Other big deals: Dodgers traded Rafael Furcal to the Cardinals, Orioles traded Derek Lee to the Pirates, Padres traded Ryan Ludwick to the Pirates, Indians traded Orlando Cabrera to the Giants, Nationals traded Jason Marquis to the Diamondbacks, Reds traded Johnny Gomes to the Nationals, Orioles traded Koji Uehara to the Rangers, and the Mariners traded Erik Bedard to the Red Sox.

Game Scores

Red Sox (66-40) beat the White Sox (52-54) 5-3. Yankees (64-42) beat the Orioles (42-63) 4-2. Phillies (68-39) beat the Pirates (54-52) 6-5 (10 innings). Cubs (43-65) beat the Cardinals (57-51) 6-3. Nationals (51-56) beat the Mets (55-53) 3-2.  Rays (56-51) beat the Mariners (45-62) 8-1. Marlins (53-55) beat the Braves (63-46) 3-1. Diamondbacks (59-49) beat the Dodgers (48-59) 6-3.  

Top Scorer: Reds beat the Giants 9-0. Longest Winning Streak: Brewers, 6 games. Longest Losing Streak: Orioles, Pirates, Astros, and Giants, 3 games.

Standings

AL East: Red Sox (66-40, .623 WPCT). AL Central: Tigers (57-51, .528). AL West: Rangers (61-48, .560). 

NL East: Phillies (68-39, .636). NL Central: Brewers (60-49, .550). NL West: Giants (61-47, .565). 

AL Wild Card: Yankees (64-42, .604). NL Wild Card: Braves (63-46, .578). Bottom Team: Astros (35-73, .324).

League Leaders

Offensive: AVG: Adrian Gonzalez (Red Sox), .357. Home runs: Jose Bautista (Blue Jays), 31. RBI: Adrian Gonzalez, 90. Stolen bases: Michael Bourn (Braves), 39.

Pitching: Wins: C.C. Sabathia (Yankees) and Justin Verlander (Tigers), 15.  K's: Justin Verlander, 178.  ERA: Johnny Cueto (Reds), 1.72 (109.2 innings, 21 earned runs). Saves: Brian Wilson (Giants), 33. 

Top Performers

Offensive: Scott Hairston (Mets): 2-2, 2 home runs (7), 2 RBI, 2 runs, AVG up .015 from .250 to .265, hitting streak to 1 game (2-2, 1.000). 

Pitching: Johnny Cueto (Reds): Win (7-4), 9 shutout innings, 3 hits, 1 walk, 6 K's (67), ERA drop: 0.16 runs from 1.88 to 1.72.

Worst Pitching Performance: Carl Pavano (Twins): Loss (6-8), 4 innings, 7 earned runs, 9 hits, 2 walks, 1 K (60), ERA jump: 0.30 runs from 4.60 to 4.90. 

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Teams followed in this email: Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves

If your team is not included, please email me and I will add them.

HR: home runs.  RBI: runs batted in.  AVG: batting average.  SB: stolen bases.  ERA: earned run average.  BAA: batting average against.  K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage