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I think the Pirates' GM understands that the fact they are even remotely in the race is a fluke considering the way their roster is currently constructed. Lee and Ludwick add some veteran depth and Grilli is...well, he's there. But still, I liked what the Pirates did. They didn't overspend or mortgage their future for the sake of competing for one lone year.
Cleveland, on the other hand, may have shit the bed. I get that they're in contention, but who honestly thinks a team that is hovering above .500 and had one really good month is a legitimate playoff contender? I sure as shit don't, and I think they made a very poor move in selling off the careers of two potentially very good starting pitchers to have the services of another for a lowly three years.
Let's be honest here. The Indians are only competing for the division because both the White Sox, who were heavily favored, and the Twins, who are always solid, have been complete, utter failures this year. Here's a quote from ESPN's Keith Law;
"The main problem for Cleveland here is that it is incorrectly evaluating its own team -- the Indians shouldn't be buying, and while I could forgive them for not selling, that would be the smarter move for a team still trying to rebuild. Since a fluky 30-15 start driven largely by a schedule with more cupcakes than a Sprinkles bake shop, Cleveland is 23-36 and has been outscored by 77 runs in that span -- that is, it has been outscored by over a run and a quarter per game. Superman isn't going to close that gap, and while there are things to like about Ubaldo Jimenez, Superman he ain't."
Before even reading that, I was harping on at work about it. I think the Indians have made a piss poor decision in trading for a guy who's velocity has dipped and hasn't been good since the first half of 2010. I understand why they'd try to upgrade, but there were other solid pitching options out there that they would not have had to sell 4-7 years of two solid starting pitchers' careers for.
Fact is, Cleveland is a fluke, and they just knee jerked their way into digging a deeper hole into their franchise by buying a less than stellar Ubaldo Jimenez. In about 3 years, the Rockies are going to look like geniuses, much like they did when they hosed the Atheltics in the Matt Holliday deal.
Meanwhile, my Padres made what I perceived to be as a very good move in trading premiere set up man Mike Adams to the Rangers for RHP Robbie Erlin, who is listed as the 34th best prospect in all of baseball according to Baseball America, and Joe Wieland, who recently threw a no hitter and is being touted as cracking the top 100 prospects lists at some point next year.
I admit I wanted the Padres to bring in some offense. The system is in dire need of above average offensive position players, espcially at shortstop. But although that's not what the Padres did, they were able to net themselves two guys who project to be middle to back end starters who will be well suited for PETCO park. Considering that Adams was originally picked off of the minor league free agent scrap heap, and has since turned into one of the best set up men in the game, the package the Padres received for his services is pretty damn good.
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