2009 MLB Trade Deadline

When I woke up this morning and saw that the Cincinnati Reds' had recalled Adam Rosales to fill the vacant roster spot, courtesy of Jay Bruce's broken wrist, the second word I thought was "trade".  The first word is not printable.

This Thursday, my "Spidey Sense" tells me that we will have traded Edwin Encarnacion and possibly a highly touted outfielder (either Drew Stubbs or Chris Heisey) to the Blue Jays for Scott Rolen.

Rumors have been swirling around Kansas City Royals infielder Mark Teahen, with most of them seem to have Teahen going to the Boston Red Sox.

Teahen could fill the third base role vacated by the recently injured Mike Lowell. Kevin Youkilis has moved across the diamond to his natural position of third, with Jeff Bailey and Mark Kotsay platooning at first.

If Lowell's laid up for an extended amount of time, Teahen can play both first and third, and provide a decent bat in the lineup. And when Lowell does return from his hip injury, Teahen would be a great bat off the bench.

Gotta love the picture

At this time during the baseball season things are beginning to wind down before the All-Star break. The selections have largely been announced, and every team gets a much needed break, while a majority of the players get some time to ease off the tension and relax.

We obviously have seen just the beginning of the wheeling and dealing to commence before the trade deadline. 

One day after dealing Yuniesky Betancourt for a pair of minor leaguers the Mariners have struck again nabbing 3B Jack Hannahan from the Oakland Athletics for Double-A pitcher Justin Souza. 

We still have 20 full days until the trade deadline, and still have all of our trade chips intact like Jarrod Washburn, and Miguel Batista, both will be subject to plenty of Hot Stove rumors. 

In a move not often associated with contending ballclubs, the Seattle Mariners traded their incumbent starter at shortstop on Friday, sending Yuniesky Betancourt to Kansas City in exchange for two minor league pitching prospects.

Though it seems a peculiar deal for a team closing in on first place in their division, Betancourt had long ago punched his ticket out of town with inconsistent play, a lack of focus, and an injury that kept him out of the lineup for the past month.

The Chicago Cubs looked like a steaming pile of hot garbage on Friday in an 8-3 loss to division leading St. Louis Cardinals in the first game of a crucial four-game series before the All Star Break.

Whether it's been Rich Harden's inability to gets outs past the second inning, Ryan Dempster's high jumping ability or Geovany Soto's new love handle contusion, the Cubs are giving off the vibes of a team completely out of it in the National League Central.

As many of you probably know, the Royals traded two minor league pitchers for Seattle shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt.

The Royals did have to give up Double-A pitcher Daniel Cortes, who has been tagged by some scouts as the best pitcher in the Royals' farm system. They also gave up Single-A reliever Derrick Saito.

I have talked to some Mariners fans, and they say this is a major win for Seattle. I beg to differ.

Earlier this week the Toronto Blue Jays started listening to offers for Roy Halladay, their strong ace, after falling out of the AL East race. Surely there are teams interested, but not many may want to pay the price that they are asking for. I have come up with a list of five teams that should consider going after the ace, and establish a run in this years playoffs.

BY DOUG RUSH

Just saw on ESPN.com and SNY's Loud Mouth's:

The Atlanta Braves send Jeff Francoeur to the New York Mets for Ryan Church.

Mets fans....what do you think of the deal? Lets hear it?

Personally, I think it's a good deal for both teams.

It seemed like Jerry Manuel never liked Ryan Church, especially after the missed third base blunder and Francoeur just seemed like he ran his course in Atlanta.