NL East

It is Jonathan Papelbon, not Cliff Lee, whom the Phillies should be trying to move via waiver trade this month.

Cliff Lee has been claimed by the Los Angeles Dodgers, and now the Phillies must allow their star lefty to walk for the sake of financial flexibility.  

The Washington Nationals have struggled behind the plate this season after Wilson Ramos was lost to injury in May.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Phillies recently waived starting pitcher Cliff Lee’s contract.

Shortly after these reports were made public, other reports surfaced that Lee had been claimed by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Last year at the trade deadline, the Philadelphia Phillies were 68-39, six games up in the NL East. This season, the Phils are just 45-57, 16.5 games out in the NL East and 13 games out in the wild-card race.

Needless to say, with the payroll over $174 million, second to the New York Yankees in MLB, expectations were high.

They have not come close to meeting those expectations.

The New York Mets showed up as an utter failure in the MLB Trade Deadline of this season.

It’s funny how well your sports team can act as a perfect mirror image of your life at some points. The relationship of your favorite sports team and your role as a fan is entirely abstracted in that you essentially make of it what you wish.

Hunter Pence did not expect the news he received early Tuesday afternoon as he was preparing to face the Washington Nationals later that night.  He was no longer a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, who had just traded him across the country to the San Francisco Giants.

The 2012 trade deadline has come to pass. For the Philadelphia Phillies, though, it could have gone better.

When Mets' third baseman David Wright first got promoted to the major leagues in 2004, he was a highly touted prospect and was expected to be a great player for years to come.

However, his hype was in a way offset by the veteran presences of Mike Piazza, Al Leiter, John Franco and Tom Glavine. They all helped groom him into the superstar player he is today as he learned the ropes of the game at its highest level.

Bryce Harper continues to improve with every game that he plays, as does every one of the Washington Nationals.

After the Nats were swept in Miami at the hands of the Marlins, they have won eight of their last ten and the last five in a row.