NL West

This is the second of three articles looking at the Rockies at the trade deadline. The first one was on the bullpen, and the next will be position players/offense. This article will look at starting pitching.

The Rockies have been rumored to be looking at starting pitching at the trade deadline. Just to hear the Rockies as potential buyers is somewhat surprising.

Let’s look at the Rockies current rotation listed in order of ERA/2010 performance:

It is safe to say that this has been a tough week to be a Rockies fan.

With the deadline quickly approaching, fans are wondering just what their team is going to do. That is, if they haven't made a move already.

There have been two big moves thus far and both have come in the American League's Western Division. The Rangers acquired left-hander Cliff Lee from Seattle and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim acquired Dan Haren from Arizona late Sunday night.

Despite being seven games behind the first place Texas Rangers in the American League West, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are not going down without a fight. Earlier in the week, they acquired Alberto Callaspo from the Kansas City Royals and now they have perhaps acquired the best pitcher left on the trade market.

The Angels have acquired RHP Dan Haren from the Arizona Diamondbacks for LHP Joe Saunders and minor leaguers Patrick Corbin, Rafael Rodriguez, and Tyler Skaggs.

Entering Sunday, the Los Angeles Angels were six games back of the Texas Rangers in the American League West.

The Angels currently have the worst pitching in the division and are ranked 11th in the AL in ERA.

Sunday the Angels decided to do something about that.

Dan Haren was acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks for Joe Saunders, minor league pitching prospects left hander Patrick Corbin, right hander Rafael Rodriguez, neither of which are top Angels prospects, and a player to be named later, which one would imagine will be a higher prospect.

Ugly. Disgusting. Sickening.

The San Francisco Giants really need another left-hander out of the bullpen now that Jeremy Affeldt's sidelined with a torn oblique muscle.

The club also needs minor league talent to attract a proven big league run-producer in trade.

Todd Wellemeyer's pitching well for the Fresno Grizzlies in the Pacific Coast League, but that doesn't mean that fans calling for the club to trade Jonathan Sanchez for a hitter have any idea how difficult it would be to fill the No. 4 spot in the rotation.

Last night, Arizona Diamondbacks’ second baseman Kelly Johnson became the third player this year to hit for the cycle. Johnson went 4-for-4 with three RBI along with a hit by pitch in the Diamondbacks 7-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants.

While this is a great feat for Johnson, I am a tad annoyed this happened. I am annoyed this happened because I had Johnson on my bench last night for my fantasy team. My logic? I went off sample size.

The Dodgers’ Kenley Jansen is a good example of why MLB teams like guys with tools. 

Jansen is a big (6’6″ and 220 pound) 22-year-old right-hander from Curacao (Andruw Jones’ birthplace) who just got called up to take Justin Miller’s place on the Dodgers’ major league roster.

Jansen started his professional career as a catcher, but after more than 1,000 plate appearances at or below the Class A+ level, Jansen proved he just can’t hit (.647 career minor league OPS).

The Colorado Rockies continued their crash-and-burn tour on Friday night.