Kuzul

The Cleveland Indians were one of the more active teams at the July 31 trade deadline.

The club entered the deadline in a curious position, sitting 6.5 games back of the division-leading Detroit Tigers and five games back of the final AL wild-card spot. Without all the necessary pieces to make a serious run at the division, the Tribe chose to ship off two of their more high-profile players.

Justin Masterson was the first to go, and the club moved him to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for outfielder James Ramsey.

The second deal saw Asdrubal Cabrera move to the Washington Nationals in exchange for infielder Zach Walters.

Neither deal was groundbreaking in any way, but we’ll take an in-depth look at both trades and grade them, and we’ll also grade the team’s performance at the deadline as a whole. Let’s get started.

Indians Get: James Ramsey, Cardinals Get: Justin Masterson

It doesn’t seem like the Indians were ever actually going to extend Masterson. There were numerous reports throughout the season that the two sides had discussed an extension, but nothing major came out of those talks. Because of that, dealing Masterson was the best thing the team could do.

Unfortunately for the front office, the 29-year-old pitched the Indians right out of a much bigger return package by posting a 5.51 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP over his first 19 starts in 2014. Where teams like the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox were able to bring in big returns for some of their pitchers, the Indians had to settle for Ramsey and Ramsey only.

Ramsey earns high marks for his IQ and leadership qualities. The 24-year-old was captain of the Florida State University baseball team and was also a Rhodes Scholar nominee, per the Baseball America Prospect Handbook.

As far as his abilities on the field are concerned, he is average across the board and has the potential for a plus run tool.

At the plate, Ramsey and his future present a little more of a question mark. He sees the ball very well and draws walks at an above-average rate, with a 12.6 percent walk rate in the minors. He also strikes out quite a bit, though, averaging a 24 percent strikeout rate in 1,024 minor league plate appearances.

Because of this, Ramsey is an inconsistent hitter. He’s had a lot of success this season, slashing .300/.389/.527 through 281 plate appearances, but his 23.5 percent strikeout rate shows that things haven’t changed all that much.

Ramsey has shown some decent pop for a center fielder, logging 16 and 13 home runs in 2013 and 2014, respectively. At the big league level, the young outfielder doesn’t figure to hit for as much power, however, and should be more of a gap hitter.

His immediate big league future is that of a fourth outfielder. The Indians have a bevy of outfield prospects ahead of him in terms of natural ability, but Ramsey is the second-closest outfielder in relation to a big league call-up.

If he’s able to stick in center field and hit somewhere near 10 home runs a season, he could profile well as a starting center fielder and No. 2 hitter on an average team.

Grade: B

Indians Get: Zach Walters, Nationals Get: Asdrubal Cabrera

Realistically, the Indians should have traded Asdrubal Cabrera after his All-Star campaign in 2012. With free agency just two years away, Cabrera staked himself out to a .270/.338/.423 slash line with 16 home runs, 68 RBI, 70 runs scored and a 90/52 K/BB ratio.

Since then, the veteran shortstop has been trending downward, posting a .244/.301/.395 slash line over 978 plate appearances between the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

Cabrera’s abysmal performance in the last two seasons hurt his trade value significantly. The shortstop market ended up being much thinner than once projected, and with players like Alexei Ramirez, Jimmy Rollins and others staying put, he would have commanded a much higher return package.

Instead, from the Nationals, the Indians were able to get shortstop (and sometimes third base) Zach Walters.

Walters ranked as the Nationals’ No. 14 prospect, according to the Baseball America Prospect Handbook. He has great pop, racking up at least 12 home runs in each of the last three minor league seasons. The 24-year-old fails to recognize as much of that power as he should, however, striking out at a 23.5 percent clip over the course of his minor league career.

If he continues to swing so freely at the big league level, Walters will get eaten alive by more advanced pitchers.

Defensively, the University of San Diego product is more of a project and requires some additional work if he’s going to find a permanent home at either shortstop or third base. If he’s able to improve his route-taking and also his first step (unlikely), then he could work as a starting shortstop.

The more likely path for Walters is that of a utility man—think Martin Prado but with less speed and maybe a bit more power.

The move is somewhat puzzling, though, as the Indians already possess a wealth of players with similar career paths. Even so, it cleared a spot for Francisco Lindor to be promoted in the very near future, and that’s never a bad thing. 

Grade: C+

Overall 

It wasn’t a great deadline by any means, but most of that wasn’t the Indians’ fault. They weren’t likely to re-sign both Masterson and Cabrera—especially not Cabrera—so both moves were warranted.

In addition to that, the poor performances put forth by both players hurt their trade value, leaving the Indians with little wiggle room to acquire better prospects in exchange for expiring contracts.

Perhaps the most important result of either trade was the fact that the Indians were able to open up the starting shortstop gig for top prospect Francisco Lindor. The 20-year-old has torn up minor league pitching and ranks as the best defensive shortstop in the minor leagues.

Getting him some experience in a non-pressure situation will be key to his development, so the team should be commended for that.

All in all, it wasn’t a great deadline, but it wasn’t horrible, either.

Overall Grade: B-

*All stats current through play on August 1, 2014, and are courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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Jose Abreu can hit home runs. That much has been obvious from the moment he put on a big league uniform. But his talents, clearly, go well beyond the long ball.

Excitement has trailed the Cuban star since he inked a six-year, $68 million contract with the Chicago White Sox last fall. But his reputation, by and large, was that of a single-tool slugger.

Two-thirds of the way through his rookie MLB season, Abreu is shattering expectations.

After going 3-for-3 in Friday night’s 10-8 win over the Minnesota Twins, Abreu owns a .310 batting average to go along with 31 home runs and 84 RBI. The latter two stats lead the American League, meaning Abreu is suddenly a Triple Crown threat.

He’d have to hike his average, but that’s not beyond the realm of possibility considering he’s currently on a 21-game hitting streak and has hit safely in 39 of his last 40 games, per MLB.com‘s Scott Merkin.

To their credit, the White Sox saw more than dingers when they signed Abreu.

“He’s the only player that I’ve seen work out and then play in a game that I wanted to give a standing ovation to,” Chicago Executive Vice President Ken Williams told Merkin in October 2013. “One of the things that we did not want to entertain was a guy who was just one dimensional. This guy is a hitter.”

Unfortunately for the White Sox, and Abreu, his talents are being squandered on a club that’s mired under .500 and essentially out of the playoff picture.

But that’s this year. Going forward, Chicago has its hands on a legitimate, franchise-defining player. A guy you build around. A guy who belongs in the conversation with Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera and the AL’s other top-tier talents.

He’s certainly the prohibitive front-runner for Rookie of the Year honors. What about MVP? Is he in the running there?

White Sox skipper Robin Ventura thinks so.

“He is one of the best players in the league. That’s a fact,” Ventura told Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune. “Whether people put him in it, I don’t know, but I know he’s up there with anybody that’s running for it.”

The most obvious comparison for Abreu is probably Cabrera, who has already ascended the Triple Crown mountain. 

Here’s White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers on the two AL Central mashers, per Kane:

(Abreu is) not Miguel Cabrera, but he has a chance to be something like that. Every at-bat, every day, the way he works, that’s how I imagine Miguel works. It seems like he has just as much power, and a similar kind of swing too. He can take balls in and drive them out to right-center. He doesn’t seem to get fooled too often. He’s a complete hitter.

Baseball is a game of adjustments. Just as Abreu has adjusted to big league pitching and carved out a reputation as one of the game’s most exciting young hitters, so too will pitchers adjust to him. There will be slumps. There will be struggles.

For now, though, he’s riding high. Hitting home runs, yes, but also doing much, much more.

Maybe it shouldn’t be such a surprise. Here’s Abreu himself, to Merkin last October:

So much has been said about my power and the home runs I hit, but more than hitting home runs, when I’m at the plate, my mindset is to make sure I do what’s needed for the team, whatever is needed at that moment, whatever the team needs of me. That’s my strategy of play. I’m not thinking of home runs more than anything, it’s just delivering what I’m asked to do.

As he wraps up his first MLB campaign, he’s unequivocally doing what’s been asked—and then some.

All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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Fresh off of sending Chris Sale, Jose Abreu and Alexei Ramirez to Minneapolis for All-Star festivities, the Chicago White Sox began their post-All-Star break schedule by splitting six home games against the Houston Astros and Kansas City Royals

With the team entering play July 25 at 49-54, Baseball Prospectus is understandably pessimistic about Robin Ventura’s club gaining any meaningful traction in the standings the rest of the way, giving the team a 1.5 percent chance to reach postseason play.

General manager Rick Hahn did yeoman’s work in turning a 99-loss team in 2013 into a team that’s made strides behind the additions of Abreu and Adam Eaton.

Sale, perhaps the best lefty in the AL with his 9-1 record and scant 2.03 ERA, and Abreu, the front-runner to be named AL Rookie of the Year after Masahiro Tanaka’s injury with his .290 average, 29 homers and 74 RBI, are obviously the two biggest reasons to be optimistic about the White Sox going forward.

Jose Quintana, armed with a 3.5 WAR despite a 5-7 record and a 3.15 ERA, gives the White Sox a vastly underrated lefty behind Sale as he hopes to surpass 200 innings for the second time.

A late-season return of Avisail Garcia, who’s recovering nicely from his April 9 injury in Colorado, would improve an offense that’s averaging 4.22 runs. Acquired in last July’s three-way trade with the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox, which saw Hahn ship out Jake Peavy, Garcia hit his only two homers of the year the night before suffering his injury.   

According to Brian Sandalow of the Chicago Sun-Times, Garcia is making such good progress in his rehab that he could be close to going on a rehab assignment.

“Everything has been positive,” he said. “They know what they’re doing, so they don’t want me to get hurt again. They just tell me to relax, easy, so now I’m good. They [checked] me out yesterday, and nothing hurts.”

Sale and Quintana headline the staff, but the bullpen—hurt because of in-season injuries to Nate Jones and Matt Lindstrom—needs to find a way to stabilize.

With the offseason trade of Addison Reed to the Arizona Diamondbacks and the setbacks Jones and Lindstrom have suffered, Ventura hasn’t had a set closer all year.

Looking to the second half of the season, ESPNChicago.com’s Doug Padilla said the organization’s goal is to remake its bullpen in the image of the Royals—as one that gets the job done consistently despite having the 13th-best ERA in all of baseball:

“That’s a good bullpen,” said White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers, who had two hits off Shields and never got a chance against Davis or Holland since they combined to retire all six batters they faced. “It seems like once they get to the seventh, it’s a challenge to get a runner on base, much less try to get a run in. That makes it more important to take advantage of the situations early on.”

Contrast that to the White Sox’s plan and there couldn’t be two more different scenarios. The White Sox rotate their closer and setup man on a daily basis, a plan done out of necessity since nobody has been able to hold down the ninth-inning spot.

The White Sox still have 10 games remaining with the division-leading Tigers, along with road trips against the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants and the New York Yankees. The other two AL division leaders, the Oakland Athletics and Baltimore Orioles, are part of the White Sox’s remaining home schedule—which also includes three games with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Baseball Prospectus estimates that the White Sox will go 27-32 the rest of the way, which would represent a 13-win improvement from 2013 with a 76-86 record.

Hahn surely will be getting calls on the likes of Gordon Beckham, Dayan Viciedo and John Danks as the July 31 trade deadline approaches and as he continues to put his fingerprints on the club. Whether or not Beckham, Viciedo and Danks are still with the organization Aug. 1, continuing to build momentum toward 2015 may come from those who are still with the organization for the season’s final two months.

Marcus Semien saw action earlier in the year and could get called up once again should Beckham get moved. Micah Johnson, who entered 2014 as the organization’s sixth-ranked prospect, according to Baseball America, will be in Chicago sooner than later.

Sale, Abreu, Eaton, Garcia, Johnson and 2014 No. 3 overall pick Carlos Rodon represent the organization’s future. How quickly that future gets here may depend on the work Hahn gets done or doesn’t get done before July 31.

Blake Baumgartner, who has covered prep events as a freelancer for both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times, can be reached on Twitter @BFBaumgartner.

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With the 2014 Major League Baseball trade deadline quickly approaching, the Cleveland Indians find themselves in a curious position. The team is currently three games over .500 and 4.5 games back of the division-leading Detroit Tigers.

The Tribe has just a two-game deficit between them and the final American League wild-card spot, but there are some major flaws to be addressed, most notably in the starting rotation and on the bench.

The rotation has undoubtedly been the Indians’ biggest issue. Indians’ pitchers with at least one start under their belt have combined for some ghastly numbers this year.

Some of the rankings are palatable, however, and it’s important to note that the team is currently working with a starting group that includes exactly one member of the opening-day rotation.

Corey Kluber, the Tribe’s perceived No. 2—or 1A, if you please—for opening day has really cemented himself as a fringe-candidate for “ace” status, but he alone can’t carry the rotation. On opening day, it was assumed that Justin Masterson would work as the team’s No. 1 starter, but as the numbers indicate, he’s been anything but a reliable option, even when fully healthy.

Zach McAllister, who pitched well in 2013 and to start the year in 2014, has struggled mightily, and has even spent time at Triple-A Columbus due to performance-related issues. 

So the need for another starter has arisen.

The club could choose to promote Danny Salazar and utilize him as a starter for the rest of the season, but if his 4.7 BB/9 at Triple-A are any indication, he still hasn’t figured anything out.

At this point, the only way to address the starting-rotation headache is through a trade. A number of starting pitchers figure to be available, including Jake Peavy, Jorge De La Rosa, A.J. Burnett, Bartolo Colon and David Price.

Price is likely out of the Indians’ reach. The Rays would demand a package including Danny Salazar and Francisco Lindor. The Indians may be able to counter with a package built around Salazar and Clint Frazier and another mid-level pitching prospect, but the bargaining would likely end there.

The team would then have to turn to a second-tier options, like Peavy, De La Rosa, Burnett or Colon. Of the group De La Rosa and Colon are the best fits, but Colon offers the team the best of both worlds, those being production and an extra year of club control.

So, we’ve arrived at a target: Bartolo Colon. It’s like the LeBron James homecoming.

Well, not really. But it’s the next best thing, right?

Colon has been unspectacular, but solid at times. His four most recent starts have seen his ERA rise from 3.67 to 4.12. However, leaving New York could be a good move for the 41-year-old righty.

Colon is under contract through the 2015 season at a rate of $10 million per season. The Mets willingness to absorb some of his remaining salary will ultimately determine the return package they receive.

If the Mets are willing to make the acquisition slightly more affordable for the Indians—who are unlikely to take on a player worth $10 million next year or for the remainder of this season—then the Indians could put together a trade package including two mid-level pitching prospects like Adam Plutko and Shawn Morimando.

A more likely scenario involves the Indians making a swap of Asdrubal Cabrera for Bartolo Colon.

The Mets are in need of a shortstop, and while it’s likely they would rather get a younger, more permanent solution, Cabrera is signable from the Mets’ point of view and is still just 28 years old. Even if the team decided to let Cabrera walk at the end of the 2014 season, the Mets would benefit from some salary relief.

Since there is no salary relief on the Indians’ end in this scenario, the Mets would also chip in a pitching prospect to complement Colon.

The best and most realistic option for the Mets is 21-year-old righty Gabriel Ynoa. Ynoa has the opportunity to develop into a back-end rotation option, but his future will be determined by the development of his slider.

His primary offering, a low-90s sinker, is a solidly average offering. His second-best offering is a plus-plus changeup that has outstanding fading action and can work very well at the big league level.

Ynoa‘s breaking ball is less developed. He’s inconsistent with the arm action and release point associated with the pitch, but should it become a more consistent offering, the Dominican Republic native should have no problems slotting into the back of the Indians’ rotation by the 2016 season.

Another important factor in this deal is the spot that would be cleared for Francisco Lindor. The Indians’ top prospect is knocking on the door for a promotion, and has averaged a .281/.352/.389 batting line over 387 at-bats this year. 

In addition to his solid slash line, Lindor boasts 22 extra-base hits, 48 RBI, 51 runs scored and 25 stolen bases. The 20-year-old would also provide the Indians with an enormous defensive upgrade, as he’s one of the best defensive shortstops at any level of professional baseball.

The deal presents the the Indians with a win-win scenario. Colon isn’t the best option on the open market, but he’s easily attainable. In addition to the upgrade the rotation would receive, the team can get value out of Asdrubal Cabrera while clearing room for one of the top prospects in the game to make his mid-season debut.

Final Deal

Indians Get: Bartolo Colon and Gabriel Ynoa

Mets Get: Asdrubal Cabrera

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The Detroit Tigers are once again championship contenders in 2014. At 55-41 and 6.5 games clear of their nearest division rival, they are poised to make another run at an elusive World Series title. Key to their success so far has been the breakout season of starting pitcher Rick Porcello. The tall right-hander has been an integral part of the team’s success at a time when it really needed him to raise his game.

The offseason exit of Doug Fister via trade caused much consternation in Detroit. Fister had an excellent two-and-half-year stint as a Tiger, winning 45 games (including postseason). With big shoes to fill, literally and figuratively, Porcello was the man counted on to pick up the slack left by his former teammate.

Detroit’s starting rotation has been one of its main strengths in recent years. Despite Fister’s aforementioned departure and the struggles of Justin Verlander (career-worst 4.84 ERA), Porcello has helped to maintain its high quality through the season’s first four months. Tigers starters have combined for 44 wins (first in AL) and also rank in the top five in ERA, WHIP and batting average against.

Porcello’s performances so far this season have been his finest as an MLB player. His 12 wins are equal highest in the majors and only one shy of his career high for a full season. Also, his ERA (3.39), WHIP (1.18) and batting average against (.253) are all career-best marks.

At times, Porcello has completely dominated opposing lineups. The New Jersey native notched six-straight wins during April-May, followed by a 25.1-inning scoreless streak in June-July. His latter feat included back-to-back complete-game shutouts, one of which came against the AL’s second-best offense—Oakland.

With 119.1 innings already logged, Porcello is on target to pass 200 IP in a season for the first time in his career. His ability to go deeper into ballgames has also left Detroit’s shaky bullpen (ERA 4.36) less exposed and provided it with some much-needed rest.

Reflecting on Porcello’s career year beckons the question: How has he jumped from mediocre MLB pitcher to very good MLB pitcher in 2014?

One thing is for certain, it is not through striking hitters out. Unlike some of his Tigers brethren (e.g. Max Scherzer), Porcello does not possess the arm to collect punch-outs en masse. With a heater averaging 92 mph, the righty needs to retire opposing hitters through other methods. Inducing ground-ball outs via his sinker has been his modus operandi so far in his career. Porcello’s dependency on this pitch is highlighted by his Percentage Pitch Usage stats from his rookie year (courtesy of Brooks Baseball). They reveal that he threw sinkers 60.01 percent of the time during that season.

However, the 2014 version of Porcello is far less reliant on his sinker. He still benefits from balls hit on the ground—19 double plays (second in AL) and a 48.2 ground-ball percentage attest to that—but he has improved his secondary pitches, enabling him to use them more often to record outs.

One particularly noticeable difference has been the increased use of his curveball. He now throws it roughly five times more often than he did back in 2010-2011.

According to Brooks Baseball, his curve is getting more horizontal movement (7.34 inches) than at any other time in his career. His hook is proving to be effective too as opponents have hit only .203 off it in 2014.

His changeup has been even more impressive. Opponents are hitting only .178, which is a 53-point decrease on last year. According to Fangraphs, his changeup RAR (Runs Saved Against Replacement) of 8.0 (third in AL) also demonstrates its effectiveness.

The sinker remains Porcello’s bread-and-butter pitch. And with the improvement of his complement pitches, it may now be even more effective. According to manager Brad Ausmus, per WXYZ Radio (subscription required), Porcello is at his best when he locates his sinker in the bottom half of the strike zone:

When Rick is getting groundball outs he’s doing the one thing right that he has to do—he’s keeping the sinker down in the strike zone. When the sinker’s down it’s got more depth to it, more movement and guys just get on top of the ball and it ends up on the ground.

After struggling against left-handed batters throughout his career, Porcello’s improvements have also helped him have more success against them this year. With lefties currently hitting only .240, this is the first year since his rookie season that he has held them to under a .300 clip.  

Porcello’s enhanced game shows how he has matured as a pitcher this year. Owning three above-average pitches demonstrates his evolution from a sinkerball pitcher into a pitcher possessing a sinkerball—and a good one at that. His morphing into a more complete pitcher may yet catapult him to a 20-win season and postseason success for Detroit.

Although the 25-year-old has not started a playoff game since 2011, his performances this year will leave Brad Ausmus with no choice but to install him into the postseason rotation. Any questions about whether he can perform against elite teams have already been answered. Against Detroit’s likely opponents in October—Oakland, Anaheim and Baltimore—Porcello is 5-0 with a 1.31 ERA in five starts this season.

With Detroit failing to convert its postseason opportunities the past three years, it is still desperately seeking the right formula to go all the way. With Porcello now pitching at a higher level, it may be one step closer to breaking its three-decade drought.

Unless otherwise stated, stats in this article are courtesy of mlb.com

Please follow me on Twitter: @jdunc1979

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What are the odds of this? 

On Friday night, Chicago White Sox outfielder Adam Dunn got about as close to hitting a home run as one can get with the ball bouncing off the top of the outfield wall twice while still remaining in play. 

While it’s not completely clear whether or not the ball hit Houston outfielder L.J. Hoes’ glove, it looks like it hits the wall first and bounces on it again, which is absolutely mind-boggling. 

The White Sox went on to win 3-2.

[MLB]

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It’s no secret that Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu has burst onto the scene, but the rate at which he’s threatening first-year player records still comes as a bit of a surprise.

The Cuban rookie has already set a pair of records among first-year players in the All-Star Game era, with 29 home runs, 50 extra-base hits and 203 total bases before the break, per MLB Stat of the Day. The Midsummer Classic, of course, goes back to 1933, covering all but 13 years of the live-ball era.

Going back to 1933, Abreu’s 29 home runs before the All-Star break rank second-best among all rookies, trailing only the 33 that Mark McGwire hit for the Oakland Athletics in 1987, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

McGwire finished that season with 49 home runs, setting a rookie record that stands to this day. With 29 home runs through his team’s first 96 games, Abreu is on pace to match McGwire, despite spending time on the disabled list in late May and early June.

On a per-game basis, Abreu has bested McGwire, homering once every 2.83 games. “Big Mac” logged 151 contests as a rookie in ’87, hitting one out every 3.08 games.

McGwire also had the advantage of some previous big-league experience, as he logged 58 plate appearances in 1986, falling well short of the threshold needed to lose rookie eligibility. Therein lies the distinction between “first-year players” and “rookies,” as Abreu qualifies as both while McGwire was merely a rookie in 1987.

Of course, McGwire was also only 23 years old at the start of the ’87 season while Abreu turned 27 in January.

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The All-Star break is supposed to be just that—a break. From all of the pressures and problems that come with the marathon Major League Baseball season. For the Detroit Tigers, though, that respite has been interrupted by somewhat troubling news concerning two of their biggest stars: two-time reigning AL MVP Miguel Cabrera and former MVP and Cy Young winner Justin Verlander.

The two 31-year-olds underwent offseason surgeries to address injured core muscles, and as Cabrera told Jorge L. Ortiz of USA Today on Monday, both are still dealing with lingering effects of the procedures and recoveries.

“There are times when I feel good, but there are always muscles that are tightening, muscles that are not functioning properly,” Cabrera said via Ortiz. “It’s part of the [recovery] process.”

After having surgery last October, Cabrera got off to a slow start by his usual elite standards, hitting .277/.320/.415 in April. He has since turned his 2014 around and is currently hitting .306/.364/.534. His 34 doubles lead the AL and his 75 RBI top both leagues, although it’s worth pointing out here that Cabrera’s .534 slugging percentage is his worst since 2004—his first full season.

As for Verlander, who has been struggling through the worst season of his 10-year career after undergoing his procedure more recently in January, Cabrera revealed this: “The same thing is happening to Verlander, but the difference is he pitches every five days, so you don’t see it as frequently.”

On one hand, the fact that Verlander isn’t quite right helps explain the poor season: His 4.88 ERA and 1.46 WHIP both represent career worsts. But even if it’s somehow merely a matter of time and rest before Verlander finds his form, the non-stop grind of a season isn’t exactly ideal for trying to recover from any injury, let alone a lingering one like this.

So the Tigers, contenders once again, now have to be wary of the health and performance of their two highest-paid players—both Cabrera and Verlander signed monster extensions worth $248 million and $180 million, respectively, the past two Marches—as the second half begins, as well as down the stretch and into October.

Detroit is seeking a playoff berth for the fourth consecutive year. Because of all that success, this clearly is a team not only built to win it all now but one that expects to—and needs to, after reaching the World Series in 2012, sandwiched around two trips to the ALCS.

With Cabrera and Verlander still battling through, fatigue is only bound to set in more as the season—and postseason—wears on. The Tigers went through just the same thing with Cabrera at the end of 2013.

“I think it has affected me quite a bit,” Cabrera said via Ortiz. “Like last year, when in the last month I wasn’t using my bottom half, my feet and the waist area.”

Remember: The Tigers experienced an injured, worn-down Cabrera last September when he batted .278 with an impossibly low .333 slugging percentage due to a mere two extra-base hits (one home run, one double). He managed the same number in October (both home runs) and clearly wasn’t healthy enough to produce like his usual self.

There are, however, a couple of silver linings in the wake of this news that Cabrera and Verlander are still ailing. The first is that there’s enough time before the trade deadline for general manager Dave Dombrowski, who’s always active this time of year as it is, to make a trade for some insurance and/or depth.

And second, at 53-38, the Tigers at the moment don’t appear to have any legitimate opponents for the AL Central division crown. Their 6.5 game lead on the Kansas City Royals is the largest among any first-place team.

Cabrera acknowledged as much to Ortiz:

But as [Verlander] and I talked about, we’re never going to offer any excuses for our performance. We always want to be out on the field and compete, and I think that’s the most important thing we can do, compete and try to get past this tough time. And the main thing is we’re in first place.

Plus, unless there are some dramatic standings shakeups, Detroit looks likely to match up with the winner of the AL East in the first round of the playoffs. That’s actually not a bad thing this year, considering how that division hasn’t been as strong as it usually is.

Still, the Tigers potentially could have one of the Oakland Athletics or Los Angeles Angels—the two AL West rivals who currently possess the top two records in the majors—awaiting them in the AL Championship Series.

While Detroit has taken out Oakland each of the past two postseasons, a third straight time might prove too much, especially with how good the A’s have been—and how much better they could be after acquiring starters Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel.

Not to mention, the Tigers now have to consider the possibility that one or both of Cabrera and Verlander might not be at their best or even healthy when they’re needed most.

Statistics are accurate through July 14 and come from MLB.com, Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs.com, except where otherwise noted.

To talk baseball or fantasy baseball, check in with me on Twitter: @JayCat11

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The Cleveland Indians have some work to do at the upcoming July 31 trade deadline. The team currently sits at 45-46, 7.5 games back of the division-leading Detroit Tigers and 3.5 games back of the Seattle Mariners for the second wild-card spot.

The Indians need help in a couple of different areas, including the starting rotation and the bench. Aside from those two areas, the team has a collection of players who are simply underperforming. For a team with limited funds, and limited willingness to give up top prospects, it can be difficult to bring in the pieces necessary to put themselves over the top.

In any event, the team needs to do something, and that’s what I’m here to help sort out. Over the next few slides, I’ll break down the club’s biggest areas of need, their moveable pieces, some possible targets and even propose a few deals the Indians could look at to bolster their roster.

Let’s get started.

All stats are current through play on July 10, 2014 and come courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and Fangraphs.com unless otherwise noted.

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The rebuilding process in Chicago that general manager Rick Hahn began in earnest last year has already begun to pay dividends.

Newcomers Jose Abreu and Adam Eaton look like long-term fixtures in the team’s lineup, while the team’s top draft pick this year, North Carolina State left-hander Carlos Rodon, could be a regular in the team’s rotation as early as next season, as Hahn recently told CSN Chicago’s Dan Hayes.

But the current edition of the club has a handful of veteran pieces, both at the plate and on the mound, that could be of interest to contending clubs, some of which could bring back a significant package of talent to U.S. Cellular Field.

How’s a White Sox fan supposed to keep up with all the rumors surrounding the team as the trade deadline nears?

Keep it here for the most up-to-the-minute rumblings about the White Sox, along with analysis and everything else that comes with it. While the post date will always show up as July 1, simply click to the next slide to see the latest from the rumor mill as the White Sox look toward a possible playoff run in 2015.

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