SB Nation Bay Area - 2010 MLB Trade Deadline: A's Stand Pat While Giants Add Bullpen Helphttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48817/bayrea-fave.png2010-07-31T13:14:42-07:00http://bayarea.sbnation.com/rss/stream/13518852010-07-31T13:14:42-07:002010-07-31T13:14:42-07:00Giants Acquire Reliever Javier Lopez From The Pittsburgh Pirates
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<p>The Giants appear to have <a href="http://www.rotoworld.com/content/clubhouse_news.aspx?sport=MLB&majteam=SF" target="new">made one deal at the <span class="caps">MLB</span> trade deadline</a>. They have acquired Pirates relief pitcher Javier Lopez, in exchange for young reliever Joe Martinez and OF John Bowker. Lopez currently sports a 2.79 <span class="caps">ERA</span>, 6 holds, and has been an all around solid relief pitcher this season.</p>
<p>Martinez is six years younger than Lopez and may still turn into a solid relief pitcher. However, given that the Giants are in the midst of a playoff push, they needed to make an addition to their bullpen. Lopez is a lefty specialist that should ease the workload.</p>
https://bayarea.sbnation.com/2010/7/31/1598727/giants-acquire-reliever-javier-lopez-pittsburgh-piratesDavid Fucillo2010-07-31T12:52:27-07:002010-07-31T12:52:27-07:00Giants Interested in Corey Hart?
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<p>As the trade deadline approaches (now 8 minutes away), Henry Schulman <a href="http://twitter.com/hankschulman/status/20013202731" target="new">had this tweet</a>:</p>
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<p>Just heard Corey Hart to Giants might be resurrected at the last minute. J. Bautista/Kelly Johnson/S. Downs also in play. 26 minutes ago via TweetDeck</p>
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https://bayarea.sbnation.com/2010/7/31/1598673/giants-interested-in-corey-hartDavid Fucillo2010-07-31T11:28:48-07:002010-07-31T11:28:48-07:00Dodgers Acquire Ted Lilly And Ryan Theriot From Cubs
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<p>It’s not 100% official, but <a href="http://losangeles.sbnation.com/2010/7/31/1597776/dodgers-cubs-ted-lilly-ryan-theriot-blake-dewitt-trade" target="new">it sounds like</a> the Dodgers have acquired pitcher Ted Lilly and infielder Ryan Theriot.</p>
<p>I mention this in our Bay Area site because obviously this could impact the Giants as they continue their run at a playoff berth. The Giants lead the wildcard standings by 2 games over Cincinnati. They also sit 2.5 back of the Padres, with the Dodgers sitting a further 4.5 back. The Giants have the talent to stay ahead of the Dodgers, but obviously they’ll still have plenty of work to do to maintain their wildcard lead, if not win the division.</p>
https://bayarea.sbnation.com/2010/7/31/1598548/mlb-trade-deadline-dodgers-acquire-ted-lilly-ryan-theriotDavid Fucillo2010-07-30T13:10:08-07:002010-07-30T13:10:08-07:00Should The Giants Step Up For Adam Dunn?
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<p>Giants writer Hank Schulman <a href="http://twitter.com/hankschulman" target="new">has been tweeting</a> about potential trade options for the Giants. Rumor has it they have actually been in talks with the Washington Nationals regarding Adam Dunn. However, it sounds like the Nationals are asking for Madison Bumgarner, which might be too much to handle in such a deal.</p>
<p>Whatever the case, a bat like Dunn would certainly be a huge boost for a Giants offense that has been up and down this season. And if folks are concerned at all about his defense, McCovey Chronicles has <a href="http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2010/7/29/1595929/does-dunns-defense-really-matter" target="new">been chatting about that</a>.</p>
https://bayarea.sbnation.com/2010/7/30/1597090/should-the-giants-step-up-for-adam-dunnDavid Fucillo2010-07-28T17:12:18-07:002010-07-28T17:12:18-07:00Ben Sheets Has Torn Right Flexor Tendon, Out For The Year
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<p>Ben Sheets will be <a href="http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/07/28/as-lose-ben-sheets-for-season/" target="new"><strong>out for the rest of the year</strong></a> with the same injury that cost him the entire 2009 season. Even though it was apparent that Sheets wasn’t going to get moved at the trade deadline, this confirms it.</p>
<p>What makes it tough for the A’s was that they wanted to keep Sheets because he was such a positive influence on the pitching staff. Now the A’s have to continue on as if he is no longer part of the team.</p>
<p>By having Sheets done for the year, the A’s are for sure looking to stay put at the trade deadline. More importantly, the team now hopes to make their playoff run with their current staff and Brett Anderson’s hopeful return this week.</p>
https://bayarea.sbnation.com/2010/7/28/1593463/ben-sheets-has-torn-right-flexorSamuel Lam2010-07-25T22:21:29-07:002010-07-25T22:21:29-07:00Angels Acquire Dan Haren Countering Rangers Addition of Cliff Lee
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<p>Although the A’s and Giants are quiet on the trading front at this point, their divisional rivals have been busy. The Arizona Diamondbacks <a href="http://losangeles.sbnation.com/2010/7/25/1587414/angels-land-dan-haren-from" target="new">dealt ace Dan Haren</a> to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in exchange for <span class="caps">LHP</span> Joe Saunders, <span class="caps">LHP</span> Patrick Corbin, <span class="caps">RHP</span> Rafael Rodriguez, and reportedly <span class="caps">LHP</span> Tyler Skaggs.</p>
<p>This combination is also known as the poo-poo platter (or salary dump if you’d prefer). This certainly will help the Angels in their attempts to overtake the Texas Rangers. The Rangers added Cliff Lee earlier this month and have been holding off the Angels thus far.</p>
<p>The A’s sit just back of the Angels and since it seems likely that only one team is coming out of the West, the A’s might not be able to hang around without any additions. As I mentioned earlier, the next six games (3 @ Texas, 3 @ Chicago) will be fairly huge in determining whether the A’s will be buyers or sellers.</p>
https://bayarea.sbnation.com/2010/7/25/1587894/angels-acquire-dan-haren-2010-mlb-trade-deadlineDavid Fucillo2010-07-25T22:08:58-07:002010-07-25T22:08:58-07:002010 MLB Trade Deadline: A Look At The A's and Giants
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<p>The Oakland A's and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/SFG">San Francisco Giants</a> have been two of the hottest teams in baseball in the month of July. The A's are 9-3 since being swept by the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/NYY">Yankees</a> and are siting 7.5 games back of the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/TEX">Rangers</a> with a lot of baseball left to be played. Since losing their July opening series at Colorado, the Giants have gone 15-3 and climbed all the way to a mere three games back of the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/SDP">Padres</a>.</p>
<p>What does all this mean? Well, we're fast approaching the 2010 MLB Trade Deadline, which is always active around the league. The A's and the Giants find themselves in intriguing positions. Both are certainly not out of their respective races, and both are playing extremely well. And yet, it's rather difficult to forecast whether either will be a buyer or seller as Sunday July 31 approaches.</p>
<p>The Giants are absolutely on fire riding a strong mix of pitching and hitting. <span>Buster Posey</span> is leading the way on offense with a .447 batting average in July. Their strongest pitcher in July has actually been rookie <span>Madison Bumgarner</span>, who is 4-1 with a 1.87 era this month. Whatever the case, things are looking good for them, and with 10 more games against the Padres, the division is certainly there for the taking.</p>
<p>If the Giants are going to make a run, it becomes a question of whether they need help at the deadline, or if they should just hope they can stay hot. I would argue they could use another arm in the bullpen. <span>Brian Wilson</span> is pitching well this month, and he's being helped by the likes of <span>Sergio Romo</span>, <span>Chris Ray</span>, and <span>Jeremy Affeldt</span>. However, beyond that group of four, the rest of the bullpen has really struggled lately. It hasn't been a problem yet, but if Romo, Ray and Affeldt run out of gas, that could really hurt the Giants late in the game.</p>
<p>On offense, the offense really seems to be ok at this point. It's certainly not spectacular, but I don't really see the team adding a particularly big bat. <span>Pat Burrell</span> has't exactly been spectacular, and the left side of the infield is not impressing anybody, but there isn't much room for a move.</p>
<p>The A's are playing well lately, but they find themselves battling a couple of teams that seem intent on doing what they have to do to make the playoffs. This is seen no more than in the Rangers addition of <span>Cliff Lee</span>. The Rangers have been as hot as anybody and capped it off recently taking three of four from the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/ANA">Angels</a>.</p>
<p>Of course, that makes this week so huge for the A's, and also fortuitously timed. The A's travel to Arlington to get three cracks at the Rangers. The A's have played well against mediocre opponents, but struggled against quality opponents until recently. Taking four of six from the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/BOS">Red Sox</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/CWS">White Sox</a> could be enough to get them going the second half of the season. If they're going to become buyer's in this market, they might very well have to sweep this series against the Rangers.</p>
<p>I say sweep because the A's could be at a crossroads in their rebuilding process. Since getting to the ALCS in 2006, the A's have been attempting to get younger and cheaper and have been stuck in a bit of a rut. However, the young pitching has been coming together and the team suddenly finds itself in the thick of things. The question now is how close they think they are. Are they in it to win it this year, or do they want to continue to percolate with what they've got, and let the new young bats (Chris Carter and Michael Taylor) come up next year and push them over the top?</p>
<p>The A's biggest trade chip heading into this season was Ben Sheets. He was coming off major injury issues, but with a one-year deal, the team was looking to flip him like they did Holliday. He went on the 15-day DL with elbow issues, which would seem to put an end to possible deals. The team could try and sneak him through waivers in August and make a deal that way, but a one-year contract is not the type that makes it through waivers.</p>
<p>At this point, if I was running the A's, rather than make any moves, I'd stick with late season call-ups for Taylor and Carter. Seeing as they're at AAA, they would seem to be guys expected to win jobs out of spring training in 2011. If that's the case, you might as well let them get their feet wet in 2010. The team is in the playoff race, but this week could go a long way towards determining if they're buyers or sellers.</p>
https://bayarea.sbnation.com/2010/7/25/2318379/2010-mlb-trade-deadline-a-look-at-the-as-and-giantsDavid Fucillo