National League West trade deadline moves

I don’t have a really good read on the teams in the National League West. I live in the Mid West, and in an American League city so sometimes news about the teams of the NL West escapes me. It is also the only division of baseball where I do not have any moles, or any friends living out there. A very good friend of mine is a San Diego Padres fan, but he moved to Canada of all places.

With that said the teams in the NL west appear to have been pretty active. The Padres added some veteran presence for a playoff run, the Los Angeles Dodgers were extremely active despite having some payroll constraints, and the San Francisco Giants improved their bull pen. If I had to give the five general Mangers in this division a grade, it would be above average for the most part.

Here is a quick look at what each team added remembering that teh Arizona Diamondbacks were sellers and the Colorado Rockies stood pat:

•The Padres land Miguel Tejada and Ryan Lundquist. I like both moves and it makes them a much stronger team
•The Dodgers land Ted Lilly, Ryan Theriot, Scott Posednik and Octavio Dotel
•The Giants land a couple of arms for their pen in Ramon Ramirez and Javier Lopez

It looks like two teams from this division will make the playoffs, and if I were a betting man I would say that the Padres and the Giants will be the two teams that make it. This should be one of the more interesting races through the last quarter of the season.

Related Links:

•San Diego Padres news and notes
•San Francisco Giants news and notes
•Los Angeles Dodgers news and notes
•The Business of Major League Baseball
•MTR Baseball.com