11 Days Until The Trade Deadline

Well what can we expect from the Yanks and Sox?

Yankees

I am a little a surprised they didn't swoop on Preston Wilson considering they are so weak in Center Field. The Nationals grabbed him. But expect the Yanks to make a big play for Randy Winn of Seattle. He's hitting about .270, with 5 HR's, and even steals a few bases. But it's Winn's defense that would give the Yanks a piece they are missing.

I had high hopes of seeing Roger Clemens in pin-stripes again, but I don't think it's going to happen. I hope I'm wrong, but The Astros have been surging lately, and still have a real shot at the Wild Card. They still have to take over the Cubs in their division, and the Braves in the East. I wouldn't bet on that, but it is more than possible, so expect the Astros to hold on to him.

What has become painfully apparent is that you need left handed pitchers to beat the Sox. Well The Yanks have added Al Leiter. That's a good start, especially since who else is out there?

Who you ask?

Mark Redmond of the Pirates or Odalis Perez of the Dodgers. Both have pretty inflated ERA's but they would add a Lefty to the rotation. Caution, pitchers going from the National League to the American League don't always do so well, to say the least.

Let's get to the Sox

Red Sox

Don't expect them to do much.

However, they have Curt Schilling as their closer right now. I don't know what to think about that. He should really be in the starting rotation, so they would be wise to go after either Eddie Guardado of Seattle, or Brian Fuentes of Colorado. Fuentes has been hot lately, and he pitches in Denver where balls fly out of the park like, well I don't know what, but I could probably hit one out there. Guardado has 21 saves on the year and he is pitching for about the worst team out there. To put that in perspective, Joe Nathan of the possible Wild Card Twins, leads the AL with 26.

Either way, the race is heating up. Both teams will want to win the division, otherwise there is a very good chance that they will be edged out of the Wild Card spot by the Twins or even the Indians.

What I hate to say is that unless the Yankees can keep playing as well as they have lately, it's going to be all about The Angels.

Solid pitching, great bullpen, and no problem scoring runs.

That's what championships are made of.