Hot and Cold- Fourteen days in Major League Baseball

With about eight weeks of regular season baseball left there is a real tension about whether clubs are going to make it to post-season. The fact that we realistically only have one division that is completely sewn up now, namely the American League West (The Angels streets ahead of the field) tells you just how exciting the back end of this season could prove to be.
The trade deadline has heated things up a little with some interesting moves to date. Mark Teixera (formerly Atlanta Braves) swapped for Casey Kotchman (formerly LA Angels) is an interesting one because Teixera will be looking for the bigger numbers next season so it really is a short term option for the Angels who obviously think Teixera is more likely to aid their World Series bid for this season. A little short sighted in my opinion because I think they have more than enough ability within their ranks as it was.
Another trade of note is multiple golden glove and all-star catcher Ivan 'Pudge' Rodriguez who has joined the Yankees from Detroit Tigers in exchange for much improved reliever Kyle Farnsworth.This is another short term option as Pudge will almost certainly leave at the end of the season whereas Farnsworth could be a long term option to bolster a skay Detroit bullpen.
There was clearly a lot of emotion attached to the departure of Farnsworth, who was visibly distressed when interviewed by ESPN.

Let's have a look at who's hot over the past fortnight:

CC SABATHIA - Has won every single one of his starts since signing for the Brewers and is pitching like a true Ace. Alongside Ben Sheets and Manny Parra this is starting to look like a good quality rotation, and when you consider their explosive offense (Fielder, Braun, Hart, Hardy etc.) then you can see why the Cubs may be looking over their shoulders!
Sabathia is a pretty handy bat too when he wises to be so will prove to be an inspired signing without doubt.

COLORADO ROCKIES - The Rockies have had a pretty awful season this year for a number of reasons but namely injuries and a pretty dire pitching rotation, and this is compounded by the fact that so often the hitters were not converting base runners.
Having been refreshed by the all-star break, the Rockies have excelled in almost every facet of the game. Their offense has fired greatly as we always suspected that it could do at any stage, but the real surprise is how some of the lesser lights of the pitching staff in Ubaldo Jiminez and Jorge De La Rosa have looked like lights out pitchers in their last couple of outings. How long will it last? Can the Rockies get to post-season?

Let's see who has had a tougher time of it:

OAKLAND ATHLETICS - Well what a difference the all star break can make. The A's were in the hunt for both the divisional title and had a good wild card placing but they seem to have lost all team cohesion since, losing all but two of the games since the spectacle. Giving up Rich Harden to the Cubs must have been a major blow and pretty much sums up their present situation.
The pitching staff seem to have completely lost their way and are coughing up runs like confetti, the bats are hardly hot right now and there is a general sense of desperation.
A team that is on the road to nowhere.

JASON BARTLETT - The Tampa Bay shortstop has not long came back from injury and made his first start for some time on 24th July, and he had a very good return in registering three hits on that night.
However things have taken a large downturn for Bartlett with only two hits in total since then in over twenty at bats. Jason seems to be struggling to line up pitchers right now, and the Rays will need his hitting stats to pick up pretty soon otherwise he may slip out of the side.
Bartlett has not hit a single home run all season long and may start proving to be a real liability. My advice to the Rays would be, 'Get rid'.

BOSTON RED SOX - The Red Sox are really slipping at the moment. The Rays have opened up a little lead in the AL East, and the Yankees are on a bit of a roll and breathing heavily down their neck. It seems that there is a real danger that the pre-season favourites and defending champions could fail even to make post-season. Manny Ramirez is making bad noises about being dissatisfied with the club as a whole and you can sense that things are starting to get on top of the Red Sox right now.
It's been emotional but I'm going to leave you now.

Don't forget to check out my Sunday and Wednesday MLB selections. I'm on a good little run at present (touch wood) so hopefully that can continue and I can aid your bank balances in the middle of the credit crunch.
Happy punting.
Crafty Stan