The trade deadline has come and gone, and for once the Dodgers came out winners.Though they are in last place right now, they’re only five out & playing in a dreadful division means they’re never really out of the race. Every team that has held the top spot in the NL West has imploded & the Padres aren’t exactly the ‘27 Yankees.
As you already know, today at the deadline they bilked the Cubs out of a future Hall of Famer for a weak hitting middle infielder coming off Tommy John surgery - a move that took some of the sting out of the the last Cubs/Dodgers trade of note: Hundley for Karros/Grudzielanek, the one move that ever made me question whether I would be a Dodger fan for life. The Dodgers then turned around and snagged Julio Lugo from the Devil Rays for free swinging malcontent Joel Guzman and another low level prospect. Add this to the fact that earlier in the month they duped the Royals into taking Odalis Perez and shipped setup man, turned closer, turned setup man, turned mop up duty guy Dannys Baez to Atlanta.
The team is in much better shape today than it was at the beginning of the month & if you look beyond this year, the news is even better. Everyone the Dodgers dumped was due to earn a lot of money next year. The Dodgers freed up $15 mil or more for next year and now have additional resources to make a serious run at a guy like Zito (Zito in Dodger Blue ranks just slightly below world peace on my wish list).
Anyone can win the West, and the Dodgers were in the thick of it even before these moves. My hope for the 2nd half has been renewed. All hail Ned Colletti & Frank McCourt.
One other Dodgers note…I am beginning to suspect Bill Mueller may have died and the team has decided to cover it up. He’s been on the DL forever and updates on his condition are impossible to find. Did Jamie McCourt kill him in a fit of rage? Did he choke on a Dodger Dog? Who knows…
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