The Chicago Cubs haven’t won the World Series in 100 years.  That’s fairly common knowledge by now in the sports community, but what’s even more remarkable is that over that century, they have had no consecutive playoff appearances.  That’s almost hard to believe, but true.  Everybody has a bad century every now and then, right?

The Milwaukee Brewers were an American League team the last time they made the playoffs just over a quarter-century ago (1982) and the MVP of the AL, Robin Yount, is now in the Hall of Fame.  Their only other playoff berth was the strike-shortened season the year before in 1981 when they played only 109 games.  In that odd 1981 season, Major League Baseball decided its playoff teams by first half and second half leaders, much like several minor leagues currently do. 

All that could change in 2008.  The Cubs have the best record in the National League and are the current favorite to win the NL Pennant.  It would also mark consecutive playoff appearances since they won the NL Central in 2007.  Meanwhile the Brewers are currently leading the chase for the NL Wild Card by 3.5 games and are 21 games over .500.  Clearly each of these teams had a quality roster coming into the 2008 campaign, but Cubs’ GM Jim Hendry and Brewers’ GM Doug Melvin are the first two names that come to mind for National League Executive of the Year.  The Brewers’ acquisition of C.C. Sabathia and the Cubs’ trade for Rich Harden have proven to be wildly successful for each club thus far. 

  Rich Harden has been dominant in his eight starts for the Chicago Cubs.  He’s recorded double digit strikeouts in five of those eight games.  His ERA and WHIP are nasty and hitters have hit .162/.229/.312 against him since the trade.  The Cubs were going to playoffs before they traded for Harden.  They were going to break the ugly mark of 100 years without consecutive playoff appearances.  That was pretty clear.  But what would it matter to go three games and out like in 2007?  After the Cubs lost game one at Arizona in the NLDS last year with Carlos Zambrano on the mound, things looked grim even before Ted Lilly was bashed to the tune of six earned runs in just 3.1 innings.  Eight Major League Baseball teams make the playoffs every year.  Only one of those eight will win the World Series.  The Cubs were going to be one of the four of 16 NL teams represented in this year’s playoffs, but the depth and talent to the rotation that Rich Harden adds dramatically increases their chances at their first World Series title since 1908.

  C.C. Sabathia is going to earn a gigantic new contract at the conclusion of the 2008 season.  He’s a 28-year-old, hard-throwing, talented, and durable starter coming off a Cy Young award in 2007 and a remarkably similar 2008 year.  It’s also highly likely that the Milwaukee Brewers will not be the team that signs him to the riches in his future.  If that’s the case, they’re getting their money’s worth on their half-season rental of the prized lefty.  They gave the Indians their top prospect, Matt LaPorta, but they are getting every bit of use out of Sabathia.  In his ten games in the National League, he’s thrown five complete games, including two shutouts.  He’s averaging 111.1 pitches per outing and 7.6 innings.  (Meanwhile, the Cubs have limited Rich Harden to an average of 98.5 pitches and 6.125 innings per start.  Injuries have always been Harden’s downfall, but the Cubs have hardly been conservative with him.) People have whispered Sabathia’s name for NL Cy Young, which he neither deserves nor has the numbers for, but take a look at his overall statistics for the 2008 season.  The Indians have been brutal in 2008 and while Sabathia got off to a slow start, he pitched well before the trade.  His undefeated streak for the Milwaukee Brewers have his overall 2008 numbers looking very similar to his 2007 numbers through 28 starts, except in this season his ERA is better in more innings pitched.

* 2007 AL Cy Young

Clearly each of these teams needed another big-time arm to go behind staff aces Carlos Zambrano and Ben Sheets.  Jim Hendry and Doug Melvin deserve much credit for rolling the dice and each move has shown instant success.  In fact, it’s quite likely that these two are matched against one another in Game 2 of the 2008 National League Championship Series. Now each squad has the 1-2 punch in the starting rotation to not only make the playoffs, but win in the playoffs and even beat the American League representative in the World Series.  

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  Brad Ziegler gave up the go-ahead run in the 9th inning versus Tampa Bay yesterday and received a standing ovation from the Oakland Athletics crowd.

In case you haven’t noticed, the fans cheered Ziegler’s failure because it was the first time so far in his Major League career that he’s given up an earned run.  He ran his Major League-record streak to 39 1/3 innings pitched before finally allowing an earned run.

Ziegler’s ERA has now skyrocketed to 0.23 in 40 career MLB innings.  He’s only given up 23 hits and allowed 18 walks as well.

Ziegler’s run has been impressive, but his success is also a tribute to the Oakland Athletics scouting and development team.  Ziegler was a 20th round draft choice by the Philadelphia Phillies out of Southwest Missouri State University.  He was released and signed by Oakland in June 2004, going 29-17 in three seasons as a starting pitcher.  Then in 2007, Oakland made him a reliever.  He went 12-3 and posted a 2.41 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP in 78.3 IP between Double-A and Triple-A.

The sidearm right-hander’s specialty is getting ground balls.  His ground out/air out rate is a whopping 3.13 in 2008.  That tendency leads to another impressive number, especially considering the pressure situations late-inning relievers pitch in:  Ziegler has induced 13 double-play groundouts in his 40 MLB innings.

Brad Ziegler has notched his name into Major League Baseball’s vast history and Billy Beane and his Oakland A’s have found another solid player at a discount price.

  No other National League teams with a worse record than the Arizona Diamondbacks wanted to claim Adam Dunn.  It’s understandable that these clubs would not want to add the last two months of the $13 million Dunn will earn in 2008, but what hasn’t been mentioned is that Arizona received a quality addition to counter the surging Dodgers’ acquisition of Manny Ramirez.

Dunn strikes out a lot.  He plays sub-par defense.  But Dunn gets on base and hits for power.  At the time of the trade, he was in the top-30 of all Major League hitters in both on-base percentage (.373) and slugging percentage (.528).  Who cares that his batting average was .234 at the time of the trade?  He is getting out less this season than Ichiro Suzuki, who is hitting .308 but whose on-base percentage is .363.

In fact, Dunn is close to achieving an impressive feat.  For four consecutive seasons, he has hit over 40 homeruns and walked over 100 times.  With a month and a half to play in 2008, he has 32 homers and 83 walks.  In three of the last four years, Dunn has eclipsed 100 RBIs and 100 runs scored.

The Diamondbacks are second in the National League in strikeouts and have added a player who has struck out 124 times in 2008 in only 117 games.  Dunn led the National League in strikeouts from 2004-2006.  But Dunn isn’t like his new teammates.  Dunn immediately becomes the team leader in slugging percentage, second in on-base percentage (to Conor Jackson’s .388 mark), and leads the team in OPS.

  The Reds receive:  Dallas Buck and two players to be named later.

Dallas Buck is a 23-year-old right-handed starting pitcher who only 1-5 in starts between Class Low-A and Class High-A, but has a 3.55 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP.

Oh, those elusive players to be named later.  They’re always the wild card of any player.  In these situations clubs give their counterparts options between a few players and those clubs will wait a few months longer to concluce the evaluation process on the minor league players.  Except this time, at least one of the two (and possibly both) players to be named later is reportedly not a minor leaguer.  Well, they may be in the minor leagues now, but they are part of the 40-man, Major League roster.  They must clear waivers like other Major Leaguers, meaning the trade may be completed after the conclusion of this season. 

So it seems as if the trade will be completed by one of the players on the 40-man roster, but not one of the 25-players currently on the actual Major League team.  This list includes Max Scherzer and Micah Owings.  It’s highly unlikely that the D-Backs part ways with Scherzer, but if the Reds can lure Owings away, it would be very beneficial for their franchise.  Owings struggled so badly in 2008 that Arizona had to send him back to Triple-A, but he’ll only be 26 next season and could still be a very useful piece to a Major League club. 

This trade, like most, is about money.  Adam Dunn is a free agent after the end of 2008 and should command a pretty hefty salary in the open market.  Cincinnati felt they had to get something in return other than a compensation pick in next June’s draft, so they made the deal.  They could end up receiving a Major League-experienced pitcher in Micah Owings, a piece they need badly.  Maybe the Diamondbacks can convince Dunn to stay in Phoenix beyond 2008.  If so, they win this trade easily because Dunn will hit 40 homeruns and draw 100 walks for several more years.  If not, they still have a guy with left-handed power and patience that could push them past the Los Angeles Dodgers and into the 2008 playoffs.

Sometimes a change of scenery makes all the difference in the world.  The early evaluations have been good for all sides so far in the major trades leading up to this year’s deadline.  Maybe the new environment and new opportunity for these players have been the catalyst for instant success.

  Yankees receive:  Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte. 

Xavier Nady was a second round pick of the San Diego Padres in 2000, who went straight to the Major Leagues upon signing as part of his contract and singled in his first MLB at bat.  Then the Padres immediately sent him to the minors to begin his development into a big leaguer.  Last season was Nady’s career high in OPS at just .806, but in 2008, as the 29-year-old Nady is enjoying a career year, hitting .330/.383/.535 with Pittsburgh.

Damaso Marte is a journeyman left-handed reliever.  He’s 33 now, but has had a solid career.  His career ERA (3.29) is over a run better than the league average of his career (4.52).  Only once in his eight MLB seasons has Marte failed to strike out less than a batter per inning.  He had 47 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings for Pittsburgh before the trade.

  Pirates receive:  Jose Tabata, Jeff Karstens, Ross Ohlendorf, and Dan McCutchen.  

Jose Tabata has been the Yankees’ best position prospect for at least two years–until this year.  He is still very young–only 19–but the projection of his talent has been hampered by injuries.  Last season, it was a hand injury.  In 2008, it’s been a hamstring problem.  The outfielder has always been pushed, playing with much older players, but he was probably a bit overwhelmed as a 19-year-old in Double-A this season where he hit only .248/.320/.310 for the the Yankees’ Double-A affiliate (Trenton).  Pittsburgh has put him in Double-A as well and he’s gone just 2 for 13 for Altoona. 

Jeff Karstens is an average right-handed starting pitcher.  He’s 25 years old and threw well in Triple-A for the Yankees in 2008.  A Triple-A pitcher for the Yankees is good enough to be a starter for Pittsburgh, though, and Karstens is 2-0 in two starts since joining the Pirates’ rotation, including the game of his life on August 6 when he threw a complete game shutout, allowing only two hits and one walk.

Many in the organization thought Ross Ohlendorf would be the guy to take Joba Chamberlain’s 8th inning slot when Chamberlain moved to the rotation.  However, Ohlendorf has given up 50 hits in 40 innings pitched and had an ERA of 6.53 with New York.

Dan McCutchen is a solid starting pitching prospect and will get a shot in Pittsburgh.  He has a 3.33 ERA in 148.2 IP with 127 strikeouts and 35 walks allowed.

Verdict:  It seems the Pirates traded Nady at his highest value for Tabata at his lowest value.  The Pirates received usable parts and lost Nady’s salary, but they should have asked for Ian Kennedy as well, even though he’s been terrible at the Major League level in 2008.  Also, Nady’s 2008 salary is only $3.35 million and he’ll be eligible for free agency after the 2009 year.  He has raked for the Yankees, hitting .339/.403/.679 with 5 homeruns in 16 games.  Nady’s .942 OPS in 2008 is tied for 11th best in all of Major League Baseball.  A right-handed power hitting outfielder is just what the Yankees needed and they haven’t had a viable lefty bullpen option since Mike Stanton.  Advantage: New York Yankees.

  Dodgers receive:  Manuel Aristides Ramirez.

   Pirates receive:  Andy LaRoche, Bryan Morris, Brandon Moss, and Craig Hansen.

  Red Sox receive:  Jason Bay.

Manny Ramirez didn’t play hard for his last ten games in a Boston Red Sox uniform to the tune of .351/.467/.622 including two bombs, eight walks (three intentional), eight runs scored, and an OPS of 1.089.  He’s the best right-handed hitter in the 50-year gap between Joe DiMaggio and Albert Pujols.  At the time of the trade, Ramirez’s OPS was .927  That would be his second-lowest for a full season in his illustrious career, yet still good enough for 7th in the American League at the time. 

Jason Bay has already put together a pretty solid MLB career.  A terrible 2007 season in which he still hit 21 homeruns is the aberration in a career that Bay has displayed both plate discipline and power.  His career line is .282/.375/.515 in five full seasons.  Bay is signed through 2009 and is due to make $7.5 million next year, much less than half of the $20 million option for Ramirez.

Brandon Moss hit his first MLB homerun in the opening series of 2008 in Japan.  He is underrated as a player and should have a solid career, but he’s yet to have regular playing time.  He’ll get just that in Pittsburgh.

Andy LaRoche should have been playing third base for the Los Angeles Dodgers all along.  He injured a ligament in his thumb during spring training and found his spot occupied when he returned to action.  He has yet to receive regular MLB at bats, but his minor league numbers show the potential for an exceptional hitter.  In three and a half minor league seasons, LaRoche has hit .294/.380/.517 with 95 homeruns.  The 86-point difference between his batting average and on-base percentage shows that he’s quite selective at the plate along with a .223 isolated power number proving his pop.

Craig Hansen was a first rounder in 2005 St. John’s University and signed to a Major League contract.  He was going to be the Red Sox closer until command issues hampered him and Jonathan Papelbon emerged.  He’s a right-hander who throws 95 mph, but recorded only 25 strikeouts to 23 walks in 30.7 innings for Boston before the trade.  His periphreal ratios in Pittsburgh has been even worse.  He’s yet to record a strikeout, but walked six in four appearances.  He does have a save and a 3.86 ERA for the Pirates.

Bryan Morris could be the wild card in this trade for Pittsburgh.  The Dodgers took him in the first round in 2006 and he did well in rookie ball.  Then he had to have Tommy John surgery and missed all of 2007.  In 2008 in the Class-Low A Midwest League, Morris has shown flashed his potential.  He is still gaining arm strength, but had a 3.20 ERA in 81.7 IP (17 starts) before the trade.

Verdict:  Manny Ramirez could be the difference in the Dodgers winning the NL West.  He’s torched the NL for a line of .475/.543/.850 including four homeruns in just 10 games.  Jason Bay has hit a solid .326/.383/.488 in his first 10 games with Boston.  Andy LaRoche already has his first homerun as a Pirate and Jeff Karstens flirted with a no-hitter in his second start with Pittsburgh.  All of these teams should be pleased with the preliminary results of this blockbuster trade.  Boston did give up three players for one not as good as Manny Ramirez, though.  The Pirates gave up the second of their trio of outfielders who had an OPS over .900 in the 2008 season, leaving only Nate McLouth for 2009.  The Dodgers gave up too soon on Andy LaRoche, who only needs a chance at the MLB level to succeed.  That and a clean bill of health.  The Dodgers win this trade because the acquisition of the much-needed power bat in Manny Ramirez makes them a completely different team offensively.  It would be an interesting twist in irony if the Red Sox, who felt they had to deal Manny, end up missing the playoffs while his new team is catapulted to a playoff berth.

   Angels receive:  Mark Teixeira.

  Braves receive:  Casey Kotchman and Stephen Marek.

Mark Teixeira looks like he’ll hit right under .300 with around 35 bombs and post an OPS just under .950 for several more years.  He’s done pretty much that every year since coming into the league in 2003.  He’ll turn 29 in the second week of the 2009 season.  Agent Scott Boras knows all this and is sure to garner the switch-hitting first baseman a huge contract. 

Casey Kotchman was a rare first round first baseman taken in 2001.  He simply never developed the power the Angels thought he would.  His 12 homeruns so far in 2008 are a career high.  Kotchman is only 25 years old, so there is hope that he develop more power, but so far in 1,317 MLB plate appearances he’s only got on base at a .336 career clip.

Stephen Marek is a minor league reliever.  He is a right-hander in Double-A.  The 24-year-old put up solid numbers in the Texas League before the trade, striking out 57 and allowing only 39 hits in 46.7 innings pitched.  He will help out in Atlanta’s bullpen within two years.

Analysis:  Trading for Mark Teixeira makes the Anaheim Angels a very different team.  In 2006, they finished second in the AL West.  Last season, they won the West but were swept in the first round by Boston.  It was Vladimir Guerrero’s worst power season in the Major Leagues.  This season, Guerrero’s numbers have slipped even more.  Teixeira’s power will help this National League-style team–that is clearly good enough to win the West–compete with the powerful teams from the AL East for the American League pennant.  In fact, the addition of Teixeira may the piece that makes Anaheim the team to beat in 2008.  Atlanta was not going to sign Mark Teixeira.  They would’ve received a Type A compensation for losing Teixeira in next June’s amateur draft, but instead they sold him for pennies and acquired Kotchman and Marek.  Kotchman will be in Atlanta the next two seasons, but will also be arbitration elgibile.  While this move is adequate by Atlanta to get something (rather than just a draft choice) for the premium Major League talent in Teixeira, it’s a shame they gave up so much to Texas in acquiring Teixeira in the first place.  They gave up Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Elvis Andrus, and Neftali Feliz for a year’s rental of Teixeira.  The future of this deal is, of course, contingent on whether or not the Angels can secure Teixeira to a long-term contract.  Apparently Torii Hunter has already began to lobby Teixeira on behalf of the Angels organization.  They Angels clearly play in a market that could afford a player of his talent.  If they aren’t able to keep him after this season, the cost was still minimal and the return is a powerful, switch-hitting first baseman that gives the Angels a chance to win the 2008 World Series.