Phillies Add Sweeney

The Phillies have acquired first baseman Mike Sweeney off waivers from the Seattle Mariners today in exchange for a player-to-be-named or cash. The deal was first reported by Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports. Sweeney will be able to help the Phillies off the bench or at first base while Ryan Howard is injured.

Sweeney is batting .263 with 6 home runs and 18 RBIs. Sweeney, a righty, is 37-years old and on the downside of his career. Sweeney made five all-star teams while with the Kansas City Royals in the early 2000s. He has struggled with injuries the last few years however.

Here's Charlie Manuel on Sweeney (all quotes from csnphilly.com): “He knows how to hit and he’s got some power. He can help us right now and off the bench later."

Ruben Amaro Jr.: “I don’t know if we had to do anything, but this will help. He can hit. He always could hit. “He’s a great makeup guy. He’s never played in the playoffs. He’s really excited about coming here. He views this as a pretty neat opportunity for himself.”

The Phillies sent down John Mayberry Jr. to make room for Sweeney. This is a solid move to help the bench. Sweeney is a better righty bat than both Ben Francisco and Cody Ransom. He has some power and he can hit lefties... sounds good to me

Tigers Strengthen Rotation With Washburn

The Detroit Tigers made a deadline deal with the Seattle Mariners for 34-year old pitcher Jarrod Washburn. The Mariners received Luke French and Mauricio Robles, two young pitchers with some upside. Washburn is in the final year of his contract.

Washburn is having a great year. He has a 8-6 record with a stingy 2.65 ERA. Washburn will join a Tigers rotation that already is pretty decent. Justin Verlander and Edwin Jackson have been anchoring the rotation all year and now Washburn should help them.

The Tigers AL Central rival Chicago White Sox traded for Jake Peavy earlier today. Both the teams improved their rotation but Washburn will have more of an impact on the pennant race this season. Peavy may not even pitch. This will be an exciting race that I see going down to the end.

Poor Pirate Fans

        The Pittsburgh Pirates made two big deadline moves yesterday and one move today.  First, they traded away shortstop Jack Wilson and pitcher Ian Snell to Seattle for Ronny Cedeno, Jeff Clement and four prospects.  The Pirates also traded away three-time all-star second basemen Freddy Sanchez to the Giants for pitching prospect Tim Alderson.  Today, the Pirates traded John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny to the Cubs for Kevin Hart, Jose Ascanio, and Josh Anderson.

        So, in one day, the Pirates traded away both their starting middle infielders for prospects.  The 31-year old Wilson was batting .267 with 4 homers and 31 RBIs.  Wilson is a solid hitter and a good defender.  

        The Mariners also received 27-year old pitcher Ian Snell, who was pitching in Triple A for the Pirates.  Seattle hopes that Snell can restart his career after winning 14 games in 2006.

        Cedeno will probably start at shortstop for the last-place Pirates.  Cedeno is batting average is only .167 but he does have 5 homers.  Cedeno is no where close to the hitter Wilson was for the Pirates.

        In the other deal yesterday, the Giants will receive second basemen Freddy Sanchez from the Pirates.  Sanchez should help the Giants struggling offense a lot.  He is batting .296 with 6 homers and 34 RBIs.  Sanchez must be happy to go from a last-place team to a team (the Giants) who are contending for the NL Wild card.  Sanchez will most likely play in tonight's game against the Phillies.

        The 20-year old pitcher Tim Alderson was the fourth ranked prospect in the Giants system.  He is a good prospect but he will not help the Pirates win this season or next.

         The Cubs have been looking for a lefty out of the pen and Grabow should fill that void.  Grabow has a 3.42 ERA pitching this season for the Pirates.

         If I'm a Pirates fan, I'm disgusted.  The Pirates are in last place and basically trading away any quality player on their team.  The last time the Pirates had a winning record for a season was in 1992.  That's 16 years and they are still trying to rebuild their team... poor Pirates fans!