CENTRAL TEAMS GEAR UP FOR STRETCH RUN

The top two teams in the Central Division—St. Francis and Philadelphia—both completed deals with AC/BC to strengthen their teams in hopes of playing October baseball.

Ronald Melkonian’s up-and-down Rebels, currently second in the Central (five games behind) and third in the Wild Card (two back) but on a six-game winning streak, recognized their weakness on offense and dealt two pitchers for two veteran bats. Scott Baker and Wade Davis, righties who pitched less than 60 combined innings for the team this year, were sent to Anaheim in exchange for Chipper Jones and Aubrey Huff.

“We boast the league’s third-best pitching staff. Unfortunately, we are the middle of the road when it comes to offensive numbers,” Melkonian said. “We need offense to compliment our dominant pitching staff, and in this deal, we addressed that by bringing in two quality veterans who are coming off strong seasons. Their skills will come in handy as we make our biggest attempt in the history of our franchise to make a playoff appearance this season.”

The rest of the Pennsylvania Times article can be found on Ron’s new Blog site: http://pennsylvania-times.blogspot.com/

With Adrian Gonzalez starting at first base and Alex Rodriguez nearing a return at third, it remains to be seen how much Jones and Huff will play. But it is likely that the Philadelphia’s run margin (only 13 more runs scored than allowed) will increase.

Alex Coffman, meanwhile, continues to build a good pitching staff for 2012. That staff had an addition and a subtraction just a few days later, as Franklin Morales was sent to St. Francis (along with infield prospect Josh Vitters) for closer Francisco Cordero.

The Friars, looking for room under the salary cap to pick up another starting pitcher (just four healthy starters) and/or other depth, decided Cordero was expendable after the acquisition of Heath Bell and that he deserved a shot to close with another team.

St. Francis’ press release:

“The Friars, satisfied with the acquisition of Heath Bell, acquired a useful left-handed reliever as insurance for LHP Scott Downs, who has been listed 'day-to-day' of late due left hamstring soreness. The cost was high: veteran closer Francisco Cordero, who had lost the closer job following the acquisition of Bell. Also coming over in the deal for salary reasons as much as anything is the former jewel of the Cubs farm system, 3B Josh Vitters. Despite being a former first-round pick, the Friars urged caution on Vitters, who they described as being 7th on their organizational depth chart. "In all candor," said acting GM Jack McKeon, "money played as big a role in this deal as the players involved. We are top-heavy in payroll, with limited flexibility, and we still haven't addressed our biggest need, which is starting pitching. Expect our club to remain active up until the trading deadline. We want to make the playoffs, and we aren't taking that for granted.”