Strasburg Speaks

I somewhat blame myself for Stephen Strasburg's seemingly inevitable Tommy John surgery. My unhealthy man crush and unrealistic expectations must have put an ufair amount of pressure on him. Of course I assume he reads my little blog and read many of my dedicated posts to him. I should also point out that my ego is only two notches below Lex Luther on the Super Villain scale. Anyway, Strasburg had his cast removed about two weeks ago and had a little chit-chat with real media types on a conference call that I assume included an iPhone...

"I'm chalking this year up as a great success," Strasburg, 22, said in a 15-minute conference call with media members Tuesday afternoon from his San Diego home. "It's unfortunate for this to happen. But . . . I stirred up the baseball world well enough to have more people become Nats fans. And I know they're going to be there when I come back in a year."

He's right to some extent. I did hop on the Nats' bandwagon hoping to catch a National League version of the Rays in enough time to seem cool. I tried the same thing with the Brewers a few years ago but it didn't work out so well. Strasburg should bounce back just fine but let's keep in mind that it took Francisco Liriano two years to get close to his former self and the Nats' second best starter, Jordan Zimmermann, is just a year removed from his own TJ. But Strasburg remains optimistic about a speedy recovery...

"If I'm doing well, things could get sped up," he said. "There is a target date, but right now it's way too early [to talk about it]. It is a tough process, but I keep telling myself as each day goes by, I'm getting closer to being back out there battling and winning games."

I can't wait for his return. He was almost better than advertised in his first 12 professional starts. His 2.91 ERA was a little bloated according to his 2.10 FIP and the 12.18 K/9 is must see baseball. He's good for the game and great for Nationals' attendance. Godspeed young Jedi. Oh and Stras, I'd also appreciate if you left your over/under on Aroldis Chapman starts before his Tommy John in the comments. Thanks Stephen!

Shot Of The Night: Adam Dunn Edition

Shot Of The Night is Off Base Percentage's toast to a player who had an exceptionally good or bad night. There's always a reason to drink.

Look at me writing shot of the night on the actual night it was due. It's almost like I'm a responsible blogger. The shot of the night is Get 'er Done: 1 oz Grey Goose® vodka, 6 drops grenadine syrup, 1 can Squirt® citrus soda and it's in honor of Adam Dunn. Normally, I'd avoid any Larry the Cable Guy references because he's a hack and doesn't deserve the obscene amount of money he makes. But it fits my shot criteria. I beg you America to improve your taste in comedy. Please watch Louie on FX. Louie CK and Patton Oswalt are the best in the comedy game right now but I digress.

Adam Dunn hit another pair of home runs for the second time in three games. The two blasts give Dunn at least 30 homers for the 7th straight season and improved him to a .280/.369/.590 slash line. I'm starting to think the Nats were the team that had placed the proper value on Dunn when the trade deadline rolled around. Although, they did place him on waivers and he was claimed by an unknown, and most likely, National League club. I can't see him getting dealt with the current insane hot streak and I'm hoping the Nats can extend him. Because of course, I've jumped on the Nationals' bandwagon and would like to see him continue to mash while playing sub par defense at first base.

Honorable Mention: Adam Wainwright and Albert Pujols
The Cardinals duo put the hurt on the Marlins. Wainwright pitched a 2-hit shutout while striking out 7 and Pujols went 3-5 with a home run driving in 4 of the Cardinals 7 runs. Pujols is now 1st in RBI (82), and yes I know that's a worthless stat, and 2nd in homers (28) after the aforementioned Dunn. Wainwright is 2nd in wins (16), and yes I know that's a worthless stat, and 2nd in ERA (2.07). If you let my "mainstream stats" go for this post, I promise I'll get back to xFIP and wOBA tomorrow. Thanks, gotta go watch some recorded Shark Week.

Trade Deadline Movers And Shakers

Today's trade deadline has come and gone and was a little uneventful. Most of the major deals were made prior to Saturday. No surprises, no insane rumors. None of my wild and careless trade ideas came to fruition. I will say that with Twitter and the MLB Network, it was a lot of fun to follow but I'm starting to realize how much of a nerd I am. Let's take a look at who did the best moving and shaking this trade deadline season...

1. Texas Rangers
Kind of funny how the one bankrupt team in the MLB was the most active and added the second most payroll during trade season, huh? I know this is Bud Selig's doing. There's a conspiracy theory here somewhere. I'll figure it out after my third drink.

The Rangers started the real trade season by dealing for Bengie Molina on July 1st. Of course, the big winner in that trade was the Giants and not for what they got in return. By finally moving Molina, blog favorite Buster Posey was unleashed on National League pitching. Then the Rangers made their real move by trading for Cliff Lee. The Rangers did have to build their package around their top prospect Justin Smoak. But at least Texas will get two draft picks for Lee when signs with the Yankees in the offseason.

Recently the Rangers traded for Jorge Cantu and Cristian Guzman in separate deals. Cantu adds depth and Guzman is just a stopgap for an injured Ian Kinsler. Otherwise these deals have no consequence on the playoff race or playoffs. Unless they have a scientist to mash Chris Davis and Jorge Cantu into one platoon-free player.

2. Orange County Angels
Yeah, I stole that name from Rob Neyer, what of it? Is this a biased pick on my part? Maybe a little. The Angels did acquire the second best player available before the deadline. The Angels came out of nowhere to deal for Dan Haren and all they had to surrender was Joe Saunders and 3 prospects. If Tyler Skaggs is the PTBNL, he's the only prospect in the top 100. The Angels also swung a deal for Alberto Callaspo whose best skill is he isn't Brandon Wood.

While the Angels are still long shots to catch Texas, they will have Dan Haren under control for the next few seasons under a below market contract.

3. Philadelphia Phillies
The Phils acquired the third biggest name to be had. The addition of Roy Oswalt gives the Phils a dangerous 1-2-3 pitching rotation. It also also gives them the Roy-iest rotation in the league and I appreciate the little things. Like the Haren deal, the Phillies traded a back end rotation guy in J.A. Happ and a couple of not-Domonic Brown prospects. Also like the Haren deal, the Phils will have Oswalt for the next couple of seasons. Unlike the Haren deal, this might actually help the Phillies catch the Braves.

4. New York Yankees
I'm not saying that playing for the Yankees will turn their over-the-hill careers around but going the best team in baseball might give Lance Berkman and Kerry Wood a little boost. In trading for Berkman, Wood and Austin Kearns, the Yankees severely upgrade their depth. Kearns gets you a platoon for Granderson because, shhh!, Curtis Granderson is a platoon player. And the Yanks grabbed Wood and Berkman because, well, they could. If this was 2002, the Yankees would win the rest of their games all the way through the World Series.

5. Los Angeles Dodgers
I didn't think the Dodgers could spend any money either but here we are. The Dodgers traded for Scott Podsednik, Ted Lilly, Ryan Theriot and Octavio Dotel in three seperate deals. By my count, all they gave up was Blake DeWitt but I'll admit I don't know their farm system that well. Lilly is, I suppose, the only real difference maker of the bunch.

Other Winners:

Padres picked up Miguel Tejada and Ryan Ludwick.

The Nats got one of the best catching prospects, Wilson Ramos, for Matt Capps. I think I have a crush on the Nats.

The Diamondbacks got a younger, cheaper version of Edwin Jackson in Dan Hudson for Edwin Jackson.

The Blue Jays bought low on Yunel Escobar by selling high on Alex Gonzalez.