Sports August 1, 2010

The trade deadline is over in MLB, but it did have its share of big moves. One of them was the Yankees acquiring Lance Berkman from the Astros. Berkman had been one of the faces of the Astro's franchise and is a former all star. However, he has been having a down year. Going to New York should give him some protection, as he will be hitting in front of Mark Teixeira and A-rod. Yet it also limits the rest some of the veteran Yankees get. With the DH spot open, Joe Girardi could give one of his veterans a defensive day off, and many of them took advantage of it. Now that they have a permanent DH, they don't have that luxury. Yet, a good veteran hitter with power can help any team, even a team like the Yankees that has an abundance of them.

More big deals were made by the Padres. In an effort to get more hitting, they acquired former American League MVP Miguel Tejada from Baltimore. He, like Berkman, was also having somewhat of a down year, yet he, like Berkman, is a good veteran hitter with power. This helps the Padres a lot because now they have a hitter they can use to protect Adrian Gonzalez, who for the past couple seasons has provided almost all the power for their team. They also received Ryan Ludwick from the Cardinals. Ludwick isn't that far removed from a 37 hr, 113 rbi season where he hit alomst .300. Yet injuries have hurt him this season and he was the odd man out of a crowded Cardinal outfield. In San Diego, he has the potential to be a good player for them, if only in a fourth outfielder type role. The Cardinals got Jake Westbrook out of that trade as well, and with the many injuries in their rotation, he can be good as a fourth or fifth starter.

A big player that wasn't moved was Jayson Werth of the Phillies. There was much speculation that he would get traded to make space for prospect Dominic Brown. However, an injury to Shane Victorino has kept him as a Phillie. This might have saved the Phillies in the long haul. Werth has value to them because he is the one right handed home run threat on their team. Raul Ibanez's contract also expires at the end of next season, and he isn't getting any younger. Ibanez is also a left handed hitter, and the Phillies have an abundance of them. Should they keep Werth, he can move over to left field and play in the place of Ibanez in the future.