Sports July 17, 2011

The all star break has come and gone and you know what that means, its time for trades. Baseball is unique in that at the trade deadline, a significant number of big name players get moved. Sure there are blockbuster deals in other sports, but most of them happen in the offseason and don't happen nearly as often. Some trades with only one big name player may seem insignificant. Francisco Rodriguez, who went from the Mets to the Brewers, is definitely a significant player to have been traded so far. He happens to be the man who holds the single season saves record and is still very young. Yet, that trade will almost definitely be dwarfed by other trades. Jose Reyes, for example, getting traded will create so much buzz, the Rodriguez trade will definitely seem insignificant. But thats the excitement of it all. The magnitude of trades make some very important trades seem unimportant.

The team Rodriguez got traded to, the Brewers, always seems to be an enigma to me. They do have a solid team, and have been in recent years, yet it always seems to have a glaring weakness. The offensive production has always been there, but other factors are more inconsistent. One year they might lack pitching, and the next relievers. This year, despite all of the good starting pitchers they have, they are 21st overall in ERA. That's not good, but its not the worst of their problems. At home, the Brewers are one of the best teams in the league. On the road, the Brewers are one of the worst. The Brewers inability to win on the road will, in my opinion, be their undoing. It may prevent them from winning the NL Central. Even if they do win it and do make the postseason, I doubt they will win the wild card with 2 very good teams in the East, they will have their hands full playing most of the series on the road. They will more than likely end up playing the Phillies, where they will get killed by the best team in the league. It win the NL Central, but I doubt they can make a World Series run unless they can win on the road.