National League
BUYERS
Atlanta Braves – To Barve or not to Barve? Their is no question. The Braves will look to buy at the deadline. Oh, sure, they might still try and blackmail a team into taking Dan Uggla’s bloated contract and bloated corpse off their hands, but they’ve still got plenty of other areas to address. The NL East is far too tough for them to sit on their hands and wait for Uggla and B.J. Upton to remember how to hit.
Los Angeles Dodgers – While the Dodgers may not be living up to their lofty expectations, they are still in prime position to grab a Wild Card spot. They also can’t seem to resist the opportunity to throw money at their problems, so they will most certainly be buying at the deadline.
Milwaukee Brewers – The Brewers continue to surprise as one of the best teams in the National League. The fact that it is a surprise makes them a regression candidate, but buying at the deadline can help them avoid that fate.
St. Louis Cardinals – The Cardinals are trailing the Brewers in the NL Central, but in good position to make the playoffs as a Wild Card at least. That isn’t the “Cardinals Way” though. St. Louis will want address their holes via trade in an effort to overtake the Brew Crew and avoid the Wild Card spot.
San Francisco Giants – The Giants have the best record in the National League, but that won’t be enough for them. They are in great position to make another World Series run and will be doing what they can to fill out the holes in their roster.
Washington Nationals – The Nats have “win now” written all over them. Even with Bryce Harper on the shelf, the Nationals are in full-on World Series or bust mode. They don’t have a lot of glaring holes, but they have never been shy about loading up just to be safe. If anything, they might be compelled to buy even more than normal due to the hyper-competitive situation in the NL East.
SELLERS
Arizona Diamondbacks – No amount of grit is going to save the D’Backs from their fate of being a seller at the deadline. The only question is whether new team president Tony LaRussa decides to tear things down and build from a new foundation or just purge the roster of some of the gritty detritus that lame duck GM Kevin Towers collected over the last few years.
Chicago Cubs – The Cubs aren’t just going to be selling, they are actively courting the early-bird crowd. Jeff Samardzija already has a giant “For Sale” sign hanging around his neck and there should be a number of other veterans ready to join him on the showroom floor in the coming weeks.
Philadelphia Phillies – The vultures are circling over Philly with talk already starting around which of their core veterans are going to be moved and where. There is no reason for them not to sell. There are slightly fewer reasons for them to not go into full blown fire sale mode. However, with the stubborn and oft-ignorant Ruben Amaro Jr. calling the shots, there is a chance that the Phillies might hold off on selling until the last possible minute or not sell at all because Ruben gonna Ruben. This week’s three-game sweep of the Braves probably isn’t going to do much to inspire him to sell, either.
San Diego Padres – Recent comments from ownership sure makes it sound like the Padres are ready to just blow the whole thing up and start over from scratch both on the field and in the front office. They don’t exactly have a lot of high-end assets, but they’ve got several very useful parts. There is a very real chance for a fire sale here.
UNDECIDED
Cincinnati Reds – The Reds have a contender’s roster, but not a contender’s record. They have some time to get back on track, but if they don’t they could be a dark horse for some serious seller activity. If the Reds decide they can’t afford to keep their rotation intact going forward, they could try to maximize their return by dealing Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos or Mike Leake now instead of as a one-year rental before all three hit free agency after the 2015 season.
Colorado Rockies – The Rockies should be sellers as they are miles behind the Giants in the NL West. Of course, they were well out of contention at the deadline last year and pretty much just sat on their hands. This franchise just seems to be morally opposed to selling even when it is obvious that they should. We will have to wait and see if they learned their lesson this year. (SPOILER ALERT: They won’t learn their lesson.)
Miami Marlins – With Jeffrey Loria prominently involved, there is no telling what the Marlins might do. They are just one and a half games out of the division lead, but everyone assumed that they would fade into oblivion after Jose Fernandez was lost. That might still happen, making it easy to justify the Marlins going into seller mode, but it isn’t beneath Loria to sell regardless, even if they are within striking distance of a division crown at the deadline. Then again, Loria does like to pretend like he cares about winning once or twice a decade, so he might make a half-hearted attempt at buying, just for appearances.
New York Mets – The only reason the Mets aren’t listed as a seller is that they’ve recently made noise about becoming buyers. That would be the most LOL Mets move in ages. The NL East is fairly wide open, but the Mets are still six games back with four teams to leapfrog. They should sell and load up for 2015 when Matt Harvey will be back, but they may not be able to resist the temptation of playing “dress up” and hanging out with the real contenders at the deadline.
Pittsburgh Pirates – The Pirates aren’t out of it, but they aren’t really in it either. The NL Central is probably a lost cause for them, but a Wild Card spot is still within reach. At this point, their best strategy might be to see if wunderkind Gregory Polanco can’t ignite the team and get them into better position in the next month. If he doesn’t, the Pirates will find them back in the familiar position of selling at the deadline.
