Major League Baseball: Teams to Watch at the Trade Deadline

- By Jason Fryer

There's a number of teams to watch at the trade deadline that could be making a few moves within the next 11 days. Below are 3 teams that should look to make a move along with who the player they should trade for:

1. Detroit Tigers:

The Tigers have a great offense, the best pitcher in baseball, to go along with a number of solid Number 3-5 starters. So with that said, I feel the Tigers need 3 things at the trade deadline:

1. A number 2 starting pitcher;
2. A second baseman; and
3. Bullpen help.

In the last 14 games, the Tigers are 15-2 and look like the team we thought they were going to be. With that said, I feel there's a number of teams that make sense for the Tigers to trade with which include: Cubs, Brewers, or shock the baseball world and trade with the Mariners for one of the best pitchers in baseball.

Before I discuss the possible Mariners trade, lets start with the Cubs, who have a number of parts that can help the Cubs out which include Darrin Barney and Matt Garza . Garza and Barney would solidify two of the biggest holes on their roster and at the same time the Cubs would be able to receive a few young pitchers. The Tigers have a number of quality arms on both their major league roster and in the minors. On their major league roster, the Tigers feature former first round draft picks in Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello while also having a number of quality arms in the minors in righties Jacob Turner and lefty Andy Oliver. It seems like the Tigers and Cubs could be a good match to make a trade before the Trade Deadline.

So what about the Milwaukee Brewers? Like the Cubs, Milwaukee features a very good starting pitcher that would give Detroit one of the best top of the rotations in baseball in soon to be free agent Zack Greinke. Like the Cubs, the Brewers would be looking to get a package that includes a lot of young pitching talent. In addition to that, the Brewers could also look to trade second baseman Rickie Weeks in a trade and give the Tigers the second baseman they've been looking for while also allowing the Brewers to shed payroll at the same-time.

So what about a huge blockbuster trade that would give the Tigers two of the top 5 pitchers in all of baseball (and the reigning Cy Young Award winners) in Felix Hernandez (2010) and Verlander (2011). If this trade were to happen, 4 things would have to occur: 1. The Mariners would want to acquire a lot of young pitching talent; 2. Seattle would also be looking for young hitting talent as they need to add hitting depth to their lineup; 3. The M's would want the Tigers to take back a bad long term contract that there currently holding onto; and 4. The Tigers would need to sign Felix to a Long-Term deal. As mentioned above, the Tigers have a number of quality arms in their system along with a few hitting prospects in Nick Castellanos and Quintin Berry. So here's a trade proposal that would work for both teams: Tigers trade Jacob Turner, Nick Castellanos, Andy Oliver and Quintin Berry for Felix Hernandez and Chone Figgins. If this trade were to occur, then the Tigers would feature both the best 1-2 hitting and pitching combinations in baseball.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers:

The Dodgers have two of the best outfielders in baseball in Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier to go along with a pitching staff that includes 2011 NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billinglsey, and Chris Capuano, With that said, I feel the Dodgers need to look to add a few more bats along with a good number 2 starting pitcher if the want to hold off the Giants and win the NL West. The starting pitcher that I feel they need to look into acquiring is Ryan Dempster as Kershaw and Dempster would make for one of the best righty-lefties 1-2 combinations in the league. In this trade, the Cubs could look to acquire a number of different prospects which include Zach Lee, Allen Webster, and Chris Reed. In addition to trading for an additional pitcher, I feel Los Angeles need to look into acquiring more power to their lineup.

An intriguing names for the Dodgers to look into acquiring would be Minnesota Twins First Baseman Justin Morneau as he would provide them a legitimate left-handed power-bat in the middle of their lineup while not having to trade a lot to get him. The Dodgers thought they had their future 1st Baseman in James Loney but unfortunately he hasn't developed the power they thought they would from him. If both James Loney and Justin Morneau were to trade places, then each player would be able to receive a fresh start so they could start over in their new respective situations.

3. Pittsburgh Pirates:

The Pittsburgh Pirates are .5 Game out of first place and have a ton of great minor league pitching depth on the way within the next few years in Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, and others. The Pirates currently have the 6th best team ERA's in baseball, however, as good as their pitching has been, (outside of MVP Candidate Andrew McCutchen), the rest of the Pirates offense has been less than impressive as their team's batting average is .247 on the season. Because of this, I feel the Pirates should look into trading for soon to be 25 year old outfielder Justin Upton who last year finished in the top 5 (4th in fact) for the NL MVP and would give Pittsburgh one of the youngest and most talented outfields in all of baseball.

The Diamondbacks would most likely ask for either Cole or Taillon in return, however, if the Pirates were able to keep both Cole and Taillon while still being able to acquire Upton, then Pittsburgh would feature one of the best young cores in all of baseball. Upton has had a tough 2012 season, yet I still think with him being so young that he can still find the old Justin Upton.