The NL Central - The Most Boring Division in Baseball?

Wednesday, July 20 2005 @ 01:29 PM EDT

Contributed by: Pepper Moffatt

Eyes, boring a way through me
Paralyse, controlling completely
Now there is a fire in me
A fire that burns

Standings as of July 6th, 2005

TEAM               W     L     PCT   GB   2WK		
St. Louis         60    33    .645   --   (7-3)
Chicago           48    45    .516  12.0  (8-3)
Houston           47    46    .506  13.0  (7-4)
Milwaukee         46    48    .489  14.5  (6-5)
Pittsburgh        40    54    .426  20.5  (4-8)
Cincinnati        38    55    .410  22.0  (5-5)

A bad week for Pittsburgh - another one of those and they'll be in last place. This is possibly the most boring division in baseball as the Cardinals keep chugging along while the Cubs, Astros, and Brewers bob around the .500 mark. The Pirates and Reds look to be sellers at the deadline. Trade speculation will be the most interesting thing to come out of the NL Central until the playoffs start.

NL Central Trades Since April 1st

July 18: OF Jody Gerut to Cubs for OF Jason Dubois

May 19:  C Pat Borders to Mariners from Brewers for cash

May 12:  OF Michael Restovich to Pirates from Rockies for PTBNL

I might be missing one or two, but that looks like it. You have to figure there's going to be more before the season is over.

Match The Player to the Destination

Here's a list of 10 Reds and Pirates players who could be dealt before the season is over. State each player's likely destination or "NOTRADE" if you think that player won't be traded. Bonus points for mentioning who he'll be traded for.

Kent Mercker   - RP - Reds -  39.0 IP   2.54 ERA   11 Holds  2 Saves
David Weathers - RP - Reds -  48.0 IP   4.13 ERA    8 Holds  5 Saves
Jose Mesa      - RP - Bucs -  34.2 IP   3.89 ERA    0 Holds 22 Saves
Salomon Torres - RP - Bucs -  46.2 IP   4.05 ERA    3 Holds  1 Save

Kip Wells      - SP - Bucs - 115.2 IP   4.82 ERA   6-10 W-L 17/59/89 HR/BB/K
Mark Redman    - SP - Bucs - 127.1 IP   4.24 ERA   4-10 W-L 10/39/67 HR/BB/K

Daryle Ward    - 1B - Bucs - 303 AB    11 HR   .254/.319/.429
Joe Randa      - 3B - Reds - 323 AB    12 HR   .288/.355/.480
Adam Dunn      - OF - Reds - 305 AB    24 HR   .239/.385/.554
Tike Redman    - OF - Bucs - 185 AB     2 HR   .265/.310/.368

So where are they going to go?

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