Climbing the Ladder with the National League 8/10/2008

July acquisitions work out for NL teams

At the end of the day July 31, the Los Angeles Dodgers were at .500, two games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The trade deadline brought Manny Ramirez to town, and he entered with a bang. His first eight games with the Dodgers included six multihit games and four home runs.

The Dodgers continued to play .500 ball over those eight games but gained ground on the Diamondbacks and are now just half a game out.

While Ramirez’s approach to the game caused the Boston Red Sox to lose patience with him, the deal has certainly worked out for the Dodgers, who gave up third baseman Andy LaRoche and minor league pitcher Bryan Morris.

LaRoche was a hot prospect heading into the season but couldn’t bring it all together. He’ll round out a corner infield with his brother Adam once the latter gets off the DL.

The Diamondbacks had reached as high as five games above .500only to fall back down. Brandon Webb has been pitching well again, winning five straight decisions after enduring a rough 2-4 stretch.

Those chasing the D’backs will have to take advantage of a weak division to make the playoffs – the wild card is further out of reach.

It’s the Milwaukee Brewers who hold a two-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals for that coveted final playoff slot.

The Brewers had a cup of coffee on top of the NL Central but have since fallen four games back. Their midseason acquisition of C.C. Sabathia, though, has worked out for them.

His seven starts with the Brew Crew included seven quality starts, six wins and four complete games. The one game he didn’t win came against the Cubs, part of a big four-game sweep to establish the North Siders as the leader once more.

He will be compared with the Cubs’ midseason acquisition, Rich Harden, for the rest of the year. Harden, for his part, has not been shabby in five outings for the Cubs, posting a 2.10 ERA and 47 strikeouts.

Tonight the Cubs will host the Cards on Sunday Night Baseball in the rubber game. The Cubs walked off the first game in 11 innings but dropped game two by a score of 3-12.

This coming week, the Cubs will visit Atlanta and Miami to meet two of the teams chasing after the Philadelphia Phillies in the East.

After struggling through the first half of the season in the Florida Marlins’ shadow, the Phillies and the New York Mets have emerged to the top and are ready for another exciting stretch run.

The Phillies, holding a full-game lead over the Mets, are also a lot healthier, with only two players on the DL to the Mets’ 10.

The Mets, though, made it to first place for a full week and are in the race to stay.

That’s much more than one can say for the Washington Nationals. It’s still mathematically early, but if any team can pack it in and start thinking about next year, it’s the Nats.

They can’t expect much help out of the minors, but southpaw Michael O’Connor has been solid for triple-A Columbus. He could help an unremarkable starting rotation in the 2009 season.

Ryan Langerhans has been the best hitter for triple-A Columbus and could get another shot in the big leagues. Prospect Roger Bernadina might also find room in a crowded outfield.

Ryan Zimmerman, the Nats’ face of the future, has been having increasingly disappointing seasons. In order to compete in that division, they will have to find the kind of prospects that the Marlins always seem to find.