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Summing up pre-deadline deals

Giants score big with Monday's trade with Pirates

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On the eve of baseball's trading deadline, several teams were active Monday. The San Francisco Giants acquired pitcher Jason Schmidt and outfielder John Vander Wal for outfielder Armando Rios and minor league pitching prosect Ryan Vogelsong. The New York Yankees dealt two minor leaguers to the San Diego Padres for pitcher Sterling Hitchcock, and the Chicago Cubs sent two minor leaguers to the Milwaukee Brewers for reliever David Weathers. CNNSI.com spoke with Sports Illustrated's Stephen Cannella about the moves.

CNNSI.com: The Giants, who swept a four-game series from the Arizona Diamondbacks over the weekend to climb within four games of first place in the NL West, solidified their playoff push by acquiring Jason Schmidt and John Vander Wal from the Pirates. What sort of impact does this trade have on the Giants?
Stephen Cannella: Like you said, the Giants are already in the race and this deal only helps them. Schmidt is a decent third or fourth guy in a rotation and he definitely adds depth to San Francisco's starting staff. He's someone who could help the Giants. Vander Wal is a very good, very experienced bat coming off the bench. I think he might be the happiest guy in America right now because he's been hoping since spring training to get out of Pittsburgh. He wasn't happy that the Pirates signed Derek Bell to a big free-agent contract last winter and Vander Wal was definitely looking to go to a contender and looking to play every day. I'm not sure he'll get that chance in San Francisco, but he'll help the Giants in close games down the stretch.

CNNSI.com: Schmidt is a decent pitcher and Vander Wal has some pop, but all the Pirates got in return was Armando Rios and a minor leaguer. What was Pittsburgh thinking with this deal?
Stephen Cannella: I think the Pirates are just trying to get younger, and they did that with the prospect they got back. Vander Wal was unhappy and wanted to be on the move so Pittsburgh was looking to deal him. Armando Rios is not a bad outfielder. He's a good fit for the Pirates in that he's relatively cheap and he'll hit 10-15 home runs a year if he gets to play every day. But, yeah, on the face of it, the Giants definitely got the better end of the trade.

CNNSI.com: With injuries to hurlers Orlando Hernandez and Roger Clemens, the Yankees acquired left-hander Sterling Hitchcock to bolster their rotation. What does Hitchcock, who spent parts of four seasons with the Yankees, give New York?
Stephen Cannella: The Yankees are a little nervous about Clemens. We don't know exactly what his situation is going to be with his pulled groin muscle, but there is a possibility he could miss his next start and, if anything, the Yankees are going to treat him with kid gloves in the final two months of the season. With Clemens questionable, New York has some issues with its rotation right now, at least until it returns to full strength and El Duque comes back, so Hitchcock can help the Yankees. It's just a case of the rich getting richer, but at the same time it's a little bit of a gamble on the Yankees' part because Hitchcock, even though he has pitched well recently, is still a little bit of a question mark. He's coming back from major arm surgery, and in New York, he will be pitching with a lot more on his shoulders than he has in recent starts for the Padres. Once again, though, the Yankees are able to fill a need. The interesting thing about the Yankees is they never wait around. As soon as a need pops up, they get on their horse and make a deal right away.

CNNSI.com: The Cubs continue to bolster their roster. On the heels of finally getting Fred McGriff, they added to their bullpen by picking up David Weathers. What do you think about what the Cubs have done?
Stephen Cannella: Weathers only makes what was already a very good bullpen even better. In the past couple of days, Chicago has been able to address its biggest need, which was getting another big bat for the middle of its lineup to back up Sammy Sosa -- and with this deal the Cubs improve one of their strengths which is relief pitching. Whether this makes them the team to beat in the Central, I don't know because I think the Astros, who are still in the hunt for Pedro Astacio, are going to come on strong in the final two months.

CNNSI.com: You mentioned Astacio, who's been linked to several teams, as trade bait. What's the latest on his status?
Stephen Cannella: Astacio will definitely go somewhere, but where is still up in the air. The Blue Jays and Cardinals right now seem to be the most likely destinations, but the Astros, like I said, are still in the race. Also, I heard today that the Orioles have shown some interest in him.

CNNSI.com: Do you see many more trades happening by the Tuesday 4 p.m. EDT deadline?
Stephen Cannella: I don't know if there will be a ton, but there are always a couple of surprise deals that kick in. One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of teams that are generally active this time of year and drive a lot of the action -- for example, the Braves and Indians -- have been relatively quiet. Neither of those teams can take on a lot of payroll, as they have in past years, so those are two big players that aren't in the game as much as they usually are. Any deals other than Astacio will probably be bit parts and supporting players.

Sports Illustrated staff writer Stephen Cannella covers the baseball beat for the magazine. His Touching Base column appears every week on CNNSI.com.

 

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