Enemy Lines

Two advance scouts, one from each league, reflect on what they saw and heard last week:

The Todd Jones-for- Mark Redman trade was good for the Tigers and the Twins. The lefthander Redman, a solid third or fourth starter, will benefit from pitching in the big ballpark in Detroit. Jones, a righthander, has struggled with his confidence this year—his fastball barely reaches 91 mph, and he really needs his velocity to set up his curveball—but he brings experience to the Minnesota bullpen....

The Indians don't have as menacing a lineup as they have had in the past. They still have home run threats in the middle of the order, but they're not as powerful one through nine as they were over the last few seasons....

You have to wonder how much relievers Dennis Cook, 38, and Turk Wendell, 34, [traded last Friday from the Mets to the Phillies] have left in the tank. Both have been through the wars, and their experience is huge for Philadelphia, but they worked a ton of games the last couple years for New York [527 combined appearances since the start of the '98 season]....

Getting rightfielder Jermaine Dye from the Royals was big for the A's. They still have a decent outfield and a solid middle-of-the-order hitter next year in case first baseman Jason Giambi leaves as a free agent....

A lot of people want to shovel dirt on them, but the Royals' recent West Coast trip [they won three of six from the Mariners and the A's] told us that they're still playing hard for manager Tony Muser.