Major Trade Deadline Trade!
The Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers completed a huge deal late last night and just hours before the 2014 non-waiver trade deadline that has the MLDSB world rockin’! It had been believed that the Rockies had finished wheeling and dealing after acquiring young SP Jameson Taillon from the Pittsburgh Pirates just the day before but apparently the Rockies had one more player they had put on their radar to help boost the team’s chances to compete for a wildcard and maybe even the NL West title and that player was SP Zack Greinke. Greinke had been acquired last season in a trade that sent Troy Tulowitzki to the Dodgers but quickly the teams backed out of the trade.
The Dodgers have been looking to put a potent bat and glove at the hot corner all season and with Nick Punto not doing the job, once 3B Lonnie Chisenhall was waived in their face, the Dodger front office couldn’t help but be willing to part with arguably the top starting pitcher in the league in Greinke. In order to get the trade done, the Rockies had to part with some arms. Veteran Mark Buehrle was excited to hear that he would be pitching in pitcher’s paradise, Chavez Ravine, as were Garrett Richards and Bret Cecil. All three pitchers will give the Dodgers a boost and some depth while Chisenhall will most certainly provide a huge boost on offense and with his glove. The Rockies really did not want to part with the young Chisenhall who has performed very well for the Rockies since being acquired earlier in the season from the Cleveland Indians but the prospect of getting a great pitcher of Greinke’s caliber was enough to allow Chisenhall to be moved.
The Dodgers are just half a game out of 1st place in the NL West race against the San Diego Padres. The Rockies are one of the hottest teams in the league and find themselves just 9.5 games out of the NL West lead after having been more than 20 games out just a short month and a half ago. They believe that they can make a run for a wildcard and put some pressure on the Dodgers and Padres for the NL West title. Will Greinke be the answer?
