In the past 48 hours we have seen CC Sabathia and Rich Harden dealt to contending teams. With this we have seen a total of 8 prospects traded for these 2 guys. Sabathia was the 2007 Cy Young Award winner and was basically given to the brewers for 1 big prospect in Matt LaPorta and the rest just okay prospects. As for Harden the Cubs traded the A’s pennies on the dollar for Harden. Beane said that he would have to be wowed to trade Harden and he basically gave him away for Matt Murton and Shaun Gallagher. Not to take anything away from these guys Rich Harden has showed some dependablity this year and looks like a very good 2 starter. If he can stay healthy throughout the rest of the season the Cubs will win the Central Division and the Brewers will look like fools for trading for Sabathia. And this is not the first time a big transaction like this hasnt worked out the way teams wanted it too. For Example, the trade for Mark Teixeira to the Braves for a kings ransom of prospects to the Rangers and the Braves did not make the playoffs. Another example is Carlos Lee going to the Rangers in 2006 and the Rangers at the time were just a game and a half out of first place and did not make the playoffs. What it comes down to is that the teams that do not disrupt the team chemistry and add a little pieces to the puzzle usually turn out better than adding a big name at the trading deadline. I think the Cubs and Brewers will battle down the stretch but look for the Brewers to fade down the stretch again due to the lack of pitching beyond Sabathia and Sheets.

What is going on in the NL West? If you follow baseball at all you will know that the NL West does not have a team over .500. The Diamondbacks started boiling hot and looked like they were going to run away from the division. Then we have the defending National League Champion Colorado Rockies. This team went on one of the best runs of all time to get to the World Series but this team has struggled tremendously due to injuries and the horrendous starting pitching. Francis, Jimenez, and Morales have been dimsle. Next is the Los Angeles Dodgers many picked the Dodgers to win the NL West due to the fact that they have loads of young talent accompanied by seasoned vets such as Andruw Jones, Jeff Kent, and Derek Lowe. But they have been flooded with injuries and the loss of Rafael Furcal is huge. The San Diego Padres arent looking too good right. Many people in baseball thought the Padres would be a solid team due to the starting pitching they had going into the season and it keep them in contention in April but after that they have been anemic on offense and injuries to Peavy and Young did not help either. Lastly the Giants are probably the biggest surprise in the division they were picked by everyone to finish last in the division and with some of their young pieces playing well they have a good chance to finish at least 3rd in the division. The National League West is easily up for grabs. I would give the inside edge to the Dodgers because they have Nomar Garciaparra and Andruw Jones coming back this weekend against the Giants. Andruw cannot possibly play any worse than he was we went on the DL. And I am confident the Dodgers can go out and get a pitcher and bat at the deadline because of the amount of prospects the Dodgers have in their system. I say the Dodgers win the division by 5 games over Arizona.

Yes, you read correct the Dodgers were collectively no hit by the Angels Saturday night even though the Elias Sports Bureau does not consider that a no hitter due to the Angels only pitching 8 innings. Nevertheless the Dodgers did not have a hit and still won the game. Matt Kemp reached base via an error and stole second then advanced to third on the bad throw by the Angels catcher Jeff Mathis. Then he scored on the sac fly hit by Blake DeWitt. That just goes to show you how much the Dodgers and Angels are struggling offensively. Luckily for the Dodgers Rafael Furcal, Andruw Jones, and Nomar Garciaparra are starting a rehab assignment in Triple A Las Vegas Monday and the Dodgers are expected to have Furcal and Garciaparra back by the series against the Giants.

Yahoo Sports is reporting that Houston Astros pitcher Shawn Chacon has been suspended indefenitely for the events that followed:

“I sat down to eat and Ed Wade came to me and very sternly said, ‘You need to come with me to the office,”’ Chacon said. “I said ‘for what?’ I said ‘I don’t want to go to the office with you and Cooper.’ And I said, ‘You can tell me whatever you got to tell me right here.’ He’s like, ‘Oh, you want me to tell you right here?’ And I said, ‘yeah.’ I’m not yelling. I’m calm.”

Chacon said things went downhill from there.

“He started yelling and cussing,” Chacon said of Wade, according to a story on the Chronicle’s Web site. “I’m sitting there and I said to him very calmly, ‘Ed, you need to stop yelling at me. Then I stood up and said, ‘You better stop yelling at me.’ I stood up. He continued and was basically yelling.”

Chacon said that after Wade told him he needed to “look in the mirror,” it got worse.

“So at that point I lost my cool and I grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground. I jumped on top of him,” he said. “Words were exchanged.”

Chacon said players quickly came and separated the two. He recalled outfielder Reggie Abercrombie pulling him away from Wade.

If this isnt absolutely pathetic that a guy like Shawn Chacon is going after his boss that way. I think every working person in America has been extremely mad at their boss and have possibly thought about doing something absurd like this but in most instances your thinking cap comes on and you say to yourself if I go postal on my boss I am going to get fired and possibly have a law suit coming my way after. So in my best guess Shawn Chacon will not be employed by the Astros for much longer and when he is released I do not think he will pitching for a long time. He will have to go the an independant league team to prove himself worthy of being a professional baseball player because he certainly did not act professional with what he did.

Trevor Hoffman entered the top of the 9th inning with the game tied at 1-1.  After Hoffman struck out the first 2 batters he faced Brendon Harris came to the plate and hit the the first pitch fastball out of the park. Then Brian Buscher came to the plate and connected on a home run. Trevor Hoffman now is 1-5 with 4.85 era. Trevor Hoffman is done. He needs to hang up his cleats at the end of the season. He is just not as reliable as he once was. Guys are starting to figure him out. He will start you with a 85 mph fast ball then 75mph curve then the 80mph change up. Major League hitters are finally figuring out that Trevor Hoffman is extremely hittable. He has had one heck of a career but he time is coming to an end.

Ben Sheets threw a complete game 4 hitter against the Atlanta Braves on Monday. With the win his record improves to 9-1 this year. He may single handedly keep the Brewers in contention. Time will tell. If he is unable to keep the Brewers a float GM Doug Melvin is going to have a tough decision to make come the July 31st Trade Deadline.