GM Roulette
 
Seattle is next up to find a new head to their front office.  Jack Zduriencik was relieved of his duties after ownership reached the conclusion that he had missed on enough decisions that a change was needed.  Zduriencik was in the position for 7 years and made some serious decisions about paying and drafting players.  He missed on more than he hit clearly, but how much really was his fault?  Drafting catcher Mike Zunino #3 overall was the decision I think doomed the former GM.  He had the opportunity to select pitchers Michael Wacha, Marcus Stroman and Andrew Heaney who are all contributing this year or last year as Stroman had ACL surgery in spring training.  Having injury prone starting pitching currently is the reason this decision shaped the franchise for the worse. 

Blaming Zduriencik for signing Robinson Cano is only a negative due to the length of the contract.  He knew what type of player he was getting; the problem is he needed him to be a different type of player.  And this is when the former GM made up for this decision by signing Nelson Cruz, who leads the AL in homers.  Since he already committed to Felix Hernandez long term three players are making $62 million dollars, that’s just too much for a smaller market team to pay out for the kind of team they have around these stars. 

Is it the injury bug’s fault?  Injuries sure haven’t helped the situation but again Zduriencik signed these guys, Iwakuma, Paxton, Dustin Ackley Logan Morrison, Austin Jackson and Mark Trumbo have all spent time on the DL or just been not good enough to jumpstart the rest of the team. 
 
The team should be talking to anyone they can about evaluating their farm system and really where they are in terms of competing in the division. 
Playoff Baby Bears?
 
The Cubs have quietly solidified their spot as the second wild card in the NL with a less heralded r9-1 run over the past two weeks.  Toronto go the pub for the moves they made but the Cubs are playing great baseball and have put the weak link in their lineup on the bench in Starlin Castro.  On the mound Jake Arrieta has assumed the Jon Lester ace role and Kyle Schwarber has brought his bat with him from the minors as a pseudo trade deadline acquisition.  With the Giants sputtering, the team is moving comfortably towards October action.  The team is rolling but is their bullpen good enough for a playoff run? 
 
Top 5 right now:
  1. New York Mets- Yoenis Cespedes has taken this team on his back since coming over from Detroit.
  2. Toronto Blue Jays- Overtaking the Yankees seemed like a foregone conclusion but a 21-4 stretch will put them in the conversation for a title.
  3. Pittsburgh Pirates- The Cardinals get the love and respect for a dominant home record but these guys are one game behind them for the best home record in baseball. 
  4. St. Louis Cardinals-Best team in the league trudges along to the finish line hoping to get Matt Holiday back for a run in October. 
  5. Kansas City Royals- The shuffling of Kris Medlen to the rotation and thus demotion of Jeremy Guthrie will make a difference by the time the end of the post season in their favor. 
The bottom 5 right now:
  1. Colorado Rockies- Jose Reyes isn’t excited to be in the high altitude, go figure.  Will be interesting to see what the team can get for him in a trade over the winter. 
  2. Cincinnati Reds- Another long term contract commitment can be blamed for the lack of rebuilding at this point.  At least at this point Joey Votto is playing well enough to justify not being dealt. 
  3. Milwaukee Brewers- Looking at a total rebuild, trade Braun this winter, if you can find a taker. 
  4. Philadelphia Phillies- Can argue they started the GM replacement train by bringing in Andy MacPhail. 
  5. Miami Marlins- Will be interesting to see who Dan Jennings the GM replaces Dan Jennings the manager with, team underachieved this year injuries to the stars not withstanding.