Dein erstes Forum » do is get into a winner-take-all situation

Maybe Brandon Finnegan will become a star someday. The former first-round draft pick is still only 23.But when Johnny Cueto was throwing a two-hitter in Game 2 of the World Series last year, Kansas City fans couldnt have cared less about Finnegans future.Thats the nature of the stars-for-prospects deals that take place every year around the trade deadline. Its a high-risk, high-reward endeavor for a contending team thats giving up future value to boost its World Series hopes. And for the teams dealing away the big-name players, the pressure is still on -- those trades can become an embarrassment if the prospects they receive in return dont pan out.The Royals sent Finnegan to Cincinnati last year in the deal that brought Cueto to Kansas City. Cueto didnt even pitch all that well down the stretch, but a couple terrific performances in the postseason helped the Royals win the World Series. Even if Finnegan turns into a standout, Kansas City will always have that championship.Of course, its easy to say a trade was a success if a team wins the World Series. Anything short of that, and hindsight becomes more complicated.In another deadline deal last year, the New York Mets acquired slugger Yoenis Cespedes, sending pitcher Michael Fulmer to Detroit. Cespedes helped the Mets to their first postseason appearance in a decade and a National League pennant to boot. Fulmer would have to have a special career for Mets fans to think the deal wasnt worth it -- but this year the right-hander is 9-2 with a 2.50 ERA with the Tigers, so at this point, both teams have reason to be happy with how things turned out.The Tigers were on the other end of a trade like that back in 1987, when they acquired Doyle Alexander from Atlanta for John Smoltz. Alexander went 9-0 for Detroit that year and the Tigers edged Toronto in a stirring race for the AL East title. But as Smoltz began putting together his Hall of Fame career, Detroit fans had to weigh that one division title against what they missed out on afterward.When a team trades away a star, its usually because its season was going nowhere, so theres less urgency to see an immediate return on the deal. Still, these trades can represent missed opportunities if prospects dont pan out. When Oakland traded Rickey Henderson to Toronto in 1993, the Athletics received former first-round pick Steve Karsay, whom As general manager Sandy Alderson called one of the top pitching prospects in baseball.Karsay was never a difference maker for the As, although he did bounce around the majors for a while as a reliever.For sellers, the ideal scenario is what Cleveland pulled off in 2002. The Indians traded Bartolo Colon to Montreal when the Expos were chasing a playoff spot while facing possible contraction. The Expos gave up Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore and Brandon Phillips, and although Cleveland didnt have Phillips for all that long, both Lee and Sizemore became stars for the Indians.Here are a few developments from around baseball this past week:MOVING UPAt this time last year, the Detroit Tigers were trading away some of their top players as their four-year run atop the AL Central ended with a thud. Now the Tigers have a six-game winning streak on deadline day and are one game back of a wild card. This run has come against good competition, too. Detroit swept three games each from Boston and Houston.The Tigers can look forward to getting Jordan Zimmermann and J.D. Martinez back from injuries as they try to mount a challenge to first-place Cleveland.FANTASY FOCUSNow that Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller are elsewhere, Dellin Betances has a chance to earn plenty of saves for the New York Yankees. Fantasy owners who picked up Betances while hoping for this scenario have been rewarded.Ditto for anyone who grabbed Pittsburghs Tony Watson. Hes now in line to close for the Pirates with Mark Melancon out of the way.LINE OF THE WEEKStephen Strasburg allowed three hits in seven scoreless innings Wednesday, helping Washington beat Cleveland 4-1 in a matchup of division leaders.---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister Cheap MLB Jerseys Online . Perez, 35, posted a 1-2 record with a 3.69 earned-run average in 19 relief appearances last season. His season ended Aug. 9 due to a torn ligament in his left elbow. Perez joins infielder Andy LaRoche and catcher Mike Nickeas with minor-league agreements for 2014 that include invitations to attend spring training. Cheap Nike Baseball Jerseys Authentic . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. http://www.cheapbaseballchina.com/ . Francis told several hundred members of the European Olympic Committees that when sport "is considered only in economic terms and consequently for victory at every cost . MLB Jerseys China . Tevez, who has had conflicts with coaches in the past, has not been called up since Sabella was named coach in 2011. Argentina boasts Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Angel Di Maria. Stitched Baseball Jerseys . Ashley Youngs cross was inadvertently headed by Chester into his own net in the 66th minute, allowing United to claim a third straight league win. "We had to dig deep with our fighting spirit and weve done that," United striker Wayne Rooney said. The Connecticut Sun started their post-Olympic run to the playoffs with a win over Minnesota, the second-best team in the WNBA at home on Friday. To keep their recent surge going strong the Sun will have to bring their best game with them on Sunday when they travel to Atlanta to square off against the Dream at Philips Arena.Connecticut (9-16) is rising thanks to a three-game win streak and a surge that has seen the Sun garner victories in six of their past nine contests. Their win against Minnesota featured six double-figure scorers (Alyssa Thomas paced the attack with 15 points) and was Connecticuts second against the Lynx (who have lost just five games) this season.All that is grand but the Sun is still on the outside of the WNBAs new playoff structure, in which the top eight teams regardless of conference earn spots in the postseason. Connecticut was in 10th entering Saturday nights games around the league.Even though Connecticut is fighting for its playoff life, the game is just as important to Atlanta (13-13), the fifth seed. The top four finishers gain first-round playoff byes annd, because the initial two rounds of the postseason are single-elimination, the last thing the Dream wants to do is get into a winner-take-all situation.ddddddddddddAtlanta lost 90-82 on the road to Chicago (currently the sixth seed) on Friday in the two teams return to the regular season after the month-long break for the Rio Summer Olympics despite Angel McCoughtrys 22 points and Elizabeth Williams 20 points, eight rebounds and six blocked shots.The Dream has played Connecticut three times already this season and has won all three but each game went down the wire, with two decided by six points and the third a four-point Atlanta victory.Atlanta could get a boost with the potential return of Sancho Lyttle, who was originally thought to be out for the season after a left foot injury on July 15th but now is expected to be back in late August. At the time of her injury, Lyttle led the league in steals at 2.2 per game and was fifth in rebounds at 8.5 per game. ' ' '