The 2010 Major League Baseball trade deadline is quickly approaching with the deadline being its customary date of July 31st on a yearly basis.

I will try and tackle every Major League team as the deadline approaches to see if they will be buyers, sellers or stick to their current roster.

I will be basing my assumptions on the direction the team is going, their record as of the date I post the article, possible roster injuries and so on and so forth.

I will provide the information about each team by division.

NL East

Atlanta Braves
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Florida Marlins
Washington Nationals

NL Central

Cincinnati Reds
St.Louis Cardinals
Chicago Cubs
Milwaukee Brewers
Houston Astros
Pittsburgh Pirates

NL West

San Diego Padres
Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Francisco Giants
Arizona Diamondbacks

Today I will move onto the American League beginning with the East division leading New York Yankees.

Coming into play today the Yankees own the best record in all of baseball at 58-33, two and a half games ahead of second place Tampa Bay.

The reigning World Series champions have the highest payroll in baseball ($213,359,389) and certainly know how to use it, drawing star studded talent to the Big Apple to aid their historic franchise in acquiring more titles.

The team features one of the deepest starting rotations in baseball with ace CC Sabathia (12-3, 3.13ERA) leading the way alongside veterans Andy Pettitte (11-2, 2.88ERA) & AJ Burnett (7-8, 4.99ERA), youngster Phil Hughes (11-2, 3.65ERA) and off-season acquisition Javier Vazquez (7-7, 4.45ERA).

The team has one of the most potent offensive line-ups in the game with Mark Teixeira manning first base (.253AVG, 18HR, 62RBI), Robinson Cano at second (.336AVG, 17HR, 61RBI), Derek Jeter at shortstop (.271AVG, 8HR, 44RBI), Alex Rodriguez at third (.272AVG, 15HR, 73RBI), Nick Swisher in right field (.301AVG, 16HR, 53RBI), new addition Curtis Granderson in centre (.237AVG, 7HR, 24RBI) Brett Gardner in left (.305AVG, 5HR, 31RBI, 26SB) and Jorge Posada behind the plate at catcher (.269AVG, 11HR, 33RBI).

But even with the impressive starting five and everyday line-up the team still has flaws.

Legendary closer Mariano Rivera (3-1, 1.01ERA, 20SV in 22SVO) is once again spectacular for his club in the closer’s role, despite being 40 years old, but the rest of the Yankees bullpen is shaky at best.

The Yankees moved Joba Chamberlain back to his role out of the pen and the results have not been what they expected with the burly right-hander pitching to a record of 1-4 with an ERA of 5.77.

David Robertson is having trouble re-creating the same effectiveness of last season posting a record of 1-3 with an ERA of 5.01 and free agent pickup Chan Ho Park is having a down year at 2-1 with an ERA of 5.90.

The Yankees bullpen ranks ninth in the AL with an ERA of 4.14 thanks mostly to Rivera, losing the Yankees ten games throughout the season thus far.

A bulging disc in the back of Alfredo Aceves (3-0, 3.00ERA in 10 games pitched in 2010, 10-1, 3.54ERA in 2009) has kept him out of the Yankees bullpen and the team is currently without left-hander Damaso Marte with an inflammed left shoulder.

With the Rays hot on the Yankees trail in the East the team may want to improve in the one area they need the most improvement, the bullpen.

The Yankees are reportedly interested in acquiring relief help such as the Toronto Blue Jays Scott Downs (3-5, 2.52ERA), but may have competition for the left-hander from the Boston Red Sox. The Jays also have other relievers available such as right-handers Jason Frasor (3-2, 4.54ERA) & closer Kevin Gregg (0-4, 3.93ERA, 21SV in 25SVO).

The Yankees need help in the bullpen and Scott Downs might be just what they are looking for.

The Baltimore Orioles also have a nice trade chip in veteran left-handed reliever Will Ohman (0-0, 2.63ERA) and the Florida Marlins may dangle their closer Leo Nunez (3-2, 2.79ERA, 22SV in 27SVO) for the right deal.

The Kansas City Royals could make lefty Bruce Chen (5-3, 4.06ERA) available or send righty Kyle Farnsworth (3-0, 2.41ERA) for a trip back to the Yankees, who Farnsworth pitched for from 2006-2008.

The Oakland Athletics possess the veteran arm of Michael Wuertz (2-1, 5.12ERA) who could come very cheap due to a down year or the Yankees could trade for former Yankee Octavio Dotel (2-2, 4.75ERA, 19SV in 24SVO), the Pittsburgh Pirates closer.

All of the listed relievers should be available come the July 31st trade deadline and the Yankees may move on one or more of them quickly as the bullpen seems to be the team’s only real necessity in challenging once again for the World Series title.

The Yankees possess farm system talent such as top prospect in catcher Jesus Montero, right-handed pitchers Aroldys Vizcaino & Zach McAllister & left-handed pitcher Manny Banuelos. The Yankee farm system is deep at catcher behind Montero with Austin Romine & Gary Sanchez also listed in their top ten prospects and the team also has Francisco Cervelli currently playing at the Major League level, backing up Posada.

The Yankees were initially dangling Montero in trade talks with the Seattle Mariners for pitcher Cliff Lee before he went to the Texas Rangers, but have made the media aware that they will not move Montero unless they have to.

Acquiring a reliever should not take the likes of any of the above listed talent, but the Yankees could be desperate enough to move one of them if their bullpen continues to struggle.

Will the Yankees make a move or will they wait for a turnaround from their bullpen?

Just another question looming as the trade deadline approaches with only eleven days remaining.

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