It may not seem like it but the season is already at its halfway point. Now that the halfway point is here teams will start trying to decide if they are pretenders or contenders so they can make a move at the trade deadline to hopefully add the piece that puts them above the rest of the field. In the American League most of the teams still believe they are contenders as only two teams, the Houston Astros and Tampa Bay Rays seem to be clearly out of their races right now, but I will look at six teams that I believe are contenders and their biggest need.
Kansas City Royals
The Royals need power. It is one of the hardest things to find at the trade deadline so they may be in serious trouble. They are dead last in home runs with only 43, in comparison the Blue Jays Edwin Encarnacion has 24 on his own. They need someone who can hit for power and they may have two people who they can go out and get to fill that need from two of the worst teams in the league. Expect both Chris Carter and Mark Trumbo’s names to be floated around as the trade deadline approaches and either one of them could fill the power need for the Royals.
Baltimore Orioles
The O’s have the offense and even though the bullpen has dealt with the loss of their best closer over the last two seasons it has bounced back nicely. What they need, though, is a starting pitcher that can shut down the opposition down the stretch and in the playoffs if they get that far. The team hopes that Ubaldo Jimenez can be that pitcher if he can do in the second half what he did in the second half of the 2013 season, but what if he cannot? There is going to be plenty of pitching out there for the right price at this year’s trade deadline and if they can land any one of the top arms they could be trouble.
Los Angeles Angels
The Angels have multiple needs for a team that sometimes looks like it could be the best or second best team in all of baseball, but those needs might be able to be filled with one move. They are in desperate need of a quality lefty in the bullpen as well as help in the rotation. If the Angels, like the O’s, can land one of those big arms on the trade market they can move Hector Santiago to the pen and resolve both issues. The Angels have quite a bit to offer because they have guys who are looking like they could be studs, but have nowhere to put them regularly because of Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton. If they are willing to part with C.J. Cron or Kole Calhoun they may be able to land that piece they need in the rotation and be the best team in the league instead of the second best team in the AL West.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays need starting rotation help, bad. They don’t have a set starting rotation as only three men have made all of their starts and other than Mark Buehrle none of them have been solid starters. The offense is there and when it is clicking on all cylinders it is better than any offense in all of baseball. Unlike the other two teams who need starting pitching, though, it’s not one big name starter that this team needs to take the next step. What they need is one or two quality starting pitchers like Bronson Arroyo of the Diamondbacks to help solidify this rotation behind Buehrle and R.A. Dickey.
Detroit Tigers
With the Tigers it would be easy to say their biggest question mark would be either in the bullpen or in the rotation, but when the time comes I believe that the solid veterans they signed to fill the pen and their all-star caliber rotation will get back into form. What they did is consistent production from their shortstop. The one stop shop for nearly every team in the league might be the Arizona Diamondbacks and that holds true for the Tigers as well. The D-Backs have multiple players that can play the middle infield positions right now and Cliff Pennington might be the perfect fit for the Tigers. He plays solid defense and in the past has gotten hot in the second half of the season making him a perfect fit for the Detroit Tigers.
Oakland Athletics
The A’s are currently the best team in all of baseball making it hard to find one major need that makes you question if they can take the next step. The bullpen looked ugly early in the season, but since Sean Doolittle and Luke Gregerson were assigned the specific roles of closer and set-up man that problem has been fixed. In the offseason it seemed that this team would need more power, but they have found it from within as Josh Donaldson, Brandon Moss and Yoenis Cespedes have been, quite possibly, the best offensive trio in all of baseball. The rotation lost two of its best two Tommy John surgery before the season, but the A’s just plugged pitchers in and have still managed to have one of the best staffs in all of baseball. When they had to fill the void left by Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin they lost the pitching depth that made them dangerous. That is the one void they will need to fill if they are going to be the team that wins the World Series. It could come in the form of a trade of a veteran like Arroyo or something smaller like they made when they acquired Brad Mills, but that is the only question this team has right now.