MLB 2010 Preview: Free Agency Era

For our 2010 MLB preview, we're lumping teams into the eras we feel they most resemble. This will cause our rankings to look more like Power Rankings than Divisional rankings, but, like most things at LCB, I wouldn't take any of it too literally. Enjoy, comment, critique, lambast.

The number of the day is:

16, for the amount of innings the Chicago Cubs went without allowing a single hit against the Houston Astros. Yesterday Carlos Zambrano became the first pitcher to pitch a no-hitter at a neutral site. Not to be outdone,Ted Lilly did his best to match Z's no-no today. Lilly pitched seven great innings striking out 9, walking one and allowing a lone hit. The Cubs bullpen finished the game off, without allowing another hit. The 6-1 victory over the Astros moves the Cubs to a 7.5 game lead over the struggling Brewers. Also of note, the Brewers fired Ned Yost today. The Cubs magic number is now 7.

Jon Rauch traded to the Diamondbacks

The tallest pitcher in baseball, 6'11 Jon Rauch and his massive mitts are headed to Arizona, he goes from one of the worst teams in baseball to one of the most promising. Here are the details of the trade from Yahoo!:

The Arizona Diamondbacks made a major move to shore up their ailing bullpen on Tuesday by acquiring reliever Jon Rauch from the Washington Nationals for infield prospect Emilio Bonifacio.

More on the trade after the jump

Rauch was 4-2 with 17 saves in 22 chances and a 2.98 ERA for the Nationals. He has struck out 44 and walked seven. Rauch, 29, has been filling in at closer for most of the season for injured Chad Cordero.

Bonifacio entered the season as Arizona’s No. 6 prospect, according to Baseball America. The speedy 23-year-old second baseman from the Dominican Republic was recalled by the Diamondbacks on July 4, and was 2-for-12 in eight games. He hit .302 in 85 games for Triple-A Tucson, with 18 doubles, five triples, a home run, 29 RBIs and 17 stolen bases.

Bonifacio, the fastest base runner in the Diamondbacks’ system and one of the fastest in all of baseball, played for the World team in the Futures game during the All-Star break.

The Diamondbacks are tied right now with the Dodgers for the division lead and this trade does a lot to try and keep up with one of the best bullpens in baseball. The Dodgers’ bullpen has a 2.93 ERA which is second best in the majors. Subtract Scott Proctors numbers and Dodgers relievers would sport a 2.50 ERA, nearly a quarter run better than the big leagues’ best, Philadelphia.

In other MLB news

The Nationals signed Christian Guzman to a 2 year extension, keeping him in Washington until 2010.

The Houston Astros, believing their season can still be saved, acquired pitcher Randy Wolf from San Diego on Tuesday in exchange for minor leaguer Chad Reineke.