Once the final out is recorded in Tuesday night's All-Star Game, the baseball world will shift its attention to MLB's next big event: the July 31 trade deadline. As far as Insider is concerned, it's never too early to start talking about the deals the might be made.
In the National League, there are a dozen teams that can make a case for being contenders, though we know that a couple of those clubs (such as the New York Mets and Washington Nationals) would need a lot of rationalizing in order to do so. And although it would be easy to count out the Colorado Rockies, they've shown a remarkable ability to shine in the second half, so they can't be counted out. Therefore, if we disregard the Mets and Nats, that leaves us with 10 contenders in the Senior Circuit. Of that group, only the Philadelphia Phillies feel like a stone-cold lock for the postseason, and even they could use a couple of upgrades.
So what kind of moves can we expect to see from the contenders? I'm not smart enough to predict the future, but I can tell you that these five trades make too much sense not to happen.