We’re not quite halfway through the season, but teams are already taking stock of how 2010 is shaping up for them.

Some teams are on the right course for a playoff place, many others can paint scenarios that will see them breaking into the October club, while several teams already have one eye on 2011.

Whichever group a team is in, they will be looking at their roster of players, looking at the other twenty-nine teams and giving serious thought to making a deal or two.  The initial trade deadline is six weeks away and a lot can happen in that period.  A good or bad run of form can turn a team from being a buyer to a seller and back again, while the ever-present shadow of injuries can force a team’s hand into going out and replacing a key player. 

Acquiring a new starting pitcher in particular can make all the difference, either by acquiring an ace, such as the Phillies did with Cliff Lee last year, or getting a guy off the scrap heap as the Dodgers did with Vicente Padilla. 

You can never be certain how a deal is going to work out.  Jarrod Washburn went 8-6 with a 2.64 ERA for the Mariners during the first four months of the 2009 season and was much sought after on trade deadline day.  Detroit won the battle to acquire Washburn, but he was hampered by a knee injury and ended with a 7.33 ERA in his eight starts with his new team and is now a free agent and contemplating retirement.

Still, that uncertainty is part of the fun as a fan (not so much for the General Managers).  Here are a few starting pitchers that could be joining contenders over the next six weeks.  Continue reading →