The Cubs took advantage of the Nationals’ disappointing season by acquiring All-Star second baseman Daniel Murphy on Aug. 21. Murphy has been solid in his eight games with the Cubs, hitting .306 with two homers. He hit .300 in 56 games for Washington before being traded, after missing the first 63 games following knee surgery.
Murphy’s acquisition gives the Cubs one of the most formidable infields in the league. He joins a group that includes Anthony Rizzo and NL MVP candidate Javier Baez, who each have more than 20 homers and 85 RBI this season. This crop will get even better on Saturday when Kris Bryant returns from the DL after missing more than a month. The Cubs (79-55) as a team have swung hot bats as of late, winning eight of their last 10 games to build a 3.5 game lead in the NL Central.
Murphy is a three-time All-Star who hit above .320 each of the past two seasons. His best year came in 2016, when he hit .347 with 25 home runs and 104 RBI. He finished runner-up in MVP voting that year. The player who beat him? His new teammate Bryant.
Oakland’s already stellar bullpen got even better when they acquired Fernando Rodney from the Twins on Aug. 9. Rodney has yet to surrender a run in 10 innings with the Athletics. With the Twins this year, he had 25 saves and a 3.09 ERA. The 41-year-old has appeared in 884 games in his career, racking up 325 saves and three All-Star appearances.
Rodney joins an Athletics team that is surprisingly in contention for the AL West crown. On June 16 the Athletics were 11.5 games back of the Houston Astros. Since then they have the best record in baseball and have closed the gap on the Astros to 2.5 games.
The play of the bullpen has been one of the biggest reasons for the team’s success. Athletics relievers rank fifth in the majors in team ERA. The acquisition of Rodney gives Oakland another weapon late in games. Rodney was the closer with Minnesota, but the Athletics already have their own great closer in Blake Treinen, who has a 0.95 ERA this year. Rodney will serve as a late-inning link to Treinen to shut down opposing teams.