#-1: Lynx (Last Week: -3). Don't let last (Wednesday) night's win over Los Angeles fool you; this is a team very much in flux.
Desperate teams, even ones as good as Minnesota, don't make crazy trades in the middle of the season, let alone blockbuster, three-team trades such as the one they executed with Chicago and Atlanta that brought them Center Sylvia Fowles, a three-time WNBA All-Star who refused to play for the Sky and was willing to sit out the entire year if she weren't traded. At the time the news got out, around January, of Fowles's action/intransigence it was thought (at least in my mind) that she didn't want to play for a loser team like Chicago -- which, by the way, the Sky is now not. But when news of the trade became official Monday, all of a sudden it was revealed that Fowles sat because she demanded a trade to Minnesota. There was talk between Chicago and the Lynx for a trade, but a third team (which turned out to be Atlanta) had to come in order for all sides to be happy. The Dream receive the Lynx's first-round pick in next year's draft as well as two lightly-regarded reserves from their bench, Damiris Dantas and Reshanda Gray. (To complete the three-way trade, Atlanta sent Center Erika de Souza to the contending Sky.)
People think this is a killer move which basically gives Minnesota a devastating starting five, and everybody should just give the squad the championship trophy now. I, of course, beg to differ. First of all, Fowles, the second overall pick for Chicago in 2008, hasn't played all year. (Of course I checked the box score of last night's victory over the Sparks; Fowles started, played 26 minutes, scored 11 points and was a +6.) Also, Seimone Augustus, Fowles's teammate at LSU, is still out after arthroscopic knee surgery till at least mid-August (although I'm wary that they're not letting on that it'll be longer). Maybe worst of all, this means they have no bench of any repute. Their two bench players are two recent acquisitions, Ashja Jones and Renee Montgomery. (They did sign former Golden Gopher Shae Kelley this week; guess here is they'll make another move and send away Kelley ASAP.) If they get tired or into foul trouble, the Lynx will be in big trouble. And that's why I don't think Minnesota winning its third title in five years is a foregone conclusion; if their starting five can't hold up, they have no chance. And we're not even talking about the future, which they mortgaged by trading away their first-round draft pick next year (even though it was bound to be one past the first ten picks).
This means they're all-in now. At least they have opened up a three-game lead on Phoenix in the West, and a 1 1/2-game lead on New York, of all teams, for top overall record. This regular season is far from over. The schedule ramps up again. The club faces former teammates Dantas and Gray as Atlanta comes to town Friday. They then travel to Tulsa Saturday and have a return game at the Sparks Tuesday.
#-2: Twins (Last Week: -2). Uh-oh. I really shouldn't complain since they seem to be miles better than they were the last four seasons. But after starting off the screening week with wins at Anaheim and vs. the dreaded Yankees at home, they have lost four straight. I hate that the Twinks continue to be the Yankees' bitch. And the two-game sweep at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates, at home? Uh, not good.
The most disconcerting thing about all this is that the one player on the team you could depend, the one person you didn't have to worry about, is falling apart. After going perfect in the first half, Closer Glen Perkins has coughed up save opportunities twice in as many weeks. After failing to hold down a 2-1 lead in the ninth at Oakland on July 18, he was shaken down for four runs in the top of the ninth in Saturday's come-from-ahead loss to the Yanks. Add Tuesday's roller coaster, where the lineup tied the game after being behind 7-3, only for Perkins to give up a home run in the top of the ninth in an 8-7 loss.
Saying that, even if Perkins has suddenly lost his mojo much like Joe Nathan lost his (and I fear that he has), there's no use to trade for another reliever by tomorrow's (Friday's) trade deadline. Although they are still in prime Wild Card discussion, this losing streak shows to me that they're not going to stay there for long. And besides, they're not winning the World Series this year (at least I don't think so). You could trade Perkins for, say, prospects. You could actually do that for Joe Mauer and Torii Hunter, too. But for a reliever now? This team is supposed to be good, or at least a lot better, in the future, so don't do anything to get better now. Because, who cares?
Four at home against Seattle starting today (Thursday), then four at Toronto starting Monday.
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