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A six-part series that will cover every team in the majors, What You'll See at the Trading Deadline is a blog worked on by FanNation users Dudeman, Gu3, and thehemogoblin. This blog will be released Monday through Saturday, with each blog covering a certain division. Today, we start with the AL East.

Monday, June 30th: AL East

Tuesday, July 1st: AL Central

Wednesday, July 2nd: AL West

Thursday, July 3rd: NL East

Friday, July 4th: NL Central

Saturday, July 5th: NL West 

AL East:

Baltimore Orioles

Dudeman's Take: The Orioles are obviously going through a rebuilding period, and they are still looking to add a few young bats to their lineup. A great trade piece for the Orioles could be George Sherrill. Sherrill has been somewhat of a surprise this year, with 26 saves before the All-Star break. He could be a very hot commodity for the Orioles, because many are looking for closers. They could easily get a young hitter to add to their lineup if they shipped Sherrill to the right team. Although most teams would be very hesitant before shipping a dominant closer to another team, this make sense for the Orioles. Sherrill is 31 years old, and the Orioles are trying to get younger. This would be the right time to trade Sherrill for some pieces for the future. The Orioles have to potential to be contenders in a few years, but they are still a couple bats away from reaching their peak offensive play. 

Gu3's Take: With the Baltimore Orioles, you have a young team that has been surprising many with late-inning heroics and just overall good play. Some may call them the Cardiac Orioles because of the way they wait til the last inning to make the game close. This is the one team who has a big choice to make at the trading deadline. Currently, they are 4th in the AL East-only 1 game behind the hated Yankees and 6.5 out of 1st with a 39-36 record. Their next win would be their 40th win, something they didn't do til July 14th last year. The Orioles is a young team that is performing now but also looks to be performing even better in the future. Now, the question is that if they are still over .500 at the deadline, do they deal for a star to help them possibly make the postseason or keep them over .500 for the first time in 10 years? One player they could possibly trade while his stock is high is George Sherrill. Many teams are looking for a good closer and the Orioles have one. They also have 2 possibly closers on the DL in Chris Ray and Danys Baez that can produce. They can definitely get a good young player or two for Sherrill. However, if they keep Sherrill, they need to get a SS. But, that would involve them giving up a key player in their plans for the future. Andy McPhail is a very smart man and I'm sure he would make the right move... which is trade George Sherrill.

Hemo's Take: Baltimore has stockpiled a lot of good young talent with Nick Markakis, Adam Jones, and Jeremy Guthrie, but they're blessed to be in the same division as the Rays, Red Sox, Yankees and ****... I mean Blue Jays. They need to sell out any and all veteran talent on their squad. Jay Payton, Aubrey Huff, George Sherrill, Brian Roberts, Melvin Mora, and Ramon Hernandez should all be offed because they're not going to be part of a winning team in Baltimore. The O's need to get a lot of pitching or infield prospects in return, as the outfield seems set for a long time with Luke Scott, Jones, and Markakis.

Boston Red Sox

Dudeman's Take: The Boston Red Sox are the cream of the crop when it comes to the best teams. They are easily the most balanced team in the AL, with stellar starting pitching, an explosive offense and a reliable bullpen. This team was built to win, and that's what they have been doing. They are 48-32 and are sitting atop the AL East. Normally, a team this dominant wouldn't have to be wheeling and dealing at the trade deadline, but the Sox have one issue. Who is to play center field. They have star-in-the-making Jacoby Ellsbury, and the defensive stud, Coco Crisp. I believe that the Sox will commit to Ellsbury now, and shop Crisp. Crisp may be a defensive stud, but he struggles mightily offensively. He's hitting only .261 with an OBP of .302. With the recent injury to Bartolo Colon I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the Sox shopped Crisp for a back-end starter.

Guthrie's Take: The Boston Red Sox is historically a good team and, once again, is off to a good start in the AL. As always, as the trade deadline approaches, the Yankees are strongly charging toward the top. But unlike other years, the Sox has to look out for 4 teams in the AL East above .500-One of them being the Tampa Bay Rays who are currently 1 game out. Now, Boston has a lot of things going wrong in their rotation while still having a lot of things going right. Curt Schilling and Bartolo Colon both went down with injuries. Curt isn't coming back and Colon may not return as effective. However, this opened doors for players like Lester and Masterson to shine. But, these players will not be able to contend once it comes October and the Yankees have once again added that power bat to their line-up. So, to me, the Sox need to add another pitcher. CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, and Erik Bedard look to be the ones on the market this year. I highly doubt the Jays will trade within their division so AJ is out. That leaves CC and Bedard. Bedard has not pitched in October situations since he has pitched for Baltimore his entire career. So, that leaves CC who has made it to the postseason. A package deal here would involve Lester, Buchholz or Masterson and a hot Coco Crisp.

Hemo's Take: Boston has built their franchise on their farm system, bringing up such impressive performers as Jonathan Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury. They shouldn't sell out the farm now, as they've already won two championships while sticking to relatively minor acquisitions. Holding onto Coco Crisp is crucial because he's a great defensive substitute, a switch hitter, and speedy, three things that every team is looking to get at the deadline. They'd be bringing in another player to replace him anyways, so it's not a good thing to do. Bartolo Colon and Clay Buchholz should be sufficient as fifth starters, and the bullpen seems tight with Delcarmen and Okajima. Keep it simple, stick to small acquisitions and role players.

New York Yankees

Dudeman's Take: The Annoying Rich Boys known as the Yankees are sucking this year (hah!). OK, maybe that was little homer of me because they are more than a few over .500, but you can't help but hate them. Especially because we know how rich they are, and since C.C. will be on the market, they will be right there in the race for him. I wouldn't be surprised if they gave the Indians $1,000,000,000 bucks for C.C. But, in all honesty, the Yankees will be looking for a dominant ace to add to their depleted rotation. An ace might prove invaluable.

Gu3's Take: The New York Yankees are always looking for a blockbuster deadline deal to better their team. For example, a few years ago, they acquired Bobby Abreu from the Philadeplhia Phillies. They could do that this year or maybe they could get younger with Joba, Kennedy, and Hughes making their rotation. However, they are the Yankees and they don't like to lose. So if they need to win, they will need pitching and maybe a bat. They could possibly get a deal done with the White Sox to get Buehrle and Dye/Konerko/Thome and give up one of their young pitchers and a few prospects.

Hemo's Take: The New York Yankees need to get younger and contend at the same time. They're less than five games out of the Wild Card race in the AL, which is well within reach for the Bronx Bombers, but they're struggling at many places with age on their roster. Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Johnny Damon, Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte and Jason Giambi are all candidates for discounts on Rascal scooters, but they're relied on heavily by the Yankees. To find all of them successors to their positions would be a critical thing for New York to continue contending well into the future. The farm system for the Yankees is average, so apart from returning cash to potential trade partners, there's not much for them to trade off without sacrificing the future. Wait and see is the way to be here.

Tampa Bay Rays

Dudeman's Take: The Rays have exceeded anyone's expectations and have been a pleasant surprise for the MLB. They have the potential to dominate, in fact they have been doing just that this season. They are chasing the Red Sox in the AL East and are nipping at their heels. I for one expect the Rays to come within 1 game of the division title by the end of this season. If the Rays need anything at the deadline it would either be a veteran pitcher who could be a good 2nd starter, or a slugger that can bash 25-30 homers. The loss of Carlos Pena doesn't seem to have affected this team heavily, and when he comes back, watch out.

Gu3's Take: The Tampa Bay Rays are one of the most talented teams in the MLB and are certainly showing it. They have young players producing left and right and even more down in the farm. They would like to keep their team exactly the same. They don't need to tear apart this team that could be amazing in a few years. They don't need an extra bat or arm. They should just ride it out until it all explodes for them. And no, that last sentence was not a sexual reference.

Hemo's Take: Tampa Bay is the greatest surprise of the 2008 season in my opinion. With their entire team hitting on all cylinders, now is as good of a chance as ever for the Rays to contend. The bullpen is quite shaky however, and needs to be improved for now AND the future, so it's not going to just be a temporary fix. The trade of Delmon Young for Matt Garza looks to be pure gold for the Rays, as does the offloading of AAAA talent and major league nutcase Elijah Dukes. Tampa needs to ACTIVELY address their relief situation, perhaps going after apparent deadline gem George Sherrill, who was a great situational lefty and set up man before going to the Orioles.

Toronto Blue Jays

Dudeman's Take: The Blue Jays have one of the hottest trade pieces in A.J. Burnett. Burnett has expressed interest in being traded, and the Jays are probably shopping him as I type. They need a little bit of everything. They need a couple decent pitchers, a slugger and a bullpen. Oh yeah, and they need some fans that aren't pissed. The Jays have been failing for many years, and I really don't see a core that fans can look forward to. They will be busy at the deadline.

Gu3's Take: Well, the Toronto Blue Jays... well, suck. I'm sorry Jays fans but it is obvious. Just SELL SELL SELL for the Jays. Sell everything. Keep maybe Rios, and that's it. Burnett is looking like he is wanted by many teams. They sure can get a lot for him. Its total makeover time for the Jays. Just like the Orioles did after Cal left. EVERYTHING MUST GO, MLB. Its like that guy at the Flea Market who yells "Everything on the table is a penny!"

Hemo's Take: The Toronto Blue Jays are going to be in a sell everything anyone will buy mode. Already ten games out of the division lead, MLB's resident Canadians will have to dump as much as they can to replenish a depleted farm system that hasn't produced any notable players in the last five years. Scott Rolen, Brad Wilkerson, Matt Stairs, Rod Barajas, Gregg Zaun, and AJ Burnett should all be available, and Toronto will still have their core of Vernon Wells, Alex Rios, Shaun Marcum and Roy Halladay for many more years to come.