Led by Cards, needy hopefuls will be clawing at bare market

It's a bad year to be looking for an impact pitcher.

"They're not out there," complained one official of a team that has been looking.

It's a bad year to be looking for an impact hitter.

"There aren't any," an official from another team said.

One MLB scout: 'Certain teams need [Mark DeRosa] more than others, and St. Louis is at the top of the list.' (Getty Images)

Last year, the July trade market offered CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira, maybe the best pitcher in the game and one of the best hitters in the game. And Manny Ramirez. And Jason Bay.

This year? Five weeks out from the July 31 deadline, it would be a big surprise if even one player of that caliber gets moved.

•  Knobler: MLB notes | MLB Trade Rumors

One big issue is that as of early this week, 22 of the 30 teams were within five games of a playoff spot. Another issue is that there just aren't as many exciting free-agents-to-be this season.

That doesn't mean teams are any less needy than they were a year ago. There are still teams hoping (probably in vain) for a Sabathia-type pitcher. There are still teams dreaming of a Teixeira-like hitter.

Five weeks out, the five teams with the biggest need:

1. Cardinals With pitching and Albert Pujols (and with a little help from the struggling Cubs), the Cards have made it to first place. Maybe they can stay there with what they have. More likely they can't.

Cardinals cleanup hitters -- i.e. the guys who hit behind Albert -- have a combined .706 OPS, tied with the Dodgers for the worst in the National League. The Dodgers will be adding Ramirez back into their lineup next week. The Cardinals can't add anyone that good, but they need to get someone.

That someone, as manager Tony La Russa pointed out, doesn't have to be a cleanup hitter. While that would be preferable, the Cards would also benefit from upgrading the lower part of their order (their sixth and seventh hitters are also near the bottom of the league in production).

"It's something we're not ignoring," general manager John Mozeliak said.

It's something they'd better not ignore, for more reasons than one.

Most significantly, the Cubs' struggles have provided the Cardinals with a real opportunity. But the Cubs will eventually get Aramis Ramirez back, and it's reasonable to expect they could make a second-half run.

There's also the uncertain status of La Russa, who is unsigned past 2009, and the need to satisfy Pujols, who the Cardinals eventually hope to sign to a contract extension (his current deal runs through 2010, with a club option for 2011).

Asked over the weekend about the need for another hitter, Pujols told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "They [ownership and the front office] need to see what we see. I don't think they're blind. Everybody knew last year if we would have another big bat or a guy in the bullpen, we would have been there."

As for La Russa, he said this week that he believes management is committed to the search for a hitter.

"I'm confident they're looking around, trying to make something work," he said.

Opposing scouts and club officials point to Mark DeRosa as a perfect Cardinals addition, even though he wouldn't really be the cleanup hitter to put behind Pujols.

"Thirty teams in baseball could use Mark DeRosa," one official said. "Certain teams need him more than others, and St. Louis is at the top of the list."

They're atop our list, too.

2. Phillies. The question with the Phillies is different in two ways. One, while the Cardinals desperately need a hitter, the Phils desperately need a pitcher. Two, while plenty of people wonder how committed Mozeliak and the St. Louis ownership are to getting a hitter, no one doubts that new Phils GM Ruben Amaro and his staff are trying hard to get a pitcher.

Phillies scouts have looked at every starter who is, might be or, in some wild scenario, could be available.

So far, they've been unimpressed, to the extent that last week, Amaro and manager Charlie Manuel discussed the idea that maybe they'll have to give up on getting a top-of-the-rotation starter and instead settle for strengthening the middle of the bullpen.

The prospect of adding Seattle's Jarrod Washburn probably doesn't excite the Phillies. (Getty Images)

They're not giving up yet. Phillies people still wonder whether Erik Bedard (if healthy) could be the guy they're looking for. They wonder whether they could make a deal with the Pirates for Paul Maholm, or even Zack Duke. They wonder who else might emerge in a marketplace that so far has featured the not-too-exciting Brad Penny and Jarrod Washburn.

They'll keep looking.

3. Giants. They need a hitter, too, maybe even more than the Cardinals since the Giants don't have Pujols. We put them behind St. Louis on this list simply because their window to the playoffs is much narrower, even if they get a hitter. The Dodgers have basically locked up the NL West, and even with another hitter the Giants wouldn't be the favorites in what could be a six-team scrum for the wild card.

On the other hand, GM Brian Sabean is probably feeling even more pressure than Mozeliak, because new Giants managing general partner Bill Neukom is said to be pushing hard for action.

Sabean, meanwhile, is cautioning against the idea that he'll do something soon.

"Whoever makes a trade early is really going to have to pay the price," he told the San Jose Mercury News.

4. Brewers. A few weeks back, GM Doug Melvin pointed to his own history of July trades (Sabathia, Scott Linebrink), but then said he wasn't sure whether this team's biggest need was a pitcher or a hitter. That's still the case, and it changes almost by the day. When Manny Parra had a good outing Tuesday night in Triple-A (including a strikeout of that other Manny), the Brewers became more optimistic he could soon rejoin their rotation.

A pitcher still seems to be the most likely target, but a left-handed hitter can't be ruled out. For all their firepower, the Brewers are only 14th in baseball in runs.

Either way, Melvin's history and owner Mark Attanasio's will to spend mean the Brewers should do something.

5. Mets. A week ago, the Mets might have topped this list. Now, with Carlos Beltran on the disabled list to join Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes, John Maine and Oliver Perez, it's harder for the Mets to make the case that one big deal would save their season.

Friends who have spoken with GM Omar Minaya say he seems more intense than usual in his effort to find an answer, but Minaya said this week that he's mostly looking for "short term" help and isn't willing to mortgage his future to get it.

The problem is the Mets aren't sure how short term their short term is. Delgado isn't expected back until August, Beltran could still be weeks away ("If you told me right now we'd have him to start the second half, I'd sign up for that," Minaya said) and while Reyes has begun taking batting practice, the Mets still don't have a target date for his return.

As another Mets official admitted, "We're in a bad position."

And they've made it harder to justify one big trade.