Some Under the Radar Guys

I'm not sure if any of these players are on the block or not, but regardless here are some players that can help out a contending team, or just the team they are on if given a real chance:

Seth Smith: He has a .402 wOBA, better than several all-stars like Morneau, Hunter, Teixeira, Braun, and well you get the point. He's finally starting to get playing time and the Rockies are a contending team, but even they might not realize what they have. He's more or less a platoon OF cause historically he can't hit lefties, but he mashes everything else. Matt Holliday may have ruined some of the adjusted batting stats for guys in Colorado this year, but Smiths OPS+ this year is 138. He's also been above average in LF. This guy has hit very well in AAA in 2007 and 2008, and it's carried over in the majors last year and this year. If he ever learns how to hit lefties Smith will be an all-star caliber player, not unlike his former teammate Matt Holliday, but even without that he's a great player.

Marco Scutaro: Scutaro jumped on the scene early this year with some power we have never seen before, and since then while his performance has dropped, his name has completely fallen eventhough he's still been a useful player. Since his 5 homer April Scutaro still has a .370 OBP and has played awesome defense as usual at short stop. His season totals are a solid .285/.383/.415, and only Hanley Ramirez and Derek Jeter have put up better WAR. All-star level SS
at around $1.5m = underrated I'd say.

Nyjer Morgan: The Pirates traded Morgan so they could get Milledge, and while Milledge still has a lot of untapped potential we are getting close to the point where that's a moot point. Nyjer Morgan meanwhile has been one of the better CFs in the league this year. He defense is more or less unparalleled, 25.4 UZR/150 in LF and 20.9 in CF. His bat has been about league average his entire career which makes him seem well average, but his top of the line defense in CF makes him one of the better OFs out there and definitely underrated. The Nationals may have gotten him just to take Milledge off their hands, but regardless getting Morgan has been a great pickup.

Joel Pineiro: I think it's safe to say that Duncan and LaRussa have done it again, Pineiro looks pretty, pretty legit. Forget the fact he only strikes out 3.75 every 9 innings, his k/bb is an excellent 4.25 and his 3.09 isn't a product of luck when you realize his FIP is even lower (2.92). Also, nobody in baseball kills more worms than Pineiro (60.8 GB%). For all the talk you heard about all-star snubs, Pineiro was probably the biggest.

These guys have already played better than some all-stars this year and if given the chance to play, would have as well. Not every good deadline deal needs to involve Roy Halladay, and not every successful is full of big name players, these are the kind of guys that help teams win championships.