Bowden's Big Board

August, 2, 2011

8/02/11

8:20

PM ET

By Jim Bowden | ESPN.com

Even though the July 31 trade deadline is behind us, clubs can still make deals via the waiver process. Again, a lot of these deals come down to teams deciding whether they are buyers or sellers. That status can change on a weekly or biweekly basis due to long winning or losing streaks and/or unexpected injuries.

Determining whether a team is a buyer or seller is not just about the record, the games behind or the number of teams it's trailing. Several layers of information become part of the decision-making process, including expiring contracts, long-term exposure, prospects ready for advancement, team chemistry, injuries, projections of second-half performance, and even the contractual situations of a team’s GM and manager.

Throughout August, The GM's Office will include my opinions on which teams should be buyers or sellers. The list will be adjusted as circumstances dictate. In other words, names will be added, moved and removed based on what I'm hearing from execs.

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ABOUT THIS BLOG

Jim Bowden

Bowden, who served as the senior vice president and GM for the Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Nationals, is an analyst for ESPN.com. In 1992, Bowden became the youngest GM in MLB history when the Reds hired him at age 31. The Reds finished in first place twice during his 10 years as GM, and he was named MLB Executive of the Year by Baseball America in 1999. After working for ESPN in 2004, Bowden became the first GM of the Washington Nationals when the franchise relocated from Montreal to Washington, D.C., in 2005, working in that role until the 2009 season. Bowden co-hosts the "Inside Pitch" radio show on Sirius XM satellite radio. Follow on Twitter: @JimBowdenESPNxm.