What's going to happen before the trade deadline? I don't have any idea, and if I did I would be allowed to tell you. But in the meantime, here's what should happen ...

	Jeff Weaver might not be in the rotation for much longer.

The Yankees are always pushing, pushing, PUSHING to get better, and presumably the Big Stein isn't satisfied with his team's 2½-game lead over the Red Sox. But where can the Yankees get better? They're set at every position (thanks to Ruben Sierra's solid performance as Nick Johnson's replacement), and last week they bolstered the bullpen with Armando Benitez. That leaves just one spot: No. 5 starter, where Jeff Weaver has been less than brilliant and didn't help himself Monday night, giving up 11 hits in four-plus innings. Of course, the fifth starter is irrelevant in October, so if the Yankees are confident about winning either the division title or the wild card, they don't need to do anything at all.

The Red Sox are in the same boat as the Yankees, except they could use another starter and another reliever. Actually, they could use two starters, as only Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe and Tim Wakefield have pitched with any consistency this season. And while it's fun to pick on the bullpen, the Sox currently have five relievers with ERAs lower than 4.00. So finding another starter (or two) should be a bigger priority than improving the bullpen.

I mentioned this last week, but the Royals could certainly use another bat and another relief pitcher as they try to hold off the Twins and the White Sox, and never was this more obvious than in their last two games against the A's, when 1) the Royals scored the grand total of one run, and 2) their relievers gave up nine runs in six innings. The Royals have now scored exactly as many runs as they've allowed, and while goofy-brained fans can talk about "chemistry" and "knowing how to win" until the cows and the sheep come home, you don't win pennants if you don't outscore your opponents. General manager Allard Baird is trying to make this team better, but trying's not good enough. If he doesn't add a hitter to this lineup, the Royals are going to finish second or third.

Meanwhile, the Twins could certainly use another starting pitcher and another middle infielder. And the White Sox ... well, they just need to get the real Paul Konerko and the real Joe Crede to stand up (their lineup is also getting killed by catcher Miguel Olivo).

The Mariners' four-game lead looks pretty safe, but that could change in a hurry if Billy Beane can pull off one of his famous "(expletive)-A trades." The M's are solid in the rotation and the bullpen, but they're getting very little from left field (Randy Winn) and third base (Jeff Cirillo and now Willie Bloomquist, with Bloomquist's sole attribute being that he's not Jeff Cirillo). Considering that the Mariners haven't enjoyed a good left fielder since 1987 (Phil Bradley), they probably figure they can get by without one. Considering that Cirillo is "earning" nearly $7 million this season, he'll probably continue to get chances to prove he's not the biggest bust in franchise history. And considering that general manager "Stand Pat" Gillick didn't do anything to improve the Mariners last season -- when they had a similar-sized lead -- it seems likely that on Aug. 1 the M's will look nearly identical to how they look today.

And then there's Beane. I think the world of Billy, but if he can fix what ails the A's lineup, we should let him rule the world. The A's, who worship at the twin altars of on-base percentage and slugging percentage, rank 10th and 11th in the American League in those categories. Not coincidentally, they're 10th in runs scored. There is reason to think that many, and perhaps most, of Oakland's hitters are better than they've played, and will improve over the next couple of months. Still, Beane has to be thinking about first base. And right field. And left field.

Summing up the American League:

Team		Need
Yankees		No. 5 starter
Red Sox		No. 5 (or No. 4) starter
Royals		Big bat 
Twins		DP combo, starting pitcher
White Sox	Lady Luck
Mariners	Third baseman, left fielder
Athletics	Outfielder, first baseman

	John Schuerholz, left, and manager Bobby Cox face perhaps their greatest challenge this year.

With even Vinny Castilla hitting reasonably well, the Braves' lineup is set for the duration. And of course, the Braves do have the best record in the majors. Which isn't to say they're perfect. Not when starter Shane Reynolds sports a nifty 5.77 ERA. Then again, the Braves' lead in the East is safe, and there's no reason for Reynolds to even make the postseason roster, let alone pitch in October. So aside from possibly adding somebody who can pinch-hit in October, there's really no reason for John Schuerholz to do anything.

The Phillies are in a similar situation, except they don't have a huge lead. Their biggest weakness has been at third base, where David Bell has been atrocious. But he's finally (and mercifully) been placed on the disabled list, and Tyler Houston is an acceptable replacement, probably as good as anybody who's available via trade. The Phillies' fifth starter, Brandon Duckworth, hasn't been good (3-4, 5.28), but he hasn't been terrible, and anyway what do you expect from a fifth starter? Like the Braves, the Phillies, who have the third-best record in the National League, should probably just stay the course.

And then there are the Marlins and the Expos. Both teams are barely above .500, and neither can see the Braves' behinds even with the Hubble Space Telescope. But ... the Marlins are only four games behind the Phillies for the wild card, the Expos six games behind.

I'd advise the Expos to start thinking about 2004, but they just got Vladimir Guerrero back so they have to make one push for the wild card. It's not going to happen, though, because they're terrible at three spots: third base (Fernando Tatis), catcher (Michael Barrett), and center field (Endy Chavez). I think at least two of those guys will improve, but the Expos simply have too many empty spots in the batting order, especially when you consider that general manager Omar Minaya has to get Bud Selig's approval every time he wants to write a check.

The Marlins, on the other hand, do have a legitimate shot. Their lineup is solid, top to bottom, and all five of their starters have respectable (or better) ERAs. Aside from Alex Gonzalez's surprising power, I don't see anything particularly anomalous when I look at the Marlins, which makes me think they're for real. If they make another move, though, they should get a left fielder, as Todd Hollandsworth and rookie Miguel Cabrera just haven't been doing enough.

You know what's interesting about the Astros? Future Hall of Famer Craig Biggio is just their sixth-best hitter ... and Jeff Bagwell is just fifth-best. Which tells us 1) that Biggio and Bagwell are over the hill and 2) that the Astros have some damn good young hitters. The only true weakness in the lineup is Brad Ausmus, whose numbers -- .278 on-base percentage, .263 slugging percentage -- are awful even for a good defensive catcher. But Bags and Bidge love Ausmus, so he's not going anywhere. The bullpen is outstanding, and if you remove Wade Miller's nightmarish April, the rotation is about as good as anybody's. It's not that the Astros are perfect -- their 55-45 record says otherwise -- but if everybody's healthy they're the best team in the division.

I don't know that Bo Hart is for real, but he's hitting and so is everybody else in the Cardinals' lineup, so they've got that half of the equation covered. The pitching, of course, is another story. It's so bad that Jeff Fassero -- who's got a 6.70 ERA and doesn't really belong in the major leagues -- started last night against the Padres because Tony La Russa was tired of watching Garrett Stephenson pitch (though both wound up pitching, and both did well). Rookie Dan Haren looked good in his last start, which is good because now Matt Morris is going to miss something like a month. The Cardinals desperately need two or three starting pitchers, and they're not going to find them. If they can win this year, it'll be La Russa's greatest work.

Until last night, the Cubs needed a third baseman and a center fielder, but they adroitly filled both spots with the acquisition of Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton. Neither Ramirez nor Lofton is a great player, but Ramirez is better than Jose Hernandez and Lenny Harris, and Lofton is better than Tom Goodwin. This is, any way you care to slice it, a wonderful deal for the Cubs, and all those teams that could have used a good third baseman -- the Royals, the White Sox, the Dodgers, the Phillies, and especially the Mariners and the Expos -- should be kicking themselves for letting Ramirez get away. Anyway, the Cubs now have a solid lineup, with No. 5 starter Shawn Estes their only glaring weakness. If they can replace Estes, they should stay with the Astros all season long.

The Giants now have a nine-game lead over the second-place Diamondbacks, which means they can coast if they choose. The problem is that the Giants' third-best starter (Kirk Rueter) has a 4.46 ERA and their fourth-best starter (Damian Moss) has a 4.75 ERA. And remember, 1) the Giants play half their games in one of the best pitchers' parks in the majors, 2) you need more than two starters in the postseason, and 3) you're facing better hitters in the postseason. So yes, the Giants are one of the many clubs that could use a decent starting pitcher.

Which isn't really true of the Diamondbacks. Elmer Dessens -- their prize acquisition this last offseason -- has been lousy (5-7, 5.26), but Arizona's top four are the best in the league, assuming of course that Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson are healthy. The Diamondbacks' only obvious hole is right field, which for the most part has been a complete zero, offensively. Actually, the Diamondbacks also have a big hole at first base, where rookie Lyle Overbay's numbers look good only in comparison to Mark Grace's. Basically, the Diamondbacks need a big bat, and two would be better.

And the Dodgers? I wrote about them Monday and concluded that they're a lost cause. They've just got too many holes. This is baseball and anything could happen, but I just don't see the Dodgers staying in the wild-card race for much longer.

Here's the National League in handy table form:

Team		Need
Braves		Nada
Phillies	Ditto
Marlins		Left fielder
Expos		Bud's folly
Astros		We're good, thanks
Cardinals	Starter(s), reliever 
Cubs		No. 5 starter
Giants		Starting pitcher
Diamondbacks	Right fielder, first baseman
Dodgers		Wait 'til next year!

At this point in the season, the general manager of a contending team has two jobs. He has to identify his team's needs and he has to address them. And a week from now, we'll know a lot more about a lot of GMs than we do today.

Senior writer Rob Neyer writes four columns per week during the baseball season. His new book, "Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Lineups," has just been published by Fireside. For more information about the book, visit Rob's Web site.