Griff's MLB Notebook: Cain, King Albert, and the Trade Deadline

As we continue down the long, winding road of the 2015 MLB Regular Season, divisional races are beginning to heat up, and new stars are emerging along with the revival of some familiar faces. Let's jump right into this week's MLB Notebook:

"Cain't Miss" with Lorenzo Cain

Lorenzo Cain has been nothing less than impressive this season. The Royals' Center Fielder has played at an extremely high (and unexpected, frankly) level. He's hitting .429 in the month of July and .318 so far this season. Cain is on the easy track to hit 20 homers and steal 30 bases. Not to mention, he's far from a defensive liability in the field.

If the Royals are to make another run for the World Series, Cain's role will be instrumental.

The Awakening of King Albert

Albert Pujols has been keeping his critics quiet this season, fighting off the whispers that the slugger may have been nearing retirement. Pujols currently leads all Major League Players in home runs, something none of us expected to see this year. So far Pujols has hit 29 bombs this season, hitting 13 in the month of June and five already this month.

Pujols and young stud Mike Trout have lead the Angels' offense to monstrous numbers that's surged them to the top of the AL West Standings. It will be very interesting to see these two teams battle into the later parts of the season.

Trade Deadline

The trade deadline for Major League Baseball is July 31, and this season could prove to be one of the most active yet. There was an ESPN Insider report today that stated that the Detroit Tigers could be one of the most active teams dealing players before the deadline. Expectations are that the Tigers, who haven't had the 2015, will likely be trying to deal away ace David Price and slugger Yoenis Cespedes. Price's contract runs out at the end of this season, and the Tigers haven't shown any signs to resign him to any kind of deal.

One possible scenario is that Detroit could trade Price away and potentially resign him during the

Winter. Price will hold the most weight in any kind of deal that the Tigers could make, but Detroit will need all the pitching they can get to compete against the Minnesota Twins and the Kansas City Royals in the AL Central race.

Will this finally be the year that Philadelphia decides to part ways with lefty Cole Hamels? The Phillies have been rumored to have Hamels on the trading block for the past two seasons, but no deal ever materialized. Two National League teams that could benefit from the services of Hamels are the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs, but it's hard to believe that anything's going to happen until the Phillies actually make a move. If a deal is to take place, it'll likely happen early next week as Hamels will have to pass a physical to be dealt. The Phillies are also reportedly shopping All-Star closer Jonathan Papelbon.

As always, thanks for reading! Go ahead and give me a follow on Twitter @griffaldo.