It’s 90 minutes past Major League Baseball’s trade deadline so unless MLB didn’t pay its phone bill, any deals that have been made have likely been announced. Graceland’s getting a bigger overhaul than any baseball team got today. Today’s big trade was probably Eric Gagne to the Red Sox. Other than that, it seems a lot of teams will probably count on waiver deals to solidify their pennant runs.
As for the Mets, after filling their second base need Monday, it appears they attempted to address their bullpen concerns but couldn’t get anything done. ESPN reported mid-afternoon that they were near a deal for Chad Cordero in Washington, but the word all along had been that Jim Bowden had overpriced his reliever. Since a deal didn’t happen, it’s safe to assume that remained the case.
It also has been widely rumored the Mets offered a package highlighted by former top draft pick Philip Humber for Gagne. In the end, the Red Sox were able to offer lefty Kason Gabbard and that got the deal done. It makes sense since the Rangers were able to see Gabbard pitch well against major league pitching — something they didn’t have in evaluating Humber.
This seems like a simple case of the Mets not having the same chips the Red Sox did. You can’t fault Omar Minaya for that any more than you can fault him for not overpaying for Cordero. It would have been nice to see a bullpen upgrade, but there’s still waiver deals to be made and Minaya showed last year he’s quite adept at handling those.
So Minaya’s deadline grade is based solely on the acquisition of Luis Castillo. Despite the disappointment of getting someone on the lower end of the second base possibilities, Minaya has to get high marks for this deal because he upgraded a position of need at a very, very low price. Call it a B+ and expect more action in the weeks to come.
But just don’t forget John Schuerholz earned an A. As usual.
You may have noticed there weren’t many baseball games Monday.
Bonds — Barry Bonds has two months to hit two home runs. I think he’s going to make it. So we all need to come to terms with the idea that Bonds will hold the home run record. It’s unfortunate that the steroids era happened (and probably is still happening), but it did happen. The games were played and the home runs were hit. Maybe we cheered, maybe we didn’t. But at the end of the day, it’s part of baseball history. Bonds will be part of baseball history. I’m not saying anyone should cheer him. Hell, I’d boo Bonds if he passed me on the street. But it’s not because he “cheated the game.” It’s because he’s generally unlikeable. But we should watch one of the legendary records in all of sports fall.
A-Rod — One of the victims of the steroids era is the 500 home run plateau. It means nothing anymore. And we don’t even have a new number to replace it with. Perhaps it will be 600 homers. I think it’s still too early to tell. But while A-Rod’s next home run has been devalued, his season continues to be one for the ages. Before we even reached the end of July, he collected 35 home runs, 103 RBI and 97 runs scored. Those are unbelievable numbers and they will undoubtedly bring some unbelievable numbers of another kind this offseason. So while there is probably no need to watch A-Rod on this busy night, there is a reason to watch him most others (even if it means sitting through a YES broadcast.)
Glavine — I never thought I’d see Tom Glavine in a Mets uniform. But once I did, I was sure I would never see him win 300 games. At least not in a Mets uni. Those first couple seasons in Flushing were that bad for the former Brave. But he has really changed his approach to pitching and contributed an awful lot to the Mets resurgence these past three seasons. He’s also going after a milestone that will soon be going the way of the Brontosaurus — extinct so long people wonder if it ever existed. We may never see another 300-game winner, and if we do, it will not be for a long, long time. So take the Mets perspective out of the equation and you still have a potentially special night in Milwaukee with Glavine on the mound.
Trade deadline — The big name has already fallen with Mark Teixeira (spelled it right this time) landing in Atlanta. But there are a couple of big-name relievers for the taking and you never know what will happen when GMs do nothing but talk on the phone for days at a time. There could be something coming that no one anticipates. Or it could be a relatively quiet deadline. Regardless, it’s one of the more fun days on the baseball calendar. It’s kind of like Christmas in July, except you don’t know if your team celebrates the holiday until its over. Mets fans everywhere can hope Omar Minaya has a jolly fat man in him.
All along it seemed like second base was going to be the obvious target for the Mets at this trade deadline. Today, that came to pass, though not necessarily with the player most were expecting.
It’s the day before the trade deadline and it’s quiet. Really quiet. The Braves’ long-rumored deal for Mark Teixeira appears to be done, but that’s really it as far as big deals. Is this the calm before the storm or will it be an underwhelming deadline? I suspect the latter, but there’s always potential deals that no one gets wind of. Remember the near blockbuster with the Mets, Astros and Orioles last year that no one knew anything about until it was dead. We could be surprised tomorrow.
Lots and lots of waiting today.
After last night’s stint at Shea, I hustled back to the city to see a late-night showing of “The Simpsons Movie.” Due to sellouts, we had to settle on a 1 a.m. showing. Sure it was late, but it would be worth it to take in the long-awaited big screen debut for everyone’s favorite animated family. And it was going well for about 15 minutes, and then BOOM! Pitch black theater. The AMC on 42nd Street lost power, the fire company showed up on the scene and we were hustled out of the building at 1:40 in the morning with a half-empty Slushie, a free movie voucher and only 15 minutes of laughs. What a letdown. I’ll have to try again today.
The Mets just announced their roster moves in lieu of the Moises Alou activation and Joe Smith’s demotion last night.
From the “Wow, That Was Fast” department, the Phillies have traded for former White Sox second baseman Tadahito Iguchi.
You’re probably not going to believe this — and let’s be fair, it is only 5:30… that’s 90 minutes for something to go wrong — but Moises Alou is in the lineup tonight for the Mets.
It’s a special night here at Shea. First of all, it’s Merengue Night, which means Las Chicas del Can and Tono Rosario will perform in a postgame concert and Z100 DJ Carolina Bermudez will be the special guest public address announcer for the entire game. I was out in the stands for Merengue Night last season and it was a festive atmosphere. The Mets tend to do the theme nights right.