When Life Gives You Lemons...

As far as trading deadlines go, this one was a mixed bag. I'm happy to see that Milledge wasn't shipped out for a rent-a-pitcher (especially since keeping him gave the Mets the luxury of using Nady to fill a sudden need), but the general feeling is one of uncertainty and a touch of dread. Remember that collective panic attack we all had when Duaner Sanchez left that game in Toronto after 2 pitches, apparently seriously injured? Unfortunately, now he actually is hurt, with a separated right (pitching) shoulder that may require season-ending surgery, courtesy of a taxi accident last night. Here's hoping he makes a full and speedy recovery. Duaner has been absolutely crucial to this team's success, and he was just about the only relief pitcher we had whose presence on the mound made me feel completely confident.

To address the situation caused by this bad news, the Mets traded Xavier Nady to the Pirates for Roberto Hernandez and Oliver Perez. While I generally liked X and the power he brought to the bottom of the order, I won't exactly be devastated to wave goodbye to his less-than-stellar defense, especially when it will be replaced by Endy and Lastings in right. At least on his new team Nady won't have to deal with quite so many of those RISP situations that he struggled so much with :-P

While the injury to Sanchez is pretty devastating, at least Omar was able to acquire an arm for the pen to soften the blow (as well as a promising-but-struggling young lefty whom Rick Peterson might be able to work wonders with) without giving up too much. Hopefully, this somehow lights a fire under Heilman's ass and he pitches like he did the first 2 months of the season. Bradford and Feliciano need to keep up the generally good work, and Glavine needs to cut the lefty-equivalent-of-Trachsel bullshit (okay, maybe I'm being a bit harsh there. After all, Trachsel is mediocre all the time, whereas Glavine only sucks when he has a lead to work with) and return to going at least 6 innings per start.

For other perspectives on the trading deadline events (Cubs continue to corner the market on middle infielders who can't get on base! Unfortunately for Jim Bowden, nobody was willing to blow up their farm system to get Soriano! Cardinals acquire another batting-practice pitcher!), check out any or all of the links on the right side of the page. Everybody has something to say, and since I'm still working on a lengthy recounting of my weekend in Baltimore, I don't particularly feel like spending the time to link to specific posts.