the Cheap Seats

Diamond Killers: The Stretch Run

Here are some thoughts on the things happening in baseball right now.

1. Paul DePodesta may have single-handedly spoiled L.A.'s chance for a World Series title with one of the worst trades in the history of baseball from a team in first place with a comfortable lead. Depodesta, whom I have faith will be a great GM, got greedy and that greed turned into stupidity. Essentially he wanted to turn Paul Lo Duca, Guillermo Mota and Juan Encarnacion into Randy Johnson, Steve Finley and Charles Johnson....he rolled the dice and now it looks bad. Paul Lo Duca was the HEART and SOUL of that team. Getting rid of your catcher (an all-star) in the middle of a pennant run is dumb. Now he has Brad Penny on the DL, no one setting up Gagne (which has lead to Gagne poor pithcing of late) and no catcher. LA has NO shot in the play-offs.....no matter how hot Adrian Beltre gets.

2. Other than Jason Schmidt and Barry Bonds are there any other players you would want on your ball club from the SF Giants? I didn't think so. NEVER have two players carried a team on their arms, backs and shoulders more than Bonds and Schmidt have.

3. Boston was out, now they are back and once again, according to Frost, it is "their" year. That is the beauty of the sox fan...just when they are beaten to within an inch of their playoff lives, they get one last gasp and make a run...only adding to the degree of severity to the broken hearts of their fans. NOOOMAAAAAHHHHH who?

4. The Yankees will lose in the first round of the playoffs to the Twins, due to poor pitching. Mark it down. Twins-A's fight for the AL Pennant.

5. The NL is going to be great for the rest of the year. Atlanta is going to get their 13th straight division title...AMAZING....Saint Louis is rolling and LA, SD, SF and CHC are fighting for two spots. Saint Louis will play LA and Atlanta will play Chicago. Chicago-Saint Louis for the NL title.

6. Players of the Year, not MVP's....Miguel Tejada of Baltimore and Adam Dunn of Cincinatti.

Where have all the good times gone!

So what happens when you enter the corporate world on an executive level? Here is what happens. You work ...alot...alot more than before. The time you used to have for your blgo (roughly 6 out of the 8 hours in a workday) dwindle down to nothing. Tien at the Gothamist is probably ready to strangle me, since half the time I wake up in some odd hotel in some random city, without internet connectivity. I instlled a wireless router in my house over the weekend...now at least I can work while watching TV. Yesterday, I got to work at 7:00am...got home at 6:30pm, then worked from my couch until 1:00am. Welcome to the real world....

Anyway, I need a place to vent...so I should be here more often.

Trade Evaluation

Let's take a look at the big trades that happened and break them down, shall we?

1. Paul Lo Duca C, Juan Encarnacion OF and Guillermo Mota RP from Los Angeles to Florida for
Brad Penny P, Hee Seop Choi and Bill Murphy P (AA)
This is just an awful trade for the Dodgers. The only reason they did this was to try and get Randy Johnson. Arizona wanted to much for Johnson. They wanted, Penny, Murphy and Edwin Jackson for Johnson and Finley. The Dodgers were 26 and 5 when they made this trade and Paul Lo Duca was the heart and soul of the team. I just don't tink there was a need for it and I don't think they got enough for a guy like Lo Duca. Not to mention maybe the 2nd best set-up man in the game, Guillermo Mota.

2. Nomar Garciaparra to the Chicago Cubs, Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz to the Boston Red Sox, Alex Gonzalez SS, Francis Beltran P and Bredan Harris 3B and the Twins get Justin Jones LHP
Nomar was unhappy in Boston so it was time for him to leave. Orlando cabrera should fit in well and play better defense and Doug Mientkiewicz is a great glove man, which is a huge improvement forthe worst defense in the league. The Cubs got a great deal on Nomar, the only real loser here is Alex gonzalez who has to go to Montreal and play out the year. Poor Alex, at least no one is there to watch him.

3.Esteban Loiaza P from Chicago White Sox to the New York Yankees for Jose Contreras
Steady, but limited potential for tremendous upside, but inconsistency.

4. Justin Huber C From the New York Mets to the Kansas City Royals for Jose Bautista iNF

The First bad move in a series of three moves. Jose Bautista is on his fourth team in four years. Was he REALLY that necessary to get Benson to give up a much sought after, offensive catcher?

5. Kris Benson P and Jeff Keppinger 2B from the Pitsburgh Pirates to the New York Mets for Ty Wigginton 3B, Jose Bautista 3B and Matt Peterson RHP

This deal by itself isnt horrible, but coupled wit hthe Huber deal, I just don't like it for the Mets. Benson is a free agent after this year. New York is out of the race, they were out of the race when they made these trades, so now they are forced to sign Benson for whatever he wants. Oh year, in case you forgot, this is Benson's wife's website.

6. Victor Zambrano P Tampa Bay to New York Mets for Scott Kazmir P So let's get this right, earlier in the year when the Rangers wanted Kazmir for Soriano the Mets said no way. Now they give up Kazmir for a guy who walks more often than Roseanne Barr between the couch and the fridge? this is why it is a bad trade.

7. Ismael Valdez P San Diego to Florida for Travis Chick P
Another nice move by Florida.

8. Abraham Nunez OF from Florida to Kansas City for Rudy Seanez P
I think abraham Nunez could have been this years Jose Guillen if he was given a shot to play. good for both teams.

To keep track of the youngster's like Justin Jones and Bill Murphy, check out THE BEST site for prospects right here.

The Franklin

He is a BEAST! 7.2 pounds of fury!