It's that time of year. No, not Christmas ... but many baseball clubs will find presents under their tree on July 31st, the non-waiver trade deadline. Unfortunately, fans of other teams will find coal as their best players will most likely be dealt for an ongoing five-year plan (sorry, A's fans.)
The two pictured above will probably not deal with each other (and if they do, I doubt they'll seal it with a man-hug.) But Yankees' GM Brian Cashman and Mets GM Omar Minaya are most assuredly in play for the trade deadline, along with about 20 other GM's. And with that many in play, there's bound to be a ton of rumors. AOL's baseball editor Andrew Johnson and I will attempt to separate the rumors you should pay attention to from the rumors that are just plain wacky in another fun MLB chat at 2PM ET (11 AM for Dodgers and Angels fans on the west coast.) Please do join us.
Well, it's not quite the type of deal that's going to make anyone salivate. But on a trading deadline day with little value switching sides, we'll take what we can get. And so do the Phillies, who have traded for Julio Mateo from the Mariners for minor league shortstop Jesus Merchan.
Mateo, who turns 30 on Thursday, figures to replace righty Ryan Madson, who suffered a strained right shoulder Sunday. The Phillies' bullpen recently was bolstered by the returns of right-handers Tom Gordon and Brett Myers from injuries.
While the Phillies can retain Mateo in 2008 by exercising his $1.5 million club option, it is doubtful that this move will be judged only on its baseball merits.
Mateo was charged with third-degree assault in May after police said that he struck and bit his wife in a Manhattan hotel room.
And now he's on the same team as Brett Myers, who has had his own issues involving spousal abuse, meaning that the same people who criticized the Phillies for allowing Myers to pitch the day after he was arrested for hitting his wife now have more ammunition to blast the Phillies as an organization. As a baseball move, it just shows how desperate the Phillies are, along with most teams, to get help for the bullpen as they are taking a flier on a guy with good stuff, but has been buried at AAA Tacoma all season (albeit with good stats down there: 0.79 ERA, 29 K's and 2 walks in 34 and 1/3 innings).
In addition to reaching a preliminary agreement for Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira, the Braves are close to a deal for Royals closer Octavio Dotel, according to major-league sources.
The Braves, Indians and Dodgers are the three finalists for Dotel, sources say. Royals general manager Dayton Moore, previously an executive with Atlanta, is intimately acquainted with the Braves' farm system.
Dotel may be just as important an acquisition to the Braves as Teixeira is, if it happens. Boy, my head is spinning. Imagine how fast the heads of other N.L. GM's are spinning at this hour. Time to hit those phones.
The biggest shoe has dropped in the 2007 MLB non-waiver trade deadline. Mark Teixeira is an Atlanta Brave, and teams now have 24 hours to respond. Does anybody have the other shoe to drop? Let's look team by team:
New York Mets: Even though they're in first place with the best record in the National League, the Mets have some small holes that they could do well by filling now that the Braves have upgraded. Options include bullpen help (Chad Cordero and Eric Gagne have been discussed), and an upgrade at second base (Luis Castillo or Mark Loretta, perhaps?) What the Mets need more than anything though is for Carlos Beltran to be healthy, and for Carlos Delgado to continue to heat up after a very slow start to the season.
Philadelphia Phillies: The Phillies are one game ahead of the Braves, so they're feeling it a little bit. Gagne would be a great fit here ... he would allow Brett Myers to return to the starting rotation while upgrading a bullpen that may have just lost Ryan Madson for the season. Speedy outfielder Michael Bourn could be used as bait. But in any event, they need pitching, pitching, pitching ... of all sorts
Well, it's not quite the type of deal that's going to make anyone salivate. But on a trading deadline day with little value switching sides, we'll take what we can get. And so do the Phillies, 
Not satisfied with just getting 
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