The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT July 30, 2011
When it comes to the baseball trade deadline, it's a lot like running around the playground trying to get the pretty girl to talk to you.
A handful of general managers around baseball are sitting around waiting for another team to show interest in a player that can help their team.
Kind of like the pretty girl on the playground looking for someone to push them on the swings.
OUTSIDE OF the defending world champion San Francisco Giants going out and addressing a need by trading for outfielder Carlos Beltran on Wednesday afternoon, only minimal moves have been made.
Other contenders, you may want to start paying attention now.
The Giants won the championship with a lot of good pitching last year and just enough offense to score a few runs when it counted.
Teams like Philadelphia, Boston and the New York Yankees, who all figure to be playing deep into October, have failed to make a trade that could put them over the top.
They're likely to do so within the next 48 hours.
Rumors had Erik Bedard going from Seattle to the Boston Red Sox, but the chances of that actually coming true will depend on if he made it through Friday's return from the DL in one piece.
Sunday's projected M's starting pitcher, Jason Vargas, is also rumored to be on the trading block, but with only one win in their previous 18 games, it might take a real need to bring him to a playoff contender.
Just don't expect a repeat performance of the countless NFL moves when the deadline arrives on Sunday at 1 p.m.
TO SAY that the lack of moves leading up to the trade deadline has been surprising is an understatement.
With two months remaining before the start of the playoffs, only half of those teams have a legitimate shot at making a run toward the postseason.
In the case of those in the American League, unless either the Red Sox or Yankees fall apart, teams in the Central and West will have to win their division to see October.
General managers appear to be playing a high stakes game of poker, with nobody wanting to show their cards quite yet.
Well, it appears time for those contenders to push their chips to the middle and hope they’ve got the right mix.
Right now, almost every GM reminds me of how I approached covering high school football games when I started working as a sports writer.
Getting caught up in games, sometimes you forget about the time until it is way too late.
If your ultimate goal is to make a run toward October, it’s time to make that move.
Because those pretty girls, they’ll be the ones at the party when it happens.
Without it, you’ll likely wind up sitting at home by yourself.
Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected].