First for the silly ones

Vince Coleman was a particularly silly man – he even got rolled up in the automatic tarpaulin roller, which chipped a bone in his knee and ended his season early. Did he retire and dedicate himself to playing partypoker, fishing and charitable works? No way, he went on to hit a team mate with a golf club while practising his swing in the club house and get sentenced to community service after throwing fire crackers at a bunch of autograph hunting youngsters.

Marty Cordova played spend the majority of his career at the Minnesota Twins, although he also played for the Toronto Blue Jays, Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles. It was at his last club that he fell asleep while lying on a sun bed and got so badly burned that he had to miss the next few games. Needless to say, his career ended shortly after that.

And now for some funnier ones

Ty (or Tyrus, to his mother) Cobb was one of the best baseball players of all time, but how did he spend his later years? Making some pretty good quips, that’s how. In 1959, thirty years after he had finished playing, Cobb was asked how he thought he would stand against modern players. He responded that he wouldn’t do very well at all. The questioner asked him if this was because modern players were so much better than in his day, to which Cobb shot back “You must remember, I’m 73″

Yogi (or Lawrence to his mom) Berra was undoubtedly another of the greatest baseball players of all time, a great manager, not to mention war hero, but he is also known for his amazing way with words. Of course Yogi’s sayings have become known as Yogi-isms. ‘It ain’t over till it’s over’ is possibly his most famous, and a phrase that is used across the globe.

After several weeks dealing with vacations and work related travel plans we finally managed to have the whole gang in attendance Sunday. Rich Wilson, Tony Cincotta, and I got together on the FantasyPros911 show on Blogtalkradio with the topic of the day being the many moves leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline. It what was an incredibly busy week in the world of baseball and, in trying to stay on top of all the news, we ran a full 20 minutes over our time allotment. There is a reason for my secret stash of gummy bears, folks.

First up was the Carlos Beltran trade, when the Mets sent him to the Giants for young phenom Zack Wheeler. The Giants gave up a lot in Wheeler, but needed the offense that rental player Beltran brings to the table if they are going to have a shot at repeating as World Series champs.

For the first time in many years, both the Pirates and the Indians took steps to upgrade their squads at the deadline. Cleveland made perhaps the biggest move acquiring Ubaldo Jimenez from the Rockies for a package that included two top prospects Drew Pomeranz and Alex White. Barring a miracle, there will be no magical stretch run in Colorado this year. The Indians also picked up Kosuke Fukudome from the Cubs in an attempt to increase their outfield depth. Pittsburgh acquired Derrek Lee, who offers a marginal upgrade over incumbent Lyle Overbay at first base, and also added Ryan Ludwick for a PTBNL. Both should prove to be solid acquisitions as the Pirates try to hang in near the top of a very competitive NL Central.

The rich got richer when the Phillies acquired Hunter Pence from the Astros for a package that included top prospects Jarred Cosart and Jonathan Singleton. The Astros weren’t finished as they also moved Michael Bourn to the Braves for a package of minor leaguers. Houston needed to rebuild its farm system and that process is now well underway, but in the interim the ‘Stros everyday lineup is going to be rather unrecognizable (not that it was peppered with big names to begin with).

The St. Louis Cardinals were the big movers in the NL Central, acquiring Edwin Jackson to boost the rotation and Rafael Furcal to improve their infield defense and provide a spark at the top of the lineup. In a very tight division, are these moves enough to hold off the Brewers, Pirates, and Reds? These transactions did come with a price as the butting-of-heads between Manager Tony LaRussa and Colby Rasmus finally came to a conclusion with the talented youngster being shipped to the Jays. Toronto has assembled a very solid young outfield that could prove to be a strength for many years.

Boston went out and grabbed Mike Aviles for infield insurance and, in what could be a very prudent move, also added starting pitcher Erik Bedard from the Mariners. This acquisition could prove to be crucial in Boston’s playoff aspirations with the news that Clay Buchholz is likely done for the season with a stress fracture in his back.

The Rangers made two very significant moves in addressing one of their few weak spots, acquiring Mike Adams from the Padres for two young arms in Robbie Erlin and Joe Wieland. Oriole reliever Koji Uehara was next on the Rangers’ shopping list, costing Texas Chris Davis and Tommy Hunter. Very quickly the Rangers turned an area of weakness into one of strength. Texas has built a very solid farm system over the past several years and converted some of that strength into the pieces it felt would be needed for a return trip to the World Series.

Wrapping things up we took a few minutes to look at who got the job done and who didn’t. There were some notable teams absent from madness last week, with the Yankees at the top of the list. When was the last time New York didn’t make a move of some sort at the deadline?

A fun time was had by all and the full show can be heard by clicking on the play button below.

This will add much needed depth to the lineup which I see looking like this (when or if ever healthy):

1. Michael Bourn
2. Martin Prado
3. Brian McCann
4. Chipper Jones
5. Freddie Freeman
6. Dan Uggla
7. Jason Heyward
8. Alex Gonzalez

This lineup becomes one of the best in baseball and I believe will perform like it. If Bourn comes in and does what he always has, he will set the table very well for the rest of the lineup. Fredi Gonzalez won’t even be able to mess up this lineup. I know it’s a couple weeks until we see what this ball club can really do but the bright side is that Brian McCann is getting some much needed rest that will help us down the stretch run.  This trade upgrades our team more than Carlos Beltran and HunterPence upgraded their respected teams.

But what else can this trade do for the team?

The Braves have really constructed this team very well. Everyone knows how talented our starting players are from the position players to the pitching staff but what most non-avid Braves fans will miss is how deep this team really is. All year this team has battled injury and struggles to only be picked up by many unsung heroes like David Ross, Eric Hinske, and Brooks Conrad. These guys are really what makes this team so dangerous. You know every time you see one of these guys walk up to the plate they are going to give you a great at bat. Like Bourn, their value goes past the on field statistics. Eric Hinske and David Ross are definite veteran guys who lead their team. From what you read, they are always there to encourage and uplift the team even in the faces of a hard loss. The depth of this team is extremely important to its success. The acquisition of Bourn makes this ball club deeper as well with Nate McLouth becoming the 4th OF.

A couple more trade thoughts.

Current reports seem to indicate as well that Frank Wren still wants to make the ball club even deeper with a right-handed bat to come off the bench or turn into a platoon partner. The challenge will be getting someone of quality now through the waiver wire. This really is the missing piece to the bench as the Braves woes vs. LHP is so dreadful having a guy who can come off the bench and put a spark into the lineup from time to time would be a big boost.

It seems the Braves don’t have the urgency to really go after a relief pitcher for the stretch run which obviously shows their confidence in Anthony Vavaro to hold down the fort until Peter Moylan can return from the disabled list and Arodys Vizcaino to prove if he is ready for the show.