TRAID ALL OF TEH CORES Applesauce: Trade news not about the Mets, Mets news not about trades

Meet the Mets

Unnamed Mets are upset with Sandy Alderson for trading Beltran, but if you want to make a playoff push, you probably shouldn't be losing 2 of 3 to the Washington Natinals. The game was particularly frustrating, featuring some exciting baserunning from Daniel Murphy, (note, your excitement may vary.) some sloppy Mets defense, and a walk-off Baltimore chop, which was preceded by a wild pitch off of Josh Thole's -2 Cursed Glove of Iron. It also probably would have helped if the sum total of the Mets offense wasn't Scott Hairston.

Jon Niese looked like he was going to match Jordan Zimmerman goose egg for goose egg, but then the sixth inning happened. Seems like those sudden breakdowns happen to Niese a lot, though he is still having a very fine year.

The loss closes out a 6-4 road trip for the Mets, and it was a very good one for David Wright. Wright has bumped his OPS up to .825 since coming off the DL. More importantly, perhaps, he has only struck out 5 times in his 46 PAs.

If you have a kindle, I highly recommend Emma Span's piece on Jose Reyes. Less than 1/6 the cost of a Single Shack.

Jayson Stark declares the Mets deadline winners. He, like everyone else, is high on the Rangers moves, which is kind of perplexing to me. Meanwhile Adam Rubin points to injuries as the reason the Mets were quiet on Sunday. I wouldn't be shocked to see Hairston and Byrdak move post-deadline.

At the Wall Street Journal, Brian Costa opines that maybe K-Rod would have kept the Mets in yesterday's game. Because he never had innings like that one. Ever.

And here's a Bobby O sighting as baseball-reference takes a look at the high ERA seasons with at least 4 shutouts.

Around the NL East

The Braves upgraded their outfield and found a real leadoff hitter, picking up Michael Bourn from the Astros for Jordan Schaefer and the Pu Pu Platter. (TM Simmons, so I don't see an obnoxious tweet implying plagarism) I guess after midnight last night, Ed Wade turned back into a pumpkin. On the diamond, the Braves failed to complete a three game sweep of the Marlins and were handed loss #10,000. 

The Phillies completed their sweep, though, walking off against the Pirates. Unsurprisingly, Clint Hurdle lost another extra inning game without using his best reliever.

Larry Beinfest gave the world's weirdest conference call about staying pat at the deadline. 

TRAIDS

Lucky Applesauce author drew the August 1st Applesauce, so here we go...

In the biggest deadline deal, the Indians acquired Rockies' ace Ubaldo Jimenez for four prospects. The biggest prospect heading to the Rox is Drew Pomeranz, at least once he is eligible to be traded in a couple weeks. Alex White is also heading over in the deal. Given Jimenez's incredibly team friendly contract, you would think Colorado would get more than one potential Top 50 prospect. BTBS takes a closer look at the deal here. 

In a three way deal with the Mariners and Dodgers, the Red Sox ended up with Erik Bedard, apparently because Rich Harden's medical records scared them off. So clearly, you go with the durable workhorse Erik Bedard instead. Noted Dodgers fan and BPro writer Jay Jaffe really, really likes the deal for the Dodgers.

The Dbacks dealt for A's sidearming reliever (and Applesauce author favorite) Brad Ziegler. The As got Brandon Allen who is a fairly large offensive upgrade over Daric Barton, et al.

The Rangers bolstered their bullpen further, picking up Heath Bell Mike Adams from the Padres. Robbie Erlin is a high price to pay for a reliever, even one as good as Adams. Any NL-only keeper players should pick up Erlin, as he basically the perfect pitcher for Petco.

The Pirates traded for Ryan Ludwick. I guess in the NL Central this counts as an upgrade.

The Cardinals traded for Rafael Furcal and his .520 OPS. I guess in the NL Central, this counts as an...no, not even in the NL Central.

The Giants finally traded for an actual shortstop Orlando Cabrera, adding to their collection of infielders who can kind of play shortstop but probably shouldn't.

And here's a short and probably incomplete list of players that were rumored to be traded but ended up staying put...Heath Bell, Rich Harden, B.J. Upton, Denard Span, Wandy Rodriguez, Josh Willingham, Chris Iannetta, Todd Coffey (yes, Todd Coffey), and Joel Peralta.

Around MLB

Justin Verlander flirted with a no-no again, as the Tigers beat the Angels. Some other interesting stuff happened as well in that game. Not pictured is Erick Aybar trying to bunt for a base hit to break up the no-no in the next half inning. Also not pictured is the teams meeting at Pizza Hut after the game for a couple of slices of pepperoni and an RC cola.

The Yanks clinched a series win against the hapless O's. They also stood pat at the deadline which I am sure will thrill all of the WFAN callers tomorrow. Derek Jeter got hit on the hand, but should be back to hitting groundballs in no time.

With their win, the Dbacks crept to within two games of the Giants. I think we all know who to blame for this.

The Royals would like to remind you that there is only one Frenchtober. The loss drops the Tribe two and a half behind division leading Detroit.