What's up with ESPN's infatuation with the trade deadline? Thankfully, my exposure to the network's baseball coverage this season has been limited, but the few instances where I had no better choice, all I heard was talk about who's going where before the trade deadline. Last year, this talk started weeks into the season on ESPN Radio as Tim Kurkijan declared which teams were going to take on the big salaries and which teams were looking to dump those salaries. Doesn't this whole Buy/Sell, trade deadline concept cheapen the sport? So why turn it into such a circus? Selling the actual on-field action short by replacing it with rumors and gossip is a disservice to the game.

Looking around the diamond

Looking at Randy Johnson... he's like the anti-babyface. They say he's getting old and losing his stuff a bit, but he looks exactly like he did on his '89 Donruss Rated Rookie - like a 45 year old man.

Looking at Andruw Jones... he looks just like Antoine Walker, who looks like a beefy, battered middleweight boxer. Therefore, Andruw Jones looks like a beefy, battered middleweight boxer. That's like algebra or something.

Looking at Rickie Weeks... I think he's the new Ron Gant. Pop and speed, he's got 30/30 potential. Also, he plays a lousy second-base and will undoubtedly be moved to the outfield within the next few seasons.

Looking at Adam Dunn... call him Hans Solo. He's got 23 homeruns and 43 RBI. What kind of ratio is that?!?** The kind you end up with when you only hit solo shots. I can't find homerun breakdown stats, but when looking at the other NL hitters with over 20 shots, it appears as though Dunn should have at least 50 RBI. Only Alfonso Soriano (49) joins Dunn with less than 50, but he's a leadoff hitter.

** Yes, Adam Dunn is on my fantasy team.

Labels: baseball, bunkum, rants