The Clock Is Ticking

There is now about 72 hours to go before the trading deadline finally hits, at 4 PM ET on Monday. That is when trades can no longer be done in baseball without going through waivers. Milwaukee traded slugger Carlos Lee to Texas for three players today. I don't see the Red Sox, Mets or Yankees doing anything huge, but you never can tell what certain GMs have up their sleeves.

The Red Sox could use another arm in the bullpen, and are of course, looking at another starting pitcher as well. Rumors about a trade with the Phillies for Jon Lieber or Cory Lidle don't sound possible unless the Phillies come down from the ridiculous requests for either Craig Hansen or Jon Lester. Those two pitchers are simply untouchable, and certainly not for marginal guys like Lieber or Lidle. There were also rumors of a possible Mike Lowell-for-Jake Peavy swap. The Padres aren't going to trade a 25-year-old stud pitcher like Peavy, despite the fact he is having a rather rocky year. The Red Sox may also be content for the return of David Wells next week, but with his age, not to mention girth, counting on him may be very problematic. They traded away Bronson Arroyo during spring training, thinking they had enough starting pitching (and NO ONE ever does).

At this time of year, the rumors get silly, even downright stupid.

The Mets could use another starter as well, but maybe waiting for Brian Bannister to return from his hamstring injury. The emergence of John Maine over the last couple of starts may make the Mets let the deadline pass without adding anyone.

The Bobby Abreu-to-the Yankees rumors seemed to have cooled considerably. The Phillies would love to dump his huge contract, but I hear the Yankees have soured on Abreu's work ethic, and maybe content to wait for Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui to return in September. They would be better advised to worry about their pitching anyway. They ain't gonna win any pennants with Sidney Ponson in their rotation.

Well, stay tuned for what happens over the next three days. The biggest name who figures to be traded, Alfonso Soriano, is still with the Nationals, and the deal supposedly sending him to the White Sox has hit a glitch. (With the way their pitching has fallen apart, they might be better served to worry about that instead.)

Rumors are a dime a dozen now, so don't believe 99% of what you hear.

The other 1%? Well....you never know.