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August 3, 2004

Under The Knife

Anniversary Edition

by Will Carroll

The trade deadline—a real misnomer this season—provides an artificial checkpoint in the baseball season. It's a place where we can look at the races … wait, there's not much to look at. Without Bud Selig's wild card, we'd have two months of prepping rotations, resting the position players and building for 2005. Four of six divisions have been decided. Sure, I had fun talking on the radio about the good and the bad, the winners and the losers, but I'm ready to see what happens on the field. The parity might be overrated, but the party's just getting started. In my neck of the woods, anything can happen. Just ask Scott Rolen, Luis Gonzalez, or the Cubs' starting pitchers from last year: in the playoffs, health is everything.

On to the injuries …

• I'd hoped to just avoid this topic, but there were too many e-mails on it. There are plenty of media reports that Nomar Garciaparra had indicated to the Red Sox that he would need to go on the disabled list for an extended period, but that when trade talks developed with the Cubs, his agent back-channelled that Garciaparra's heel felt fine.

  Through the tallest source I've ever used, I can say with a high degree of certainty that there was no back-channeled info, at least no more than the normal trade discussions. Medical information was exchanged, conversations were had, and in the end, two parties conducted a transaction. Garciaparra may have been miserable and isolated in Boston, but let's stick to facts. He will need occasional rest and constant treatment, neither of which will guarantee that his heel will remain usable.

• Trading their starting shortstop was a slight roster risk for the Red Sox, what with Pokey Reese on the DL. Mark Bellhorn getting his thumb broken was the worst-case scenario. With him heading to the DL to join his former double play/platoon partner, the Red Sox are left with few good options over the next few weeks. Orlando Cabrera may have better range than Nomar, but he can't cover both sides of the bag. With Bellhorn out for at least a month, the Red Sox will turn to Bill Mueller at second base for the next few weeks. There's some speed and leather for you.

• Sammy Sosa was a bit dizzy from the heat, but that's as bad as it will get. Sosa said after Sunday's game that he'd had a hard time keeping food down before the game, leading to the mild dehydration and heat illness that forced him from it. I'm sure Gatorade would be glad to help Sammy.

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