July 30, 2006

Will's Mill

Another Day, Another Rumor

by Will Carroll

Sunday, 11 p.m. ET:

"Umm, yeah, we're going to need you to come in early on Monday."

"But boss, we've been here non-stop since Friday. I stink from wearing the same clothes and I never want to eat pizza again."

"Riiight, but see, we still need you to get the TPS reports done so that we're ready if a pitcher comes available."

You can imagine front offices around the league going a little Milton about now. The deadline is getting closer and a lot of teams don't have much to show for all their work.

The Mets haven't made the most of Aaron Heilman. Once expected to be a rotation fixture, the pitcher has instead found a home in the bullpen. He could find a home closer to his midwest roots if the information I got from a Mets official pans out. I'm told that the Mets are discussing shipping Heilman to the Cardinals in return for free-agent-to-be Jason Marquis. The Mets would need to fill the bullpen slot, possibly reaching out for Roberto Hernandez or shifting Brian Bannister to the pen.

The Mets have nothing working with Lastings Milledge (quick trivia question: Why is he named "Lastings"?) He was ejected, not removed, from his Triple-A game today after arguing balls and strikes. Any suggestion that this was indicative of an impending deal didn't do the homework. It didn't take good sources on this one, it took checking the boxscore.

The Pirates remain stuck. Sean Casey was getting some interest, but a strained oblique ended that. Roberto Hernandez is drawing some interest, as are some of the veteran names in Indianapolis like Terry Adams and C.J. Nitkowski. Those players confronted GM Dave Littlefield about their future recently, wondering if they might be sold like Brandon Duckworth or called up to Pittsburgh. No, said Littlefield. They're not coming, even in September. The Pirates would be smart to take anything for these players, sure not to be back in the Pirates organization next year.

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