Fuzzy Math

I was planning on withholding comment on the flurry of late-July deadline deals entirely, since I played with matches and got burned by pronouncing Richard Hidalgo a turd. All the guy did in July was hit at a .294 clip (with an excellent 1.017 OPS!) with a home run every 10 at-bats. Of course, Hidalgo decided to turn it on and impress his suitors at a time where nearly everyone else on the team switched off the lights to take a long nap. It's not Hidalgo's fault that the team has gone 18-20 since his acquisition and hasn't moved an inch in the standings.

I wasn't off the mark, I think, with questioning the direction of the Mets in making this move -- especially when a significant payroll boost is concerned with a guy who isn't exactly Carlos Beltran. But I already said my piece on that, which is why I'll refrain from commenting on the Benson and Zambrano deals, except to say that a) the Mets didn't improve their team a lick, and b) gosh, I hope they loose money hand over fist this season.

The thing I'm having trouble wrapping my head around is all of the Dodgers moves at the deadline. There's no doubt that the Marlins improved themselves with their moves. Jayson Stark anoints The Fish as the biggest winners in his latest column, and I'm in complete agreement with his sentiment. They addressed their two biggest needs with catcher Paul LoDuca (replacing fast-starter Mike Redmond) and top-notch reliever Guillermo Mota, a guy who has the tools to fill in for Benitez while he's on the disabled list. Ismael Valdez doesn't offset the lost of Brad Penny, but Heep Sop Choi for Juan Encarnacion (who might turn it around in the familiar confines of Pro Player) is mostly a wash, and the Marlins can go far enough with the front four in their rotation. Plus, the Dodgers gave them money to take LoDuca off their hands. Wha....?

I'm going to side with Stark's view -- that GM Paul DePodesta tried to fit too many puzzle pieces into place at the deadline -- of the Dodgers as the deadline's biggest belly-floppers, as well. No Randy Johnson, no Charles Johnson, Howard Johnson isn't coming out of retirement...DePodesta got his johnson caught in his own zipper. The Beane school of three-way trades really only works when you get all parties together with a conditional agreement, and there was no way L.A. would give up what it needed to get to maybe kinda sorta get The Big Unit in Dodger Blue. Steve Finley's an upgrade over Encarnacion, no doubt, and Penny's playoff experience will be great if the Dodgers hold on until October.

But any team that's trotting out Hideo Nomo (3-10, 8.06 era, 14 starts) and/or Kazuhisa Ishii (1.50 whip, 21 starts) on a regular basis needs someone to pitch the 8th. And if Peter Gammons could stop for a second to wipe that brown spot off his nose, he'd realize how scary it is that the Dodgers just sent situational lefty Tom Martin and unhittable flamethrower Guillermo Mota (who led all Dodgers relievers in innings pitched) packing.

So Darren Dreifort stepped into the role on Saturday...and blew the save. He acquitted himself yesterday by picking up the save after Eric Gagne tossed three scoreless innings, but damn, it's a leap of faith to put so much trust in a guy with a bionic elbow. I like Duaner Sanchez a lot, but it's not like the Dodgers have a deep well of live arms like, say, the Cubs (more on them later this week) to throw out there. Gagne hasn't pitched 3 innings since 2002; if he's Superman, the Dodgers rotation is green kryptonite.