Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Gillies, Oswalt, Hart, Lilly

On this date ten years ago, a 36-year-old Barry Larkin signed a three-year contract extension with the Reds worth $27MM. This came a day after Larkin invoked his ten-and-five rights to block a trade to the Mets, who agreed to send then-top prospect Alex Escobar and two others to Cincinnati. New York dealt Melvin Mora and three other players to Baltimore for Mike Bordick five days later, filling their shortstop hole. Larkin, the first 30-30 shortstop in baseball history, hit just .257/.328/.372 during the life of the extension.

Here are some links with the trade deadline seemingly right around the corner…

• Phoul Ballz interviews Phillies' prospect Tyson Gillies, who was acquired in the Cliff Lee trade this winter.
• Crawfish Boxes lists the players they would want if Roy Oswalt is traded to the Cardinals.
• Ghost of Moonlight Graham looks at the trade market for Corey Hart.
• Disciples of Uecker explains how the Brewers screwed up the J.J. Hardy trade.
• Twinkie Town reviews the Twins' trade deadline action from 2007-2009.
• Monkey With A Halo provides a full-proof plan to fix the Angels in the second half.
• The Baseball Opinion speculates about a Ted Lilly to the Mets trade.
• The Friarhood looks at some ways to improve the Padres' outfield situation.
• Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke? has some fun with a rumor involving Neftali Feliz.

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