Odds and Ends

Some good lunchtime readin’ for you today…

• This column is about a week old, but worth a read.  Tim Marchman believes the trade deadline should be abolished.  What do you think?  Obviously we here at MLBTR form a biased sample; you probably love deadline day if you read this site regularly.  While I agree that there is no great reason to set a July 31 deadline, it does generate concentrated trade and rumor activity and draw a lot of interest.  A lot of baseball’s rules and systems seem kind of arbitrary, so if the fans love the trade deadline I think that’s reason enough to keep it.
• Jamey Newberg gives us the details of the Rick Helling trades in 1996 and 1997; as always, it’s an interesting account.
• The Cardinals called up their sixth outfielder – Rick Ankiel.  He was given very little chance to crack the Majors as an outfielder, but here we are.  Maybe he can log a few garbage innings if needed, too.
• The Indians flipped Russell Branyan over to the Phillies.
• DRays Bay interviews a young Devil Rays executive. 
• Jacob Jackson at The Hardball Times has a plan to fix the Pirates.
• How about Kevin Millar for Wily Mo?  Could the Orioles even get Millar through waivers?
• Some players to consider if your fantasy team needs Ks.
• This could be useful.