Trades

Two trades came through yesterday as we near the deadline. Jon Rauch was traded to the Diamondbacks for Emilio Benifacio. I may be wrong, but I thought the asking price for Rauch was supposedly a lot higher than a young second baseman who is 2 for 12 in limited big league action. Granted, Benifacio's numbers were much better in the minors. And I have no experience with any front office. I just still think the Nats could have gotten more for Rauch.

The other trade from yesterday was Randy Wolf to the Astros for minor league pitcher Chad Reineke. Umm, ok? The only thing I can think of is the Astros's management is insanely believe they are "contenders." Or perhaps they are trying to sell that notion to the good folks of Houston. Either way, this deal really isn't going to do much. Wolf is not going to save Houston's season but he wasn't going to do anything for San Diego's either. Reineke is more or less a non-prospect with very uninspiring numbers in the minors. San Diego seems to have fairly good success with these types of pitchers though, especially in that ball park. All in all, this deal doesn't look like it will have any huge impact either way.