Sabathia to the Brewers.

Good deal all around. Most pitchers give a 50/50 chance of victory. About a dozen shift the odds to 60-40. With Ben Sheets and Sabathia the Brewers can win the division as long as the 3-5 starters give them anything.

The Indians get years of outfield prospect Matt LaPorta in exchange for three meaningless months of C. C. Sabathia. In a perfect world the Indians could hold on to their best pitcher, but in this imperfect world the odds were against it.

And so the wheels turn and Rich Harden becomes a Cub. The A's get Matt Murton, who hasn't been able to crack what often has been a mediocre outfield. Throw in Sean Gallagher, who eventually will be 70% of the pitcher Harden already is, and Eric Patterson. Patterson is alot like the guys who go to plumbing supply conventions. A couple of trips a year to Chicago, alot of noise, nothing to show for it. Oh, and a catcher who isn't hitting in Peoria.

A real Dusty Springfield trade for the A's. As in, wishin' and hopin'. The worst part is they had Harden through 2009, during which time a better deal surely would have come along. Might as well pop the champagne corks in Anaheim, because the second best team in the AL West just conceded.

Then you have the Mets, who are on a 3 game winning streak. Woo hoo! Don't get too excited. Baseball games are won by the team that gets the big defensive play late in the game, the clutch pitching performance to break a three game slide, the shut down relief appearances in the critical 6th and 7th innings, and the occasional three run home run. The Mets might get the starting pitching part of that equation, but forget the other three parts.

I blame it on the hats. Those awful black caps with a blue bill. The Mets uniform IS the Mets, but A.O. (after Omar) they wear uniforms that look like something a metal band road crew would sleep in.

The Yankees compromised their heritage with the red, white, and blue NY the other day. Sure, it's to honor veterans, but raise the money another way. The Yankees uniform along with that of the Montreal Canadiens should never be altered. I guess if you're taking a wrecking ball to the House That Ruth built it's OK to patriotically pimp out the uniform. Maybe we'll see one of those snazzy red tops on Sundays next year. Anything for a buck.

Speaking of compromised heritage, when do the Yankees send Alex Rodriquez packing. Don't get me wrong. Ruth, Mantle, and Ford weren't choir boys. But they never were so willfully blind to the consequences of their actions and how it reflected on the team. If Alex Rodriquez is a New York Yankee I'm an astronaut.

A word about pitching. In 1968 the rules makers of baseball reduced the height of the pitcher's mound from 15 inches to 9 to put more hitting into the game. It worked. At the same time arm injuries to pitchers have reached epidemic proportions. Give the hurlers back three inches of leverage. It won't hurt the offense much and it will keep the game's best pitchers off the DL.

And finally, the Atlanta Braves.