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FISH POLICE ROUND UP THE USUAL SUSPECTS, PART II
Possible outfield trade acquisitions for the Yankees. We cleared out all the big fish last time; all we have left are various guppies, large and small.

Aubrey Huff, Tampa Bay (.197/.287/.293). An impending free agent, Huff hit badly last year and has been an unmitigated disaster this season. The Devil Rays' Old Regime held on too tightly when contenders came calling for Huff in years past, condemning the team's new masters to realize no return at all. Huff is 29 years old. Most of the time, that's too young for the kind of career-ending crash and burn that Huff seems to be experiencing, but not all players age according to the norm. Unless the acquiring team's scouts perceived something so obvious, so elementary, in Huff's swing that picking him up would be less of a gamble than it first appears, he seems a gamble not worth taking. Even a rebound to last year's rates over the remainder of the season (.261/.321/.428) wouldn't be worth more than an unprojectable fringe prospect.

Torii Hunter, Minnesota, (.261/.337/.415). This overrated player will likely be the biggest free agent bust of 2007. A strong defender, he's only average with the bat. He'd be a good complimentary player on a team that had real punch at the corner positions, but isn't a difference-maker on his own. He's not a good fit for the Yankees.

Raul Ibañez, Seattle (.277/.341/.496). He's just okay. Playing in Seattle hasn't held him back too much, so what you see is probably about what you'll get. Ibanez is signed through 2008, when he will be 36. Given his level of production, a team might not want to be in the Ibanez business for that long. The misbegotten Mariners need help pretty much everywhere, so the theory is they would trade Ibanez for depth. Ibanez would be an upgrade for the Yankees as the left-handed half of a right field or designated hitter platoon, but he's not worth one of the Yankees' few prospects.

Reggie Sanders, Kansas City (.245/.291/.466). VORP per game for Melky Cabrera: .021. For Bernie Williams: .012. For Reggie Sanders: -.023. Sanders is low-hanging fruit that probably isn't worth picking. In the majors since 1991, Sanders has had only a few seasons where he was significantly better than an average contributor. This is one of the reasons he's played for eight teams since 1998 — Sanders is the perpetual compromise candidate for a corner outfield spot. He's been a typically listless Royal this year, doing all his hitting in front of the friendly, benumbed home fans and scuffling on the road. Worst of all, he's signed through 2007.

Shannon Stewart, Minnesota (.298/.355/.376). Not a good defensive player, doesn't run anymore, doesn't hit for power, doesn't walk much, and plantar fasciitis seems to be a chronic problem. Stewart's game has been reduced to batting average. He's not vastly more productive than Bernie Williams at this point. Presently on the disabled list, Stewart is a free agent after the season. The GM that signs him to start is a fool.

Craig Wilson, Pittsburgh (.278/.363/.497). A player the Pirates have never properly appreciated, Wilson would be an asset to the Yankees. Though not particularly adept at any position, Wilson is experienced at both outfield corners, first base, and catcher. As a hitter he's a solid "B" producer — not a star, but a hacker with power. Some fans will be put off by his many strikeouts, but some fans also need to grow up some time, lest Alex Rodríguez decides he'll never be loved in New York and the Yankees end up with Mark Teahen at third base — but I digress. The Pirates haven't pitched well this year, but their real need is viable position players, particularly outfielders. That won't stop them from asking for Phil Hughes anyway, not only because he would be attractive to any organization but because the second-tier prospects aren't nearly as attractive. Wilson is a free agent after the season.

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FISH POLICE ROUND UP THE USUAL SUSPECTS, PART I
Looking at outfielders rumored to be available for trade:

THURSDAY, June 15, 2006: Posted at 11:30 a.m.
1: WHALE SHARKS: VERY BIG FISH
Bobby Abréu, Philadelphia (.287/.454/.502). He's not well-liked in Philadelphia, for reasons that are mysterious; fans feel like he doesn't hustle, but what's management's excuse? As far as we know, he's never been caught pulling the legs off of orphans or taking batting practice with live puppies. As for not hustling, you'd think you would tell all your players to walk, not run, if they were going to turn into .302/.413/.511 career hitters. Abréu is signed through 2007 with a team option for 2008, but the team is motivated to trade him for the aforementioned non-hustling-allegedly-puppy-smashing-orphan-pulling, and he's also seriously expensive, which may be a worse problem insofar as baseball morality is concerned. He's making $13 million this year, will make $15 million next year, and $16 million in 2008 if his option is exercised. He will receive a $2 million buyout if it is not. Just 32, he should hold his value for a couple more years, though a spike in his walk rate this year could be a sign of a slowing bat.

With the Mets very close to putting the National League East on ice, the possibility of a Phillies housecleaning becomes more likely with each passing day. The Venerable Gillick (TVG from here on out) requires pitching. Hoping to avoid a Hughes transfusion (they're going to need one themselves, sooner than later), the Yankees can hang fire, hoping that Abréu's salary puts off any potential bidders and gets TVG to lower his asking price. And if Abreu really is an orphan-smashing puppy puller, heck, he can't resist the Joe Torre charm.

Pat Burrell, Philadelphia (.259/.381/.527). Another guy who TVG might want to trade because his backloaded contract has started to get heavy. Your standard one-dimensional power hitter, Burrell is signed through 2008. He'll make $27 million over the next two years. He likes hitting in Philadelphia's friendly ballpark a little too much, and Yankees fans will be impatient with how often he strikes out.

Cliff Floyd, New York Mets (.238/.330/.403). For some players, hitting is their main skill. Sometimes they go into a slump and that skill is obscured for a while, but they're inherently good hitters and eventually they start hitting again. Other players can't hit, but every once in awhile they might go 3-for-10 or even 6-for-20 before the universe rights itself and they go back to having their rightful 0-fers. Floyd can hit, but his main skill is really getting hurt. Last year he slumped and played in 150 games, but his fragility has reasserted itself this season. That seems to have come at the cost of his being able to hit, at least in April, when he failed to hit .200. Floyd's May was better, with .267/.383/.489 rates, virtually indistinguishable from his career numbers. If Lastings Milledge is up to stay, then there won't be any room for Floyd once Xavier Nady comes back. Floyd should probably play over both, but he's a free agent after the season, so the Mets have some motivation to move him. A deal is unlikely both for the egg-on-the-face potential of an intracity trade and because the Mets need pitching. Unless Omar Minaya is willing to risk the tabloid back pages on Jaret Wright, the teams don't match up.

Carlos Lee, Milwaukee (.276/.350/.572). The defense is weak but the bat has maintained its vigor even on the road, a good omen for a transfer to another ballpark. Lee is a free agent at the end of the year and Milwaukee is on the Highway to Nowhere, also known as the Highway to Milwaukee. Lee isn't big on the whole getting on base part of the operation and his career stats scream MOR, someone who is going to dramatically disappoint the moment his production drops a tick. That's a matter for a long term contract, and for gauging whether you would give up the same amount of talent for a rental as you would for rent-to-own. As a short-term proposition he'd be an upgrade at either outfield corner.

Alfonso Soriano, Washington (.294/.356/.596). Jim Bowden gambled and, for a change, he won. It was said that Soriano wouldn't play the outfield. He capitulated. It was said he wouldn't hit in high-gravity RFK the way he had hit in low-gravity Arlington. Soriano has 23 home runs. As the sole power threat in the Nats lineup (Nick Johnson is a distant second), he's accepted being pitched around and should easily eclipse his career high in walks. At 12 1/2 games out of first and seven games under .500, Washington is done as everything but a tourist destination (Compare and contrast: World War II monument as triumphalist architecture vs. FDR memorial as subtly subversive Ozymandias-like statement of squandered empire? Which do you feel is more representative of the United States today? Explain. This question is worth 100 points of your final grade.). If you win when everyone else condemned you for making a sucker bet, you don't give away your prize for nothing. This is especially true when your team needs a little bit of everything, and your making a killing may be your last chance to keep your job.

2: GROUPERS: BIG FISH
Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay (.302/.346/.463). Having a very hot June (.333/.364/.667), he's pushed his numbers up to where they usually are. Just 25 and signed for the next 100 years at less than killer money, he's here because rumors have him moving for lots of help. He's a superior defender and baserunner. His lack of patience is somewhat mitigated by his batting average and power (though Yankee Stadium will sooner yield up a free hot dog than the triples that spike Crawford's slugging percentage). Under no particular pressure to move him, the Rays will demand their usual big payoff.

3: CHILEAN SEA BASS: IT'S ACTUALLY TILEFISH, YO
Russ Branyan, Tampa Bay (.191/.245/.483). He's been a total disaster this year, but he has a career .480 slugging percentage and he's slugging .483, plus he would be a lefty home run guy going into Yankee Stadium. Just 30 years old, there is no reason he couldn't rebound to his 2004-2005 numbers-.247/.355/.506, 23 home runs in 360 at bats, combined-over the rest of the season. As platoon players go, this would be a fine 80 percent solution. Bernie Williams, still potent from the right side of the plate, would make up the remaining 20 percent. The Rays are infamously intransigent traders, but Branyan is exactly the kind of player that they should cheerfully flip if they've wised up at all. A free agent during the offseason, the Yankees could have had Branyan just for the asking.

Ryan Church, Washington (.215/.346/.477). Presently batting a miserable .203/.304/.367 at Triple-A New Orleans, perhaps because he's miserable to be there. Church batted .287/.353/.466 in the majors last season, .301/.368/.472 away from RFK. Coming into this season he was a career .295/.376/.514 hitter in the minors. It's not entirely clear why the Nats deselected Church for Marlon Byrd, Damian Jackson, Mike Vento, and Brandon Watson isn't totally clear; it might have something to do with the same reason that a Church acquisition might not go over well in New York: he's made it clear that his views on religion aren't exactly progressive. America's greatest melting pot city doesn't deserve that kind of divisiveness. "Blessed are the meek."

Jose Cruz Jr., L.A. Dodgers (.240/.375/.390). The Dodgers have had good results with youngsters Matt Kemp and Andre Eithier, and Kenny Lofton has done well, reducing Cruz's playing time. At .240/.375/.390 there's not a whole lot of difference between Cruz and Melky Cabrera. Cruz has batted .372/.481/.628 against left-handers, .189/.333/.297 against righties, which makes him a sort of Bernie Williams the Younger. The split actually holds up for his career, though to a lesser extent, with .292/.364/.474 rates against southpaws, .239/.331/.447 against regular people. His contract includes a team option for 2007 but the buyout is only $300,000. He probably wouldn't cost much to obtain, but he's neither a good fit nor a real solution.

David Dellucci, Philadelphia (.250/.310/.563). Last year with Texas he batted .262/.382/.545 on the road, but the year before he it was .216/.341/.424, so it's anyone's guess how much of a park effect his last two seasons really were. The Yankees acquired him in late 2003 and watched him slump so this might be a case of once bitten, twice shy. However, to invoke another timeworn cliché, beggars can't be choosers. The Phillies have devalued Dellucci by sitting him so he should have a lower asking price than Abreu or Burrell.

Shawn Green, Arizona (.314/.369/.441). The Diamondbacks are, at this writing, in first place, making it difficult for them to dump players hitting .300, even if their other numbers aren't quite as good. Just about all of Green's power has come under the Phoenix heat lamp; the Kosher Salt of Swat is slugging .460 at home, but only .421 on the road (.318/.351/.421) with one home run in 107 at-bats. Green hasn't had a strong year since 2002 and there is a strong sense that he would wither and die away out of the desert. Funny; for most green things it usually works the opposite way. Green is signed through 2007 but might be available because his salary will inflate to $9.5 million dollars that year. There is also a mutual option for 2008 that will cost the club either $10 million to pick up or $2 million to buy out. That's enough of a poison pill that not even the Yankees will bite unless Arizona takes on a significant portion of the freight; Green simply isn't worth the money at present salary levels. This negates the one advantage that the Yankees would have in acquiring Green, which is that having a signed right fielder would allow them to waive buh-bye to Gary Sheffield at the end of the season. Making a deal even more unlikely, Green has a limited no trade clause that would have to be waived for him to play anywhere but on the National League part of the West Coast.

More outfield candidates tomorrow, including some long-rumored favorites, in The Usual Fishes Part II.

AROUND
» Gary Matthews, Jr., hit his sixth home run last night. I was going to write, "What has the Little Sarge been putting in his coffee?" but I realized that in the present climate that would sound accusatory. No such intention here; sometimes journeymen have fluke seasons. Having come into the season with career rates of .249/.327/.397, he's batting .341/.395/.559. That seems less likely to last than the Republican majority.

» J.D. Drew's full name is David Jonathan Drew. So why isn't he D.J. Drew? Dodgers rookie Matt Kemp pinch-hit a home run last night and is now batting .378 with seven home runs in 15 games. Skipping Triple-A has been a huge impediment to him. … You wonder why the Dodgers didn't try Terrence Long first. It's amazing what good luck you can have when you don't settle.

» Trevor Hoffman picked up his 451st career save last night. He entered the season needing 43 saves to break Lee Smith's career saves record of 478. The Padres are decent this year and with health Hoffman might just get there; he earned 43 last season. Hoffman is 38 years old; Mariano Rivera is 36; he trails by 59 saves. Will Hoffman go into the Hall of Fame if Rivera breaks his record before he's inducted? Should Hoffman go into the Hall of Fame at all? Not before Goose Gossage, but that's a separate issue. The only thing that's certain is that Rivera has ruled both the regular season and October and he is going in whether he holds the record or not.

» After a truly horrible year (.236/.284/.419 playing mostly first base), Mike Lamb is hitting again for the Astros, batting .351/.397/.535. This will be his second good year of three with Houston; two years ago he batted .299/.356/.511. You will recall that l Lamb was a player the Yankees decided they just couldn't use in the spring of 2004.

TO THE MATS WITH READER MAIL
1: DO RE MI
I agree with you that Jeff Francoeur is Paul Bunyan in a baseball uniform with how he hacks at everything, and I too wouldn't trade for the guy, but to say he is "the least productive player on the Braves," is just not accurate. He's second on the team in hits, RBIs, home runs, total bases, and is tied for the team lead with three triples. He's also on pace to hit 33 home runs and drive in 109 runs. Those aren't the stats of a "least productive player." — Peter

Sing it with me, Peter:

(A) Hit totals are a function of playing time. Francoeur has 69 hits but is batting .252. Wilson Bétemit has only 31 hits but is batting .295. In 1961, Bobby Richardson had 173 hits. Mickey Mantle had only 163. Not even Richardson himself would claim that this made him the better hitter. In fact, he was the worst hitter on the club; he just happened to bat 706 times because the manager was congenitally incapable of identifying a proper leadoff hitter.

(B) RBIs are a function of playing time, lineup position, and how the players in front of you hit. Francouer has batted with 173 runners on base, third-most on the Braves. He's plated 18 percent of those runners. It's a good rate, but on a per-plate appearance basis, three Braves have had fractionally better results. Among all players who have had 100 or more plate appearances, Francouer's rate of runners driven in ranks 50th.

(C) Because he's too good to take a walk, Francoeur's on-base percentage is just .262. Using a 100 plate appearance cutoff, we see that Francoeur trails not just all of his Braves teammates, but also all but 14 major leaguers (Rondell White has set the pace at .209). Given a 200 plate appearance cutoff (Francoeur is nearing 300), we find he is second to last in the majors, only reaching base more often than Clint Barmes of the Rockies (.238). Angel Berroa reaches base more often. Jeromy Burnitz. Adrián Beltré. Since he only does something useful with a quarter of his plate appearances, Francoeur has made more outs (197) than all but three players in baseball — Jimmy Rollins, Juan Pierre, and Jose Reyes. Rollins and Reyes have been good enough offensively that their team's have received something in return for their outs. Pierre has been like something out of an Irwin Allen movie, but the expectations for center field are lower than those for right field. Thus, relative to his position, Francoeur has been a little bit worse. That is not to say that you would rather have Pierre than Francoeur, because you wouldn't rather have Pierre than anybody, but that Francoeur is weaker in his class. Sure, he has power, but he ranks only 19th among regular right fielders in slugging percentage, and of course in OBP, a purer measure of offensive ability, he ranks dead last. That last thought is the crux of the matter — reaching base is the heart of offense, and Francoeur doesn't do that. You could find, at least theoretically, a replacement who reaches base more often but hits for less power and generate more runs.

(D) Finally, you can hit lots of home runs and still be unproductive. Vinny Castilla batted .275/.331/.478 with 33 home runs for the 1999 Rockies; those numbers are equal to .234/.288/.411 in a neutral environment. The just-designated Tony Batista of the Twins hit 26 home runs for the 2003 Orioles and 32 for the 2004 Expos. He was in such great demand the next year he had to move to Japan. That's because he batted .235/.270/.393 in the former season, .241/.272/.455 in the latter season. In both years he was one of the worst players in baseball. Hitting home runs is just one part of offense, a very important part, but in the absence of any other contribution, they're just not enough to make a player valuable.

(E) Francoeur IS the least productive Brave. Unlike Castilla and Batista, who were veterans, Francoeur is just 22 and has time and potential in his favor. He should probably go about searching for them in the minor leagues.

Which brings us back to …

2: FOOTBALL MAVEN ON THE MOHEL OF SWAT
No, no, it's "The Romanian Rebbe of Walks." — Aaron Schatz

To paraphrase Edward Everett to Abraham Lincoln after the Gettysburg Address, you came nearer the point of the thing in one sentence than I did in 500 words. Not surprising given that Aaron is an author and editor himself, the proprietor of the most excellent Football Prospectus annual. It ships in August. Go out and pick one up (no, I don't get a dime, blast it). Like the Baseball Prospectus annual which I have the honor of helping to midwife (midhusband?) it's a good read before it's a fantasy product, though you can certainly benefit if you use it to that purpose. Yes, I'm biased — Aaron is one of the few good things about Boston.

3: WE GET LETTERS
(THE BEST PERRY COMO ALBUM, FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH)
I was looking up the stats between the Yanks and the Sox, since you were discussing how the Yankees' lack of offense in the corner is going to burn them. While I don't completely disagree, how about looking it from a more complete (or at least different) perspective? Due to the injuries the Yankees have been forced to basically play three center fielders out there (four if you add Bubba Crosby) a very young one, a pretty good one and a very old one. But the Yankees also have significantly above-average pop in just about every other position. … With the idea that at least one of Matsui or Sheffield should be back this year, how would trading about two months of just about anyone that isn't a huge star make a incredible difference? — Yu-Hsing

There are several reasons. First, playing several below-average producers squanders the advantage provided by the above-average producers. Second, the more offense is diffused throughout the lineup, the greater the scoring opportunities are. There are going to be days when Derek Jeter is going to go 0-for-4, the same goes for A-Rod and Giambi and Posada. On those days, the better the other cast members, the more likely they will pick the team up. Also, any of those guys could eat a bad burrito and go into a long slump, as seems to be the case with Rodríguez. Finally, it what will apparently be a close race, you don't want to take anything for granted.

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MONDAY, June 12, 2006: Posted at 3:02 p.m.
TRAIN I RIDE FIFTEEN COACHES LONG
On Friday I rode a New Jersey Transit train into Manhattan on my way up to Yankee Stadium. The car I was in had a number of other people who were clearly going to the game. One such fellow, a tall, blonde male of approximately 21 years of age, was seated just in front of me. The fellow was wearing several layers of clothing, a fact I became aware of due to his repeated demonstrations of the fact. He would rise in the aisle and do a drunken fan's striptease as if he were already in the bleachers and in his cups. The top layer was a Yankees road jersey. I never did catch the number because it didn't stay on him for long. The second layer was a navy blue T-shirt with an image of a young Babe Ruth on it. On the front it said, "Babe Ruth is looking down on us…" and the back said, "…And he still HATES Boston." I wondered if this was putting words in the Bambino's mouth; from all accounts Ruth would have been happy to stay in Boston if his contractual problems could have been worked out.

I didn't have much time to ponder this because the Ruth shirt was quickly removed, revealing a white tank-top style undershirt on which the fellow had apparently taken a sharpie and written "[Expletive] Boston" on the front and "Boston [Expletive]" on the back. That was the final layer of clothing, but he had also written something on his skin. I never saw what (male exhibitionism isn't something that holds my attention). Still, there were a couple of questions I wanted to ask how much he actually knew about Babe Ruth. Second, I was intensely curious about just what it was that Boston had done to inspire such animosity. I'm no great fan of Boston as a city to visit — frankly, my New Jersey suburbs are more varied — but the town has a great history, practically instigating the American Independence movement on its own, and was for many years the epicenter of American literature. It's a place like any other, with some positives, some drawbacks, nasty traffic (but what major U.S. city can't claim that?) and a mix of people you would want to meet and a few you should avoid at all costs. There's really no inherent reason to want to [expletive] Boston. Why all the hostility, Phil? Root for the Yankees and against the Red Sox if you wish, but "Boo, Red Sox" would seem to be a more appropriate T-shirt slogan than one which hurls an obscenity at a whole population.

A second question was, "Who do you think you're impressing with that getup? Do you really think families at the ballpark want to see your R-rated undershirt? Or your nipples?"

Most of all, the question I really wanted to ask was, "You do realize that you're going to an Oakland A's game, right? Boston left town yesterday. Whether your sentiments are right or wrong, dude, you're going to seem like a serious non-sequitur."

THAT SMELL
A trade is coming. You can tell. I have no inside information, just a sense of Yankees Kremlinology. Dropping four straight games at this stage of the race puts a jolt into the system. Had the Red Sox swept their Sunday doubleheader (the Yankees were quite fortunate that Terry Francona played a B lineup in the second game), had the Blue Jays not lost two of three over the weekend and threatened New York's hold on second place, I would be willing to put down good money on a swap being imminent. Those things didn't happen, so the sense of urgency isn't quite what it could have been. Still, as you read this Brian Cashman is moving on to cell phone #2, having burned out the battery on #1.

More on the state of the Yankees in tomorrow's Pinstriped Bible. I can't resist saying: first Terrence Long was let go and now Scott Erickson. If the Yankees had moved with the same decisiveness on Tony Womack last year they would have won the division outright. There is nothing like losing an all-star outfield to shock a team out of its complacency. The truth is that no team should ever carry a non-hitter because they can "afford" to. It hurts regardless of whether or not the team has the depth to overcome the handicap. The Yankees can see that now that they lack that depth.

AROUND…
• Edgar Rentería is batting .327/.403/.491. Think Boston would like him back? Alex González batting .229/.288/.325. Last November, before Rentería was traded, I did an hour on Boston's top sports talk station. I was asked what PECOTA had said about Edgar Rentería going into the 2005 season. I said it wasn't all that positive (something I overstated, my memory being imperfect), but given the other options I still would have signed him had I been running the Red Sox. My thinking was that the upside was still good enough that even if PECOTA's pessimism had been right the upside was still good enough compared to Boston's other choices (chiefly David Eckstein and Orlando Cabrera) that the signing made sense. As soon as I left the building, the next host came on and ripped me for saying this, insisting that I had been unfaithful to my own system, which he didn't believe in anyway. Actually, to paraphrase They Might Be Giants' "Your Racist Friend," you don't let the contents of the system do the thinking. It's part of your information intake. Once you have what seems to be a complete set of data points you filter them through your own judgment. Second, neither PECOTA nor any other system would have suggested that Renteria would have a defensive season so far out of line with the rest of his career-not that anyone had confused Renteria with Ozzie Smith even before that.

• Curt Schilling is walking 0.93 batters per nine innings. The lowest walk rate in 150 or more innings was set last year by Carlos Silva of the Twins, who walked nine in 188 1/3 innings, or 0.43 per nine innings. Schilling's control record, if sustained, would merely rank in the top 25 seasons of all time, a list populated by Christy Mathewson and Cy Young as well as more recent precision pitchers like Bret Saberhagen and Bob Tewksbury. Reducing the timeframe to the last 15 years moves Schilling into the top 10. His strikeout-walk ratio of 8.56 would rank fifth in the same period; Saberhagen is the single-season leader with a K/BB ratio of 11.00 in 1994, when he walked 13 and struck out 143 in 177 1/3innings. Schilling himself posted the second-best single-season K/BB ratio in 2002, when he walked 33 and struck out 316 in 259 1/3 innings. Schilling has but 201 career wins and probably won't get to 250, but I wouldn't hesitate putting him in the Hall of Fame. The most unusual aspect of Schilling's career is that he accomplished so much more in his 30s than he did in his 20s, which were kind of a mess due to injuries, trades, and a diversion to the bullpen after some early ineffectiveness. From age 21-29, Schilling went 52-52 with a 3.49 ERA in 988 1/3 innings. From age 30 (1997) through 38 (2005), Schilling went 140-79 with a 3.36 ERA in 1917 2/3 innings, striking out 2,032. Those numbers don't include adjustments for pitching in Arizona, which would drop his ERA even lower.

• The White Sox are a great example of how great bullpens don't last for more than a year or two in a row. With injuries and ineffectiveness, the only dependable pitcher on hand is Bobby Jenks — that "Jenks" and "dependable" can associate in the same sentence shows that there is hope for everyone…

• Casey Blake, who was the 2003 Cleveland version of Andy Phillips, has been a mediocre hitter in his career, batting .255/.324/.439 coming into this season. When he finished April batting .333/.417/.500 there was no reason to think he hadn't simply enjoyed a random hot streak. Then he batted .319/.398/.606 in May, so even those of us who are incredulous of, well, everything, began to wonder Blake had broken out his bottle of Norm Cash '61. He's finally cooled off in June, batting .188/.297/.344 in nine games. Is there another draught of Norm coming, or is this a small-sample fluke changeup off of Blake's larger sample fluke? Is there no such thing as truth in the state of Ohio? What would Robert Kennedy, Jr. say? I would say trade him while he's hot and hope that Jason Michaels and Franklin Gutierrez can get the job done.

• You sometimes hear about the career record for home runs by a catcher, which was held by Yogi Berra and then Johnny Bench and Carlton Fisk before being taken, perhaps for good, by Mike Piazza with 383 and counting. Not much is ever said about the record for career hits by a catcher, which is more interesting. Due to the demands of their position, catchers have trouble both hitting for high averages and sustaining the long careers necessary to record high hit totals. Using the liberal standard of 4,000 plate appearances, more than 240 players have recorded career averages of .295 or better. Only 11 are catchers. Just seven have hit .300 for their careers and two members of the group — Pudge Rodríguez and Jason Kendall — almost certainly won't belong to it by the time they're through (to date, Kendall's career average is .301, while Rodriguez's is .304). No catcher has come close to 3,000 hits; Carlton Fisk owns the career record for hits by a backstop with 2,269. That is, Fisk owns it for now. With 2,260 hits, Rodríguez should pass him within a week. The elusive 3000 seems like a bridge too far…

• I wouldn't trade for Jeff Francoeur under any circumstances. The combination of his great power and pitcher mistakes will mean he'll always hit some home runs, but his stubborn belief that he can hit anything means that his on-base percentage will always be embarrassingly low. Presently his OBP is .266, making him the least productive player on the Braves. They don't have the outfield depth to make a change…

• There's a trade to be made between the Angels and the Blue Jays. Jays second basemen are batting .219/.270/.295, and this matters — with the team just 2 1/2 games out in the AL East, an upgrade at the position could change the race. The Angels, going nowhere, need to deal Adam Kennedy, a free agent at the end of the season, to make room for Howie Kendrick, who is now batting .407/.444/.655 at Salt Lake of the Pacific Coast League. The only problem is that the Angels need major league-ready bats, and Toronto has very few top position player prospects. Double-A outfielder Adam Lind is the only one who seems to have much potential. If the Angels wanted to pretend they had a chance to get back in the race, perhaps Shea Hillenbrand would be attractive, as the team has holes at both first and third base. Hillenbrand is hitting .335/.373/.562 right now, which makes him tough to part with, but no doubt the Jays realize that this is merely prefatory to Hillenbrand's annual second-half fade; in his career he's batted .277/.314/.428 after the break, .302/.342/.476 before.

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