TGIF

No really. Thank goodness it's Friday. This work week has been absolutely abysmal.

New podcast is up and linked in the post below. The Son of Zim and myself discuss some interesting roller coaster rides so far this season as well as play a little game of who to and who not to play.

The Yankees and A's sat through a lengthy rain delay before the first pitch was thrown. The Bombers bats kept clicking, beat Oakland six to three to move two and a half games up on Boston in the American League East. Mark Teixiera had another big night for New York.

Adam Wainwright leads the Cardinals over the Nationals in a rain shortened four to one victory. The rain was great news for Wainwright owners, as they picked up a complete game for his troubles.

ESPN sources say the on again-off again rumor of Matt Holliday to the Cards may be back on again. Holliday would be a good fit with King Albert.

Jon Heyman has this update on the trade market on Sports Illustrated dot com.

In the above article, Indians GM Mark Shapiro discusses the evaluation of minor league prospects that might be used in deals. He feels that clubs might be over valuing their players. Zim and I talked about it last night (not in the podcast but before). A prospect is an unproven commodity. Sure, someone can zip through the minor leagues and SEEM to be prepared to take on the majors, but until they do just that you don't know what you have at all. For all the David Prices of the world, you have just as many Brien Taylors. An established major leaguer is worth far more than any prospect that might be involved in a trade. The problem now persists though that no GM wants to deal away that can't miss prospect, have them make it to the majors, and be Evan Longoria. So, more and more GM's hold onto their "top tier" talent. They block up the trade market and more stars wait out their contracts with their old teams and find free agency.

I, for one, am a big fan of the summer blockerbuster deal. I love watching players switch cities and re-ignite fan bases, push teams over the top, or even crash and burn when the situation isn't right. I hope some general managers loosen the purse strings just a bit, and take a bit of a gamble by moving their top minor leaguers for say... hmmmmm... who's on the market... Roy Halladay.