Leading off tonight is the baseball trading deadline, which is 4 PM on Sunday, July 31st. I don't envision the Phillies making any sort of large move, sitting as they are a few games out of the wild card. Of course, to win the wild card the Phillies will have to beat out Houston, which is going to be difficult given Houston's excellent record over the last month and a half. I've waited all year for Florida to make their run and take the wild card, but that hasn't happened yet. I do still believe that Florida will catch fire but it may not be enough to beat Houston unless the Astros have significant injury problems down the stretch.
As a Phillies fan I am fine if the team doesn't make a move. I don't think that the market is flooded with players that will make a great impact on the Phils. The Phillies need pitching, end of story, maybe a catcher. I can't think of a catcher that is on the market that would be a better short term fix than Lieberthal. Pitchers on the market have been highly overvalued, to the point that I think the Phillies would be better served by trading Billy Wagner than by trading for a player to help them right now.

NHL Draft fever: I have it, of course. There is a possibility that the Flyers might trade up and take a young right winger from Cherry Hill, Bobby Ryan. How badly does Bobby Ryan want the Flyers to trade up and get him? That's the question. I read his profile on NHL.com and the only fear I had about this prospect was his likeness in size and description to Ryan Sittler, a very high Flyers draft pick that did not work out well. Of course, Darryl Sittler played for the Flyers, which may have influenced that decision, because if you look at the track record, the Flyers scouting team, in particular Inge Hammstrom and the European team, make more amazing finds than big mistakes. This draft is also very interesting because there are two years worth of prospects, and the draft has been shortened by two rounds, from nine to seven. Tomorrow I'll have no idea who the Flyers take, but in 3 or 4 years I would venture a bet that 3 or 4 picks are on the big club.

Tired.