A headline in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch this morning echoed my feelings about the Cardinals' transactions right at the July 31 trading deadline: "Cardinals Underwhelm with Last-Minute Deal." I hope I'm wrong. However, I can't see that the Cardinals have upgraded that much. Luna for Belliard? Even LaRussa said that Luna could become a "special" player, so why not keep him and give him a full-time opportunity to be special at second base? Luna's offensive numbers for the year aren't so different from Belliard's, and Luna is also a more versatile player in terms of where he can play. As for this Jorge Sosa dude ~ good grief! What were you thinking, Mr. Jocketty? Again, I'm hoping I'm wrong. Dave Duncan has performed some magic with other castoff pitchers, but this particular castoff has had a ground-zero kind of year.

The other part of this worrisome scenario is that the second-place Reds were VERY busy making deals, not only at the deadline, but also before it. They have upgraded a whole lot more than that Cardinals have ~ and the Cardinals' lead in the division is not that secure.

Did I mention that I'm hoping that I'm wrong???