The impossible task of separating reality from fiction at the trade deadline

The Toronto Blue Jays experienced an incredible month of May, winning 21 games and racing to the top of the AL East standings. Since then, a mess. An injured disaster and one of the worst teams in baseball.

The baseball season is long enough that, after 162 games, the best teams are usually the ones left standing. Not always but the seasonal marathon cuts down numbers via the magic of attrition. October rosters rarely resemble the one that took the field on Opening Day.

A given season is often chopped up into stretches. Injury-ravaged stretches and mediocre stretches and stretches in which the team looks like they may never lose again and stretches where a given team appears as though they couldn’t win to save their lives.

It is between these stretches that the braintrust of each team must make decisions. They must find the level ground and determine which stretch better represents their team.

Fans don’t need the lizard-like affectation of a team executive to make sober assessments of their chosen club. It’s all in, all the time. The bad stretches feel interminably long yet the good stretch is just around the corner, ready to be summoned at a moment’s notice.

The Blue Jays are still close to a playoff spot but they require upgrades if they hope to maintain the illusion of contention. But can their general manager, already saddled with payroll limitations and more holes than fingers to plug the leaks, really throw his lot in with this bunch?

The San Francisco Giants are in a similar position. Running neck in neck with a deep & talented Dodgers team, the Giants find themselves reeling as the trade deadline approaches. The Dan Uggla acquisition, a no-commitment minor league deal as it is, screams of desperation or worse for fans hoping for a magic roster bullet.

The Angels bet on their recent stretch of insane play is a reflection of their future, trading in what little prospect capital they have for a bullpen upgrade in the form of Huston Street. The Halos are cruising and pushing the A’s atop their division, emboldening GM Jerry DiPoto to step forward and upgrade an already good team, hoping that the extra win or two saves them from the Wild Card or gives them an edge during short-series baseball.

What about the Brewers? Or the Red Sox? Or the Rays? Or the Pirates? There are stretches to parse and fact irreconcilable from fiction when establishing the difference between the way their club has played and they way they might play.

To say nothing of the intangible contributions in the field of clubhouse chemistry and Proven Winners.

There are stretches of play to evaluate on the micro and macro scale. How is the team functioning and how much can one player change that? How much improvement can the unproven prospect manage before the end of the season? Is his job better left to a veteran? Where does development end and an expectation of production begin?

There are so many moving parts at this time of year, so few clear cut solutions and easy paths to playoff glory. Baseball general managers can only do what they think, or feel, or calculate, is best.

It’s a tough stretch for even the most battle-hardened baseball minds. Flags fly forever as we all know, but somebody ends up holding the bag when those flags slip just out of reach.