I understand that you are a Braves fan and thus only half-heartedly interested in anything outside of the Braves, but the trade was pretty firmly set as Seung Song, John McKinley, and a PTBNL who was surmised to be a player drafted by the Expos who the Rangers wanted but couldn't trade for outright because drafted players must remain with the selecting organization for 1 year.

Gonzalez would have allowed the Expos to move either Endy Chavez or Wil Cordero out of the lineup with Wilkerson moving to either CF or 1B. Don't count the Expos out yet on the trade front, there are a number of teams equally desperate to dumb off a aged star with a significant multi-year contract for next to nothing and even pay the full salary for '03. Give them a player as good as Gonzalez to replace Cordero/Chavez and you have a much better offense especially once Guererro gets back.

On Reyes, the Mets are now saying he's here to stay.

Which leads me to the question: What could Reyes have done that would have gotten him demoted?

He has 6 errors in 18 games, hitting around .200 with no power and no walks. He is 1-3 in SB (though an ESPN article tells me he can "steal at will," must have no will power). And he's made some bone-headed plays.

There's no doubt that this guys belongs in AAA at the highest and AA is probably a better bet. His presence in the majors makes no sense.

I love that image of Braves fans looking up over reading glasses over their thick pile of summer reading--so apt.

I echo the previous poster's comments about the Phils' offensive offense. From a look at the stats on Sunday, they START two of the league's worst four hitters with the minimum number of qualifying at-bats.

Re: your Phils as '97 Marlins analogy: My theory has been all season that the Braves and the Phillies have switched roles. The Phillies are behaving just like a lot of Braves teams in the 90s--treading water offensively while the pitching keeps them in it, waiting until the offense kicks in in mid-July. The added drag of what amounts to an extra Vinny Castilla in the lineup just adds to the level of difficulty, but I've seen this before. I think if the Phillies got off to the Braves' start few would have been surprised.

Apropos of nothing, but Burrell seems to be inhabited by the ghost of J.R. Phillips. What a lost season he's putting together. I saw the man at the Home Opener and if he's changed anything from that putrid performance, I can't tell. It's like his bat is a machete and he's confronted with a nest of imaginary snakes on the outside. Why any opposing pitcher throws him anything besides bending pitches 1-6" outside is beyond me.

Sam, another inexplicable Braves tendency this year is to mop up on everyone *except* division rivals. That bodes ill for the Bravos--looking at their July schedule.

This not-so-interesting division is getting more interesting by the day.

Berquist, don't give up hope. I believe there's a good chance the Braves are going to gradually drift back to earth in the second half, and the Phils are finally starting to play the way everybody expected them to. This division is not going to be a blowout.

Atlanta's going nowhere. Whether Braves fans are arrogant or fans of the other four East teams are just jealous, y'all need to just face the facts. We are a dynasty, one ring or no. It's just that simple.

Oh for crying out loud, get over yourself. I don't know one single serious baseball fan who denies that these Braves are a dynasty. You don't have to be some kind of genius to see that this is one of the most impressive runs by a team ever.

If anything, I think that nowadays we non-Braves fans actually appreciate the run more than you guys do. You know as well as I do that most Braves fans have become jaded and spoiled. If you guys really want to impress the rest of us, run your mouths less and show up to the games a little more.