Grade the Trade

So the dust has settled. The two biggest moves made by yesterday’s trade deadline were the Phillies sending Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle to the Yankees, and the Cubs trading out Cy Young Winner Greg Maddux to the Dodgers.

The Phils made one more move before the deadline, sending Rheal Cormier to the Reds for yet another prospect.

So how did the Phillies do in the massive sell off? We’ll give them a C minus. While they were able to move Abreu and Lidle – two big chunks of their bloated salary – Pat Burrell is still in left field, and the prospects they got in return aren’t the cream of the Yankees’ and Reds’ crop. But we’ll reserve a final grade until the off season when we see what Gillick does now that he has some flex space.

As for Burrell, we have a message for you. We know that -- allegedly -- you wouldn’t waive your no-trade clause to go to either the Baltimore Orioles or St. Louis Cardinals, who were actually interested in you. We thought you had little class before, but this drops you to the bottom of the barrel. You could have helped two teams at once by agreeing to a move. It’s not like there aren’t young females in Baltimore or St. Louis who will fawn over you. Heck, a change might have even done you good, in both your personal and professional life. But now that we’re stuck with you, here’s a suggestion: Get in shape. Learn from your teammate Chase Utley. You look awfully slow on the basepaths, and shaving some of that beer gut can only help.

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