Sidney Ponson is Jesus Christ

Sorry to offend those out there that do not share my religious beliefs, but it happens to be the truth. Our season is resting delicately on the overweight and oft drunk belly of Sidney Ponson. Moose and Wang (Wong) have been stellar, but our back end, RJ and Chacon, have been hammered, although both have shown slight improvement. Sidney, who was rendered irrelevant when the Cards picked up former Yankee disgrace Jeff Weaver, will round out our rotation. So far his numbers aren't too much to look at. 4-4 with a 5.24 ERA in 14 starts with St. Louie. However, like it or not, he is the only savior we got for now. If he can put his troubles behind him and win seven games this half, it would go a lonnnng way to cementing our place in October. All he needs to be is a replacement bolt until Pavano gets back on his feet. If this doesn't happen, I suppose Sidney's in it for the long haul. I personally think it's a good fit. Ponson seems to have moved past his disturbed past, littered with DWI's and weight problems, and as evidenced by Strawberries and Cream, a winning environment helps put the issues at rest. Plus, as Cash says, "He's still got a great arm." [ESPN]

In other news, July is here, which can only mean one thing. Trade rumors. One thing we know for sure, is that Hughes is not on the block, unless something spectacular comes along. Thank god for that. The issue with this trade season is that every team seems to be in the thick of the playoff race. I believe the recyled fact is that 19 or 20 teams are within 6 games of a playoff spot, and frankly, if you're not good enough to be in it this year, you probably don't have very much big-league ready talent, which is what the Yanks need. Right now, a replacement for crazy man Kyle Farnsworth would be helpful, as well as a cheap corner outfielder who can play until both of ours heal. We don't need an Abreu, and it's unlikely that the Phils are ready to part with him, considering they're only about 5 out of a WC spot. The 2nd half for us will mean a lot of injured impact players will be returning, among them Sheffield, Matsui, Pavano, Dotel, and the less seriously hurt Damon and Cano. Dotel will help to solve our inability to get to Mo, and Pavano will hopefully add another sturdy arm to the rotation. But these things do not erase all the question marks hanging over our head. Apart from Mo and Villone, who has been surprisingly helpful, our bullpen is questionable. Farnsworth has been erratic, T.J. Beam and Matt Smith are both unproven, Scott Proctor is just plain not very good, and although Mike Myers has been pretty effective up to now, the jury is still out on his worth. The fact is that we're not getting deep into October with this bullpen. We need another arm. A quick fix possibilty for the outfield is Reggie Sanders, who is on a team going nowhere with KC. He would add a little spark to the lineup and be an invaluable bench player when and if the postseason comes to the Bronx. The 5 names that seem to floating around in terms of what Cash is willing to give up are here, [MLB.com] at the bottom of the page. Cabrera, Proctor, and Chacon are among them, as well as Wright and Phillips.
Bigups, folks,
I'll be back later today with more trade talk. In addition to this look for Crosstown's revised picks/predictions somewhere in the near future, now that the break has rolled around.