Bravo! Now Show's Over.

Greensboro, NC -- The trading season "madness" has reached its apex this week with the trading deadline set to expire at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, the 31st. For the past couple of weeks, teams have been gaging whether they're "buyers" or "sellers." While my favorite team, the Braves, have trotted along at 0.500 for the first couple of months this season and now they're 49-56 following tonight's game, they should be considered "sellers." However, Manager Bobby Cox, nearing the end of his coaching career, has alternative motives; he believes that the Braves should be buyers. And apparently, GM Frank Wren (former O's GM (1999)) is listening. A purported trade of 4 prospects would have been sent to the Pirates for OF Jason Bay.

Look, there is a copious amount of teams lined up for the Wild Card. Further, if the injuries to ace pitcher Tim Hudson, All-Star catcher Brian McCann, and All-Star 3B Chipper Jones this weekend aren't enough, how do you "mash" your way to the playoffs when the starting pitching is so thin?

Wren should do the following:

• Package Texeira in a deal that yields 3 prospects with 1 being a star, a la the C.C. Sabathia deal. Texeira will sign with the Orioles this offseason, so obtain some developed talent over the 2 compensatory draft picks.
• Trade lefty reliever Will Ohman for a young outfielder.
• With Hampton coming off the books this offseason, sign a outfielder to replace Texeira's production. Manny? Nahhhh. Dunn? Too many K's. Trade for Holliday? A possibility. Revisit the Bay talks? An outfield comprised of Matt Diaz, Mark Kotsay, and Frenchy just isn't very productive.

It's not the Braves' year, again. It's time to re-tool for next year, quite possibly Cox's last.

Analyzing the Washington Trades

Greensboro, NC -- Two Washington professional ballclubs made a trade this week with the Redskins acquiring star defensive end and "Dancing with the Star" Jason Taylor from the Dolphins for a 2nd and a 5th round picks. The Nationals traded their closer Jon Rauch to the Diamondbacks for 2B prospect Emilio Bonifacio. My thoughts...

• Throughout the sports talk history of this blog, I've preached that maintaining consistency and limiting roster turnover is the key to a team's long term success. Yes, the Skins changed coaching staff this offseason with Gibbs retiring. I was a bit displeased that Zorn was hired over Double G because the offense must learn an entire new playbook just when they were able to grapple Al Saunders' 700 page encyclopedia. But, I do like how the Skins used the draft this year, albeit heavy on picking WR's. They were also not a player in the free agent market for once. Trades and free agency should only be used to add the "final piece." And, if the Skins maintained the coaching staff, I believe that Taylor would have been that missing piece. During the past decade, the Skins have desperately needed a pass rusher, almost as much as a coveted franchise QB. I like this move because they didn't give up a 1st round pick and they addressed a dire need of concern on the defensive line. Two question marks that plague me...

1. What type of coach will Jim Zorn be? Can we rely on Greg Blache to be an effective defensive coordinator? Zorn and Blache have never been coordinators before.
2. Taylor is 34, which is getting up there in NFL years. He's also being moved to the right side of the line, not the left side where he played in Miami. He won't be rushing the QB from the QB's blind side, which could make a difference because the TE and RB are usually lined up on the right side as well.

• After commanding a steep price for Rauch and Chad Cordero during last season's trading deadline, the Nats settled for speed utility man Emilio Bonifacio. The ever-optimist GM Jim Bowden has already penciled Bonifacio in as the starter next season. Was this the guy who is supposed to replace Orlando Hudson on the DBacks when he leaves via free agency this offseason? I agree with ESPN's Keith Law's take on the deal:

For Washington, getting just Emilio Bonifacio for Rauch has to be seen as a letdown, although it's better than their trade-deadline results from 2007. The Nationals chose not to make any moves at that deadline, re-signing Dmitri Young and Ronnie Belliard to bizarre contract extensions while asking for so much for Rauch and Chad Cordero that teams were unwilling to even negotiate the prices down. One year later, Cordero's value has evaporated, Young and Belliard have both performed worse since signing their deals (with Young missing time on the DL due to back problems and issues with his weight, both not shocking developments at all), and now Rauch has fetched a utility infielder. Bonifacio can run and has a quick, slashing stroke, but his baseball instincts are poor and he's far too aggressive at the plate. He doesn't project to hit for enough power to play second base every day on a contending club. He's athletic enough to move around the diamond and serve as a pinch-runner, but it's a stretch to see him as a regular.

Meanwhile, learning nothing from the Young/Belliard mistakes, the Nationals re-upped Cristian Guzman for two years and $16 million. Guzman was a cipher in the first year of his four-year deal, then missed 2005 and most of '06 due to injury. His hot start in 2008 has masked the evaporation of his power (he's slugging .360 since June 1), and he has never had a lick of plate discipline. Like Young and Belliard before him, he was a candidate to be moved, not to be re-signed. Bad teams should not be locking up their mediocrities to long-term deals, but rather should be looking to convert them all into any kind of young players.

Could not agree more with that last sentence. Guzman possesses no power. He's the only player in the Nats lineup hitting over .250. I can't see Bowden last until the end of Guzman's new contract with these awful contracts -- Young, Belliard, and now Guzman. Place Bonifacio as Guzman's double play partner and you may have the weakest infield lineup in the majors for the next two seasons. What happened to "The Plan?"

Tom Petty Review

Winston-Salem, NC -- I don't have much time to post an in-depth concert review of the Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers show from last Saturday. I've seen some "ol' timer" bands in my day -- Stevie Nicks, The Allman Brothers, Bruce Springsteen, and U2 (of course) -- but I have never seen an ol' timer play as many of their greatest hits than Tom Petty. Usually, these oldies are trying to promote a new album and they'll mix in some classic tunes into the set list. Anyway, here is the (short) 18-song set list from Saturday night's show in Raleigh:

• You Wreck Me
• Listen to Her Heart
• I Won't Back Down
• Even the Losers
• Free Fallin'
• Mary Jane
• Sweet William
• End of the Line
• Breakdown
• Saving Grace
• Honey Bee
• You Don't Know How It Feels
• Learning to Fly
• Don't Come Around Here No More
• Refugee
• Runnin' Down A Dream*
• Mystic Eyes*
• American Girl*

* = Encore.

As you can see, these are pretty recognizable songs, even for the casual fan. The only ones that I wasn't familiar with were Sweet William and Mystic Eyes. Mystic Eyes, featuring some "talk-singing" (what is the technical name of that?) was unimpressive. Learning to Fly was done acoustically. Don't Come Around Here No More had the signature opening drum beat, which was cool. My favorite song was I Won't Back Down. I'm a big fan of drums and bass together in live acts, and you get just that in this hit. Petty paid a tribute to his Traveling Wilbury days with a cool rendition of End of the Line. And finally, Saving Grace, a neat hit from his most recent album in 2006, was expanded into a 7-minute piece. Great song if you've never heard of it.

My mom mentioned to me that when she saw him two years ago, Petty would leave the stage for several minutes during solo acts to puff on the ol' tobacco. I didn't spot any such sightings on Saturday night. Perhaps he gave it up... on Tobacco Road?

All in all, a fantastic show -- check him out the next time he comes around here.

Friday Fill-in's

Winston-Salem, NC -- Random musings for you to comment on...

• I remember when DC was awarded the Montreal Expos team, they promised to build a $611M ballpark as part of the luring package. DC fulfilled that promise pending some unfinished features around the park that the Lerners are complaining about. However, the park promised to offer "breathtaking views" of the Capitol. Check this out.
• Trivia Tim became the latest member of the blogging world. His new blog, "Useless Things Need Love Too" has some interesting tidbits in it. Double Bonus: you can link back to B's Bistro from his site.
• Viewed the first part of Kissology last night, which takes a hard look at Kiss's early tours from 1974-1976. I didn't realize that drummer Peter Criss was that talented because he doesn't come through on the albums. Kiss has some nice hits; however, I'm not sure if their "costumes" or alter-egos fit their music melodies.
• Enjoyed my 4th of July weekend in the quaint little town of Blacksburg, VA. One of the locals mentioned to me that they don't even lock their doors at night or when they go to the grocery store. I didn't know that towns like that still exist in America. Anyways, we saw the Hokies' football stadium, the 4/16/07 VA Tech Massacre Memorial, and toured the hall where the shootings took place.
• I'll be in Raleigh tomorrow to see the third and final of my summar concert giants: Tom Petty. Review will be out on Monday.
• Couldn't agree any more with Rosie on the Dodgers' front office... Frank McCourt, the Dodgers owner, is trickling into Peter Angelos territory.
• One word: absurd. Brand, not only a traitor to the poor Clippers, is getting paid $82M to play basketball for 5 years. What a joke.
• One more thing... Michael Beasley, 2nd pick in this year's NBA Draft, and college standout at KS State this year is from the DC area. He represents it well here with his new ink on the right sleeve (courtesy of Mr. Irrelevant):

B's Bistro asks...

Winston-Salem, NC -- B's Bistro asks...

Who's the best cereal mascot?

a) Sonny from Coco Puffs.
b) Tony the Tiger.
c) Captain Crunch.
d) Frankenberry.
e) Sugar Bear.

American Music

Winston-Salem, NC -- I was unable to formulate my list of American music in time before departure on Thursday afternoon. I had to be on the road to Blacksburg, VA -- more on that crazy sports town later on this week -- before 6:00 p.m. in order to make an 8:30 dinner reservation. To commemorate Independence Day, here is a list of American bands with "America" or "U.S.A." in their titles. Feel free to add your own.

• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers -- American Girl
• Dave Mathews Band -- American Baby
• Green Day -- American Idiot
• John Cougar Melloncamp -- R.O.C.K. in the USA
• Kim Wilde -- Kids in America
• Lenny Kravitz -- American Woman
• Bruce Springsteen -- Born in the USA
• David Bowie -- Young Americans
• The Steve Miller Band -- Livin' in the USA
• U2 -- 4th of July

Oh Canada...!

Winston-Salem, NC -- I'm a few days behind, but July 1st was not only Kaylin's birthday, it was "Canada Day." I remember back in middle school, and maybe some of this talk spilled into high school, that we should have taken over Canada back in the day. But what for? Coal and timber? Naaaaahhhhh...

Canada helped us in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, so I cannot disrespect them. They didn't run like the French. So to commemorate Canada Day, I tried to come up with a list of great Canadian bands; however, I need your help to lengthen this list:

• Rush -- My favorite Canadian band. After 34 years of great music, the only question is "why aren't these guys in the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame?"
• Our Lady Peace -- One of my favorite bands growing up... they played one October at WHFS's "Blocktober Fest" on the streets of DC, displaying a memorable performance worthy of future radio play.
• Alanis Morissette -- She has some catchy songs, but I never got into her because she doesn't write her own lyrics.
• Joni Mitchell -- Western Canada's finest... this artsy fartsy guitar player ruled the folk rock music scene in SoCal in the 1960's.
• Celine Dion -- Best known for that awful song in Titanic, she sings out of the side of her mouth.
• Cowboy Junkies -- A group of siblings... like Hanson! (best siblings group = The Corrs).
• The Band -- This band has been around for awhile, but never really got popular on mainstream radio.
• Bare Naked Ladies -- The craziest of the Canucks... these guys know how to rock.
• Neil Young -- One of Q Magazine's "50 Bands to see before you die."

Who am I forgetting? If I run out of time today, I'll post some American music on Monday.