Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty and Royals GM Allard Baird are busy. The July 31st trading deadline is approaching quickly, and teams must decide if they are contenders, or if they should trade for prospects. Clearly, the Cardinals are contenders, and just as clearly, the Royals are not. Not this year. Baird says he isn’t getting any calls about outfielder Johnny Damon, but he will before the deadline. The Royals want to keep Damon, but they shouldn’t. If they can get a couple of solid pitchers for Damon, they should let someone else pay him millions and take their chances with Dee Brown and Mark Quinn in left field. My guess: they won’t trade Damon. The Cardinals could use a catcher and help in the bullpen. John Wetteland of Texas would help, but the Cards really need that elusive lefthander. The New York Post reported the Cards were considering sending J.D. Drew and Matt Morris to Philly for Curt Schilling. That’s idiotic, and won’t happen. It will be interesting to see what Jocketty does, but I hope he doesn’t over-pay for a mediocre reliever or catcher. If they can get Wetteland for a small price, fine, but otherwise, the Cards would be better off standing pat.
