In The Player, there's a scene at the end -- a movie within a movie -- that I always think of at the end of the trading deadline. I won't spoil it. You should really see that movie. But the deadline's over ... ahhhh ... and then there's always a WAIT, WHAT? trade that trickles through.
Alas, that will not be true for the Giants. The bullpen you have is the bullpen you get.
In a way, it's refreshing. Really refreshing, actually, when you consider how tempting it must have been to panic and trade away a good chunk of the farm for a pitcher who'd throw 20 or 30 innings over the next two months. Last night's game was a debacle -- just a total meltdown by the bullpen on separate occasions. Oh, man, it must have been tempting to overpay for a hard-throwing security blanket.
No Jonathan Broxton. He went to the Reds for too much. No Chris Perez, Matt Belisle, or Rafael Betancourt -- they're under contract for next year, and they stayed put. No ... jeez, what else was out there, Chad Qualls? Edward Mujica. No thanks.
The real deadline move needs to be trusting George Kontos. Brad Penny came into the seventh inning of a tie game, and it worked out, but, yeech. That's not a solution. Kontos can pitch. He can strike hitters out. He can throw strikes.
Yeah, I'll have the acid reflux going when Santiago Casilla comes in to close a one-run lead. But it beats trading Clayton Blackburn for 20 innings of some goofball. Remember: Before the start of June, Santiago Casilla sure looked like a good reliever. Anyone you get at the deadline can go full Casilla for the next two months. Here's hoping Casilla can, you know, stop that full Casilla thing. Maybe just dial it back to a partial Casilla.
There are always the August waiver deals, too. Randy Myers, here we come!