Trade Season

I was all set to write a post about the Oilers Tuesday. Then I was going to try again last night.

Yep.

Instead, with all the ample trade speculation in the media, I'll share a excerpt from a thought-provoking essay from retired MLB player Doug Glanville.

“This is John Hart,” relayed the Texas Rangers’ general manager. “I have some news you may have expected. I have traded you back to your old team.” When he said “old team” my heart stopped. I had signed with Texas in the off-season as a free agent since they were the only team that had assured me I would be a starter. One offer I declined was from the team with which I played for the previous five years, the Philadelphia Phillies. And being that my Rangers contract was worse than the one the Phillies had offered me, it seemed crazy that when all was said and done, I could be traded back to Philadelphia with a contract inferior to the one they originally offered me.

“As you know we have underperformed as a team,” Hart said. “It isn’t your fault; you are doing your job, but with the trade deadline upon us, we wanted to make some moves. So, I traded you back to Chicago.”

I was a Chicago Cub again. Back to where it all began.

Mr. Glanville now writes a regular column for the NY Times, on professional sports from a player's perspective. If you haven't checked it out already, I highly recommend it for a fresh perspective.