Here we are at another trade deadline. If we’re lucky, we’ll get one of those inconsequential or mildly beneficial trades that bring in a Lenny Harris, Tony Phillips, or Jeff Conine. That way, the club fulfills its need to show the press that it’s trying, and gives them a “veteran presence” and “clubhouse leader” to fawn over. If we’re unlucky, we’ll get Victor Zambrano for Scott Kazmir. One thing remains constant–the Mets are buyers. They always look to make a splash.

Don’t delude yourselves. Despite deeming their top prospecs “untouchable,” the Mets still view their minor league system as fodder for the major league system, not their primary source of future major leaguers. Whatever else they do before 4 PM today, they will surely be active in the free agent market come November. The Mets are sometimes one of the more skilled organizations of this type, but they are far behind the most advanced franchises, a lot closer to Brian Sabean’s Giants than Theo Epstein’s Red Sox.

Remember 1999? That was a fun year. That July the Mets acquired Kenny Rogers (for Terrence Long), Billy Taylor (for Jason Isringhausen and Greg McMichael), Darryl Hamilton and Chuck McElroy (for Rigo Beltran and Brian McRae), and Shawon Dunston (for Craig Paquette). Rogers went 5-1 with a 4.03 ERA, Hamilton hit .339/.410/.488, Dunston hit 344/.354/.430, and McElroy was pretty good over 13 innings. With the exception of the Billy Taylor thing (the elderly Taylor was mediocre and the young Isringhausen went on to have a nice career for other teams), those were good trades. If the Mets have to do something, I’d prefer it be something like this.

That is, even if the Mets insist on bringing back their lightning-in-a-bottle veterans for the next campaign. A smart GM would have traded the 34-year old Hamilton, coming off that 129 OPS+ down the stretch, with 2 more years left on his contract. His career, predictably, went downhill from there. He was, of course, only a surrogate for Lenny Harris, whom the Mets acquired in July of 1998. He didn’t hit very well for them, but they made another deal for him in June of 2000. He went .304/.381/.457 in a small sample and the Mets brought him back for 2001. Of course, he stunk up the joint. Sound familiar? Of course it does. The Mets were enthralled with Marlon Anderson’s character and makeup in 2005, and if they weren’t excited with his 86 OPS+ overall, then they were pleased with his .321/.406/.375 line in 64 pinch-hitting appearances. Still, they let him go. In July 2007 he was released by the Dodgers and signed the next day. He came up huge, going .319/.355/.551. So the Mets brought him back, and he’s hitting .207/.246/.281 (but with a whopping .220/.289/.317 in 45 pinch-hitting appearances!) If the Mets pick up another Harris-type this time around, expect to see him in a Mets uniform in 2009.

But this is small potatoes. We should fear a Mike Bordick-like deal, where a bunch of prospects and a severely undervalued player (with Ramon Castro taking the place of Melvin Mora) are traded for an average player having a career year. Mike Bordick was hitting a ridiculously unsustainable .297/.350/.481 with 16 home runs, and that dummy Steve Phillips goes and trades a bunch of prospects for him. What, did he think that at age 34, Bordick was finally coming into his own? He went .249/.321/.365 the rest of the way. Mora, whose career numbers weren’t that much worse than Bordick’s, and played the same position though not as well, went on to have several excellent seasons with Baltimore.

Why did that deal get made? Because the media and the fans insisted there was a “need” at shortstop that had to be “filled.” The Mets made a trade just to make a trade, so it looked like they were doing something. That it didn’t really improve the team and handed over a very useful player in addition to cheap prospects, was’t really discussed.

I’m afraid of something like that happening again.

So, instead of constantly monitoring MLB Trade Rumors and the like, I find something else to do. I pay less, not more, attention. Most rumors will never come to pass anyway, so why get myself all worked up about awesome deals and possibly terrible trades that will never happen anyway?

Take for example a couple of Mariners for sale this July. The definitive authorities on Mariners baseball are U.S.S. Mariner and Lookout Landing. Both welcome the departure of Jarrod Washburn and Raul Ibanez. Let’s start with the pitcher.

Lookout Landing weighs in on rumors that the Yankees are interested in the pitcher:

With all that said, whatever; it’s not like this could possibly hurt the Mariners’ bargaining position, so there’s no reason to be angry or annoyed. It’s just…it’s funny how small, essentially meaningless samples of information seem to carry so much weight. So Jarrod has a 2.82 ERA over his last 11 starts. Neato. Clearly a valuable arm to add for the stretch drive. But at the same time, his core numbers over the same stretch are as boring as they’ve ever been, he had a 7.14 ERA in the nine starts immediately preceding, and his tRA on the season is hovering around five, just like it has for as long as he’s been a Mariner. Despite this little hot streak of run prevention, he’s not by any means a different pitcher, and I just can’t fathom being Brian Cashman - theoretically one of the 30 smartest roster management minds in the world - looking at Jarrod, and thinking “this is a guy we could really use to help put us over the top.” Jarrod Washburn? Really? Jarrod Washburn is the best you can do? I don’t think you’re trying very hard.

This was amusing when it was the Yankees who were supposed to be interested in the overrated and recently lucky pitcher. But then along came Buster Olney:

With the Mets now perhaps in need of a starting pitcher (in the aftermath of the MRI planned for John Maine), wouldn’t Washburn be a great fit for the Mets?

Washburn is a gritty pitcher, he usually gives six tough innings and he’d be pitching in a big ballpark. And because he’s under contract for 2009, he would give the Mets some depth protection; Pedro Martinez and Oliver Perez are eligible for free agency after this season.

Olney’s empty speculation was of course reiterated throughout the blogosphere, causing needless headaches for the more knowledgeable among our tribe. Of course Jason Stark later claimed the Mets were not interested in Washburn.

As for Ibanez, Mets fans had to hope the Marlins’ rumored acquisition of Manny Ramirez didn’t mean the Mets would relent and offer Jonathan Niese for the Mariners’ defensively-challenged outfielder in order to match their division rival.

And who knows what twists and turns in the trade market we’ll be subjected to in the time between this article’s submission and its appearance on Mets Geek Thursday morning?

For as long as the Mets are more interested in name-gathering, making splashes, and “plugging holes” than wise decision-making based on a vision of sustainable, long-term succcess, stomach-turning trade deadline excitement means trepidation for smart Mets fans. While there is evidence that the Minaya administration is more even-keeled than its predecessors, this is still New York. And in New York, if you’re not making deals, you’re falling behind the competition.

I’ll be in the bunker until this madness passes.