Addition of wild card means fewer deals at deadline

	Despite rumors about superstars being on the move, Austin Kearns is the biggest name to be dealt so far. AP

You know it's a slow trading season when the Austin Kearns deal is being described as a blockbuster. Not to knock Kearns, who's a solid player, but until the trade he was best known as the answer to the question, "Who's that guy on the Reds? No, not Adam Dunn -- that other guy." Trading him for a couple of relievers isn't exactly on the level of the Fred McGriff/Roberto Alomar deal from 1990. It isn't even up there with Jose Canseco for Ruben Sierra.

But I guess the Kearns trade counts as a blockbuster in a year when the second-most exciting move has been the biopsy J.P. Ricciardi performed to rid Toronto of a malignant Shea Hillenbrand. I know there are still a few shopping days left, but with Dontrelle Willis reportedly off-limits and Nationals GM Jim Bowden refusing to part with Alfonso Soriano for much less than Cy Young and Lou Gehrig, it's safe to say that this year has been a quiet one for midseason trades. In fact, it's been a quiet couple of years.

Remember, not that long ago, when we used to see superstars changing teams every July? In 1998, Mike Piazza, Gary Sheffield and Randy Johnson all changed teams during the season. Last July's biggest trade was for Randy Winn. In 2004 we were all pretty interested to hear that Piazza had been traded, until we found out it was Tommy Piazza, Mike's younger and less-talented brother. It almost seems like the last real midseason blockbuster trade sent Tom Seaver to Cincinnati.

And it's not only the big-name trades that are decreasing. Fewer players are changing hands each year. In 2001, for example, more players were traded in the week before the deadline (56) than were traded in all of July in either 2004 (52) or '05 (53). This year is no exception, with only 39 players changing uniforms through Tuesday. So why the sudden drop-off in midseason trades? Two words: Bowden is kidding himself if he thinks he's going to get two top prospects and a major league player for Soriano. Wait, that's a lot more than two words. So then let's go with "wild card."