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ST. LOUIS -- You fight through the monotony of fielding practice in spring training. The sore elbows, the back pain, the starts when you leave your fastball in the bullpen, and maybe a surgery or two at some point in your career.

Chris Carpenter missed an entire season with shoulder surgery. He missed another season after injuring his elbow on Opening Day and undergoing Tommy John surgery. When the St. Louis Cardinals reached the World Series in 2004, he couldn’t pitch due to nerve problem in his right biceps.

A couple days ago, Tony La Russa wasn’t sure if Carpenter would be able to pitch Game 7. For one thing, the Cardinals had to win Game 6. La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan didn’t officially decide to go with Carpenter until Friday, going with their staff ace on three days’ rest.

There was a time, of course, when that wouldn’t have been a big deal. Christy Mathewson once tossed three shutouts in the World Series over a six-day span. Sandy Koufax pitched a three-hit shutout in 1965 on two days’ rest. Jack Morris’ famous 10-inning shutout in 1991 came on three days’ rest.

But Carpenter had only done that once before in his career -- three weeks ago, in Game 2 of the Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. He lasted three innings. It wasn’t pretty. He said he’d learned a few things from that experience. La Russa made the call: Go with the big guy, the 6-foot-6, 36-year-old veteran from New Hampshire with a scruffy growth of beard, and on this day, in the biggest game of his career, a toolbox full of pitches.

The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Texas Rangers 6-2 in a Game 7 of the World Series that couldn’t match the impossible drama and excitement of Game 6. The Rangers played hard, but their pitching staff simply ran out of gas, exemplified by the Cardinals’ fifth inning, when they scored two runs without getting the ball out of the infield -- without even getting a hit. Rangers pitchers walked three batters and hit two more, turning a 3-2 game into a 5-2 deficit. Critics will put a lot of blame on manager Ron Washington for the Rangers’ defeat, and deservedly so, but in the end the Rangers simply couldn’t throw enough strikes and couldn’t get the final out they needed in Game 6.

On this night, however, the Cardinals made the big plays: David Freese with another clutch hit, a two-out stinging double into the gap in left-center to score two runs in the first (giving the World Series MVP a postseason record 21 RBIs); Allen Craig with a go-ahead home run in the third, fighting back from a 1-2 count to hit a 3-2 Matt Harrison fastball into the St. Louis bullpen in right-center; Craig later robbing Nelson Cruz of a home run.

But the key was Carpenter. "Dave had a real heart-to-heart with him to gauge just how ready he was to pitch just physically, not mentally, but physically," La Russa said before the game. He then added, "The last thing is ... what he means to our club. I think our guys feel better about him starting than anybody."

Carpenter pitched into the seventh and became the first pitcher to win two do-or-die games in one postseason, after also winning Game 5 of the division series. No, it won't quite go down alongside Mathewson and Koufax and Morris, but it was a terrific effort, especially since he almost didn’t get out of the first inning. The first four batters all reached base as Carpenter fell behind each hitter. But Ian Kinsler slipped while taking an aggressive secondary lead and Yadier Molina picked him off. The play proved enormously costly when Elvis Andrus walked and Josh Hamilton and Michael Young doubled to right field. Carpenter struck out Adrian Beltre and got Cruz to ground, maybe the two key at-bats of the game.

From there, the St. Louis' bullpen mowed down the Rangers, Busch Stadium getting louder and louder with each out, erupting when Arthur Rhodes retired Yorvit Torrealba and Octavio Dotel struck out Kinsler, raising the decibel level when Lance Lynn fanned Beltre to end the eighth, the anticipation building into a loud chant of "Let's Go Cards!" in the ninth and the crowd releasing into a deafening explosion of joy as Jason Motte recorded the final out on a fly ball to left field.

Maybe Game 7 was over as soon Freese hit his home run onto the grass in Game 6. Many people said it was. I didn't think that was the case; I thought the Rangers had a chance. You make your own breaks, but the Rangers sure didn't catch any: Craig steps in for the injured Matt Holliday and has a great game; that 3-2 pitch to Molina with the bases loaded in the fifth could have been called a strike and changed the momentum of the game.

But give credit to Chris Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals, a team that could have given up in early September. A team that made the playoffs on the final day of the regular season, that needed to beat Roy Halladay just to reach the National League Championship Series, that was down to its final strike twice in Game 6, and figured out how to win the World Series. A worthy champion and one to be remembered.

* * * *

Of course, this World Series will also be remembered for the many questionable decisions by Washington, moves that led to the Rangers suffering one of the most painful defeats in World Series history. Before we get to that, keep this in mind: Rangers pitchers walked 41 batters, a World Series record worst. They walked six more in Game 7. Too many walks, too many walks.

• Washington didn't help matters by issuing another ill-timed intentional walk. I said it all series long: the intentional walks were going to come back to haunt the Rangers. A free pass to Lance Berkman hurt the Rangers in Game 6. In Game 7, Washington walked Freese with runners on second and third, which was followed by Scott Feldman's walk to Molina and then C.J. Wilson hitting Rafael Furcal to force in another run.
• I didn't necessarily have a problem with using Feldman to start the fifth. The best option might have been Mike Adams, but Washington hasn't shown a lot of confidence in Adams' ability to go more than three outs. He was hoping Feldman could get him a couple innings. (Needless to say, using Alexi Ogando would have been a likely disaster).
• Washington's decision to have Andrus bunt in the top of the fifth after Kinsler's leadoff single was odd. Down by one on the road, top of the order, giving up an out? Play for one, get none. Carpenter got Hamilton to pop out to third on a 3-1 fastball -- Freese made a nice catch as he leaned over the dugout railing and stumbled to the ground -- and struck out Young on a 1-2 cut fastball.
• In the bottom of the fourth, St. Louis up 3-2, Molina and Furcal singled with one out, bringing up Skip Schumaker and Carpenter. Washington had Feldman warming up, but it made sense to leave in Harrison at that point since Schumaker is a career .210 hitter against left-handers. Schumaker grounded out to first to move up the runners, leaving La Russa with a choice: Hit for Carpenter? There were calls on Twitter to do so. At that point he’d thrown 63 pitches, 34 for strikes, but had retired 11 of the previous 14 Rangers hitters. I thought it was too early remove Carpenter, who had settled down, and especially considering La Russa's own bullpen didn't have a lot of pitches left in it.
• In the seventh inning, Albert Pujols came up for maybe the final at-bat of his Cardinals career. Oddly, there was no chant, no standing ovation, just a bunch of flashes going off as he struck out. The crowd did stand and applaud as he walked back to the dugout after striking out.

The Cardinals' blowout win and decimation of the Texas bullpen in Game 3 suddenly raises the possibility that this World Series may not get back to St. Louis. The biggest issue is this list:

C.J. Wilson: 5 IP, 8 R
Derek Holland: 5 IP, 3 R
Colby Lewis: 6 IP, 1 R
Matt Harrison: 5 IP, 2 R
C.J. Wilson: 4.2 IP, 2 R
Derek Holland: 2.2 IP, 3 R
Colby Lewis: 5.2 IP, 4 R
Matt Harrison: 5 IP, 2 R
C.J. Wilson: 6 IP, 6 R
Derek Holland: 4.2 IP, 4 R
C.J. Wilson: 5.2 IP, 3 R
Colby Lewis: 6.2 IP, 1 R
Matt Harrison: 3.2 IP, 5 R

Ron Washington entered the postseason with a plan to pull his starters as early as reasonably possible and turn the game over to his bullpen. The strategy worked fine against Tampa Bay and Detroit, but at some point you need your starters to go deeper into the game, like Colby Lewis did in Game 2. The problem is the bullpen depth was supposed to include Koji Uehara and Alexi Ogando. Uehara was so bad in three appearances in the first two rounds of the playoffs (five hits and three home runs in 1.1 innings) that he was left off the World Series roster. Ogando is suddenly shaky and after throwing 34 pitches in Game 3, may be unavailable for Game 4.

With that mind, Washington will have to consider stretching out Mike Adams and Neftali Feliz in Game 4. In a perfect world, he gets six or seven innings from Holland and hands the ball to Adams and Feliz. But if Holland can't go that long, who does Washington use?

• Feliz had just one save of more than one inning during the regular and pitched more than inning just six times, including two stints of two innings. He did have a four-out save in Game 3 of the ALDS against Tampa. While Feliz has allowed just three hits and one run in 8.2 postseason innings this year (a .111 batting average against), his control has been shaky, with five walks against seven strikeouts. Adams, likewise, hasn't matched his regular-season dominance either: He's allowed 12 baserunners in 7.1 innings, a 1.64 WHIP, compared to 0.90 in his 27 regular-season games with the Rangers.
• While Ron Kulpa's call on the double-play ball hardly cost the Rangers the game, it's just another reminder that more instant replay seems inevitable. You can't televise your biggest and most important games of the year and see mistakes like that and not expect fans to be turned off by your product. Expand instant replay to fair/foul ball calls and give each manager one red flag to use per game. It's time.
• Edwin Jackson starts for St. Louis in Game 4. When he's one, he's getting right-handed hitters to chase his slider. He threw it 45.7 percent of the time to right-handed batters, the second highest percentage among starters (behind only Houston's Bud Norris). Jackson acknowledged in his pre-start media conference that he wasn't aggressive in his last start in the NLCS, when he lasted just two innings. If he is more aggressive early in the count, let's see if the Rangers look to match with an aggressive approach of their own.
• As Mark Simon and Katie Sharp point out, look for the Cardinals to continue attacking Nelson Cruz away. Of 38 pitches he's seen from right-handers in the first three games, only four came inside.

ST. LOUIS -- Neftali Feliz and Alexi Ogando are the big names in the Texas Rangers' bullpen. Feliz, after all, was last season's American League Rookie of the Year and can throw a baseball through a car wash and keep it dry. Ogando, the oufielder-turned reliever-turned starter-turned temporary bullpen dynamo, throws nearly as hard.

But it's the depth of the Texas bullpen that has allowed Ron Washington to overcame some shaky outings by his starters this postseason and why the Rangers beat the Tigers in two 11-inning games in the ALCS. Mike Adams and Scott Feldman are two of those relievers, two guys who have become indispensable parts of the Rangers' World Series run.

Both pitchers have the scars to prove that baseball isn't always easy, that for pitchers in particular it can be a grueling grind of success, failure and injury. Feldman was a lowly 30th-round pick by the Rangers in 2003, a non-prospect who then blew out his elbow four games into his professional career. He had Tommy John surgery that October. Remarkably, he reached the majors in 2005. Converted to a starter, he had a breakout season in 2009 when he won 17 games and became the Rangers' Opening Day starter in 2010.

Feldman credits former Rangers pitching Mark Connor for helping his career. "I was throwing more sidearm and he raised my arm up, which helped me do a little more against left-handers," Feldman said Tuesday. But that magical 2009 season was followed by a nightmarish 2010, as his ERA rose to 5.48 and he was left off the postseason roster and had to watch from the bench as the Rangers reached the World Series.

"I was happy to see my buddies doing so well," Feldman said, "but at the same time you want to be out there contributing and helping out." He had microfracture knee surgery in the offseason, putting his 2011 in season in doubt. While rehabbing in the minors in July, he was moved from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL. A few days later, he was outrighted to the minors, which meant any team could have claimed him on waivers. With his salary ($4.4 million this year, $6.5 million next year), no team did. Once he cleared waivers, Feldman explained that he had enough service time to reject the assignment to the minors. The Rangers decided to activate him rather than release him.

"Considering where I was in spring training, it's great to be here," Feldman said. "The other guys in the bullpen have helped in my preparation, how to be ready to enter the game at any time." Indeed, Feldman may have thrown the most important 4 1/3 innings of the Texas season, when he came on in the third inning of Game 2 of the ALCS and gave up just one hit as the Rangers rallied to tie a game they eventually won in extra innings. In 8 2/3 postseason innings, he's allowed just three hits, no walks and has nine strikeouts. And the guy who once had trouble with left-handed batters? It's admittedly a small sample size (58 at-bats), but he held them to a .155 average in the regular season.

Adams has his own scars. At least Feldman was drafted; Adams wasn't even selected in the draft out of Texas A&M-Kingsville. He signed with the Brewers as an amateur free agent and first reached the majors in 2004. He spent 2006 getting shuttled from the Brewers to the Mets to the Indians to the Padres. And then missed all of 2007 with three knee surgeries. After a solid season in 2008, he missed the first part of 2009 following shoulder surgery.

"I'll tell you what," Adams said, "I view the injuries as the best things that have happened to me. I'll admit at times I wondered if I'd ever make it back, but with all those hours I spent working out with my headphones on, you do learn to appreciate the game and how much I love to compete."

Adams returned and became one of the premier setup men in baseball. The Padres dealt him to the Rangers in July -- the team he grew up rooting for while growing up in Texas. His idol was Nolan Ryan and he had a poster of Ryan in his bedroom. He talked about meeting Ryan for the first time after the trade.

"I was in awe," he said. "I mean, it's Nolan Ryan! I was definitely more than a little awestruck. But now I'll go up to him and say hello. He doesn't come into the clubhouse too much, but sometimes I'll see him sitting on the couch in the manager's office and I'll poke my head in and try to pick his brain a little bit. He doesn't usually say much though. What can he say? He's Nolan Ryan!"

The gregarious right-hander spoke with confidence about his team's bullpen. "We probably have the most dominant bullpen in the playoffs," he said. "I know the St. Louis bullpen did a great job, but our group had an MVP-type performance (in the ALCS) as well. If they need us to come in early, we have some guys who can throw some zeroes."

Asked how the team plans to approach Albert Pujols, Adams laughed, "Don't let him hit a home run." He admitted he did get him out a few times while pitching for the Padres (Pujols is 1-for-8 off Adams, with three walks and three strikeouts). It's undoubtedly a matchup that will arise in a key situation at some point. "I hope we pitch to him and go after him," Adams said. "We know he's a great hitter, but every pitcher wants to go after after the best."

Pujols will be expected to do big things for the Cardinals. Scott Feldman and Mike Adams will be two of the key guys trying to prevent that from happening.

Follow David Schoenfield on Twitter @dschoenfield.

Eric Karabell and Mark Simon hosted Monday's Baseball Today podcast and among the things they discussed:

1. Eric isn't ready to write off the Diamondbacks yet and believes we could see the home team win every game of this series.

2. Did the Phillies stick with Cliff Lee too long? He gave up 12 hits after all. Plus the silly stat of the day.

3. Nice job for the Rays to get a split in Texas, although they missed some chances to win Game 2. And do you trust Neftali Feliz?

4. Give credit to Max Scherzer for an excellent outing on Sunday, plus the boys weigh in on A.J. Burnett's Game 4 start.

5. Mark has some postseason records you are probably not aware of.

Plus: Reader emails, including the ridiculous question of the day, Monday's preview, and more!

So who are the real firemen? You know who leads the majors in saves, but ninth-inning save opportunities aren’t distributed especially equally. And in the age of Eck-style three-out saves, it isn’t like the guys getting saves are the ones charged with putting fires out with the game on the line. They’re fulfilling the job of protecting ninth-inning leads, and they get the glory stat and the big-time money for their troubles. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but the ninth inning isn’t often the point in time when a game’s outcome hangs in the balance.

Instead, let’s take a look at the guys who have made the biggest impact on outcomes because of the situations they get thrown into, which often involves handing off that lead to the closer. Using what Baseball-Reference.com refers to as “High Leverage” situations, who are the non-closers who have been put into the most key situations this season? Here’s the list of the guys with the highest number of High Leverage games without notching 20 or more saves. For good measure, let’s toss in innings pitched, games, their average leverage index (aLI), their tally of Holds + Saves and their total save situations (rarely in the ninth inning), their inherited runners, inherited runners who scored (IS), and the percentage of inherited runners who scored (IS%):


As much as we’ve already gotten to hear about Venters this season, it’s worth noting that he and Adams have come into more high-leverage situations than anybody in the game today, even after you include the closers. It’s also nice to see O’Flaherty show up, because Spuds has to live with being the third wheel in the Braves’ outstanding late-game trio, and not everyone gives him his due. The Cubs’ Marshall makes an appearance as a pitcher very similar to Venters, in that he’s earned a rubber-armed reputation while killing people with sinkers. And as former starting pitchers, they’re not the sort of southpaw set-up men who get chased by the first sign of a right-handed bat in the on-deck circle.

In Clippard and Veras, you get a pair of mid-game workhorses on non-contenders. More so than the others here, they’re also relievers who rank high among those who’ve had to pitch with the most runners on base. The MLB average for inherited runners scoring is 29 percent, and Clippard’s 19 percent clip puts him among the most effective at stranding other people’s problems. For the curious, the man with the mixed fortune of pitching with the most inherited baserunners has been Jason Motte with 56, but he’s also allowed a slightly worse-than-average 32 percent to score. Beyond Motte are a gaggle of situational guys: lefties Bill Bray of the Reds and Tim Byrdak of the Mets, plus submariner Brad Ziegler.

Which leaves Mike Adams, who’s interesting in that he’s almost the antithesis of a mid-game fireman: He almost never gets put into situations with men on. Instead, he’s entrusted with eighth-inning leads that are save opportunities -- they just don’t happen to lead to him notching many saves. Between San Diego and Texas this year, Adams has been handed 28 eighth-inning leads of three runs or fewer, and appeared in 16 eighth-inning ties. Between an injury-marred career that argues against him being asked to pitch multiple innings and a long delivery that makes him a poor choice to pitch with runners aboard, but leave him alone in this sort of role and he’ll strike out a man an inning and pitch his own innings. As set-up heroes go, he’s fairly unusual, but handled carefully, he’s an asset who belongs on this sort of list.

Christina Kahrl covers baseball for ESPN.com. You can follow her on Twitter.

We’re back from a crazy weekend of wins, losses, trades, headhunting and so much more in the greatest sport, and Mark Simon and I are here to chronicle it for Monday’s Baseball Today podcast. Among the many topics discussed:

1. The trade deadline has passed, and some teams look better, others look a lot better. A few teams look exactly the same. We name winners and losers.

2. Defense plays a critical role in how teams improved as well, and Mark goes in depth to state the biggest names.

3. If it’s Monday it must be Power Rankings day, and while Mark and I have the same 10 teams on our list, it’s a different order. One team that didn’t make it gets its shot starting Monday night.

4. Do you remember your first baseball glove? We do!

5. From Brett Gardner to Carlos Guillen and Jered Weaver, some men behaved badly this weekend. Were they justified?

Plus: Excellent emails, checking out Monday’s schedule with Diamondbacks-Giants leading the way, Bombo Rivera, Joel Youngblood, Craig Counsell, Boone Logan, Jordan Zimmermann and so much more on a packed Monday Baseball Today podcast! Download it now!

Baseball's non-waiver trade deadline has come and gone. What's different today? Not much, actually. In the American League the Red Sox, Yankees and Rangers are still going to make the postseason, as will the Braves, Phillies and Giants (probably) in the National League. This we knew and still know. A few teams did nothing at the deadline. Some teams punted on 2011 and collected prospects, which is great but amounts to zero for the next two months. Some contenders picked up marginal pieces that will serve as mortar between established franchise bricks. Heath Bell, B.J. Upton and Hiroki Kuroda didn't go anywhere. So where do we find the biggest alterations as we scan the baseball landscape here on August 1?

THE AL WEST. The Rangers have won the division. Not only that, they made themselves a team that will be very difficult to beat in the postseason. While the Angels did nothing, Texas instantly turned every game into a six-inning affair with the acquisitions of Koji Uehara and Mike Adams. Uehara simply gets people out. He's been under the radar in Baltimore but his 7.75 K/BB ratio is best among all AL relievers and his 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings is fifth-best among AL relievers. In his 92 innings of work over the past two seasons, Uehara has struck out 119 and walked only 13. Adams was the eighth-inning piece of a Padres relief corps that fell just one win shy of carrying San Diego and its anemic offense into the playoffs last season. Now, a Rangers bullpen that had been weakened by Alexi Ogando's move to the rotation and was lagging near the bottom of the American League rankings, is instantly one of the best in baseball.

THE INDIANS. On May 23 Cleveland was 30-15. Injuries then shot holes in its offense but instead of saying, "Well, we gave it a shot" and promising a brighter future, GM Chris Antonetti dealt part of that future to the Rockies for Ubaldo Jimenez. They're in it -- not for later, but for right now. That's the biggest change in Cleveland: the attitude and approach to THIS season. Yes, it's a gamble. Accuscore simulated 10,000 seasons and projected the Tribe's postseason chances as increasing from 16.9 percent to 22.7 percent with the Ubaldo acquisition. Yes, there are concerns. The Rockies have insisted Jimenez is healthy despite an average fastball velocity that dropped from 96 mph in 2009 and 2010 to 93.2 mph this season. In Colorado, Jimenez went from the ace who finished third in the NL Cy Young voting to the Ferrari that's always in the shop. His mechanics were a mess and he went 0-5, 5.86 in his first nine starts this season with a 1.52 WHIP. He's been inching closer to his previous form lately: 6-4, 3.48 combined in June and July with 71 hits and 73 strikeouts in 72.1 innings. With Ubaldo in the rotation and rookies Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis debuting in the infield there is juice again in Cleveland, which begins August only 1 game over .500 but just 2.5 games back in the AL Central.

THE CARDINALS' DEFENSE. It's been, to be kind, poor this season: a -25 Defensive Runs Saved mark that ranks 12th in the NL. Replacing Ryan Theriot at shortstop with Rafael Furcal is a start. At the time of his acquisition from the Dodgers, Furcal had a -2 Defensive Runs Saved rating in 304.1 innings. Theriot's DRS in 743 innings was a staggering -14, worst among shortstops in 2011. Furcal had a +7 mark over the previous three seasons combined. Yes, the trade of Colby Rasmus to Toronto actually does make St. Louis better defensively in center field as well. Rasmus' Defensive Runs Saved rating was -1, meaning his defense had cost the Cardinals one run compared to an average center fielder. Jon Jay, who now figures to get the bulk of the work in center, had 10 Defensive Runs Saved split between all three outfield spots, including +6 in centerfield. Jay's +10 DRS ranks tied for eighth-best among all major league outfielders.

HUNTER PENCE. He's gone from a virtual one-man show in Houston to an ensemble cast in Philadelphia where he got a standing ovation as he ran out to his new right field position at Citizens Bank Park Saturday and another one when he strolled up for his first at-bat in a Phillies uniform. Here, he'll simply blend into the team's personality and not be the face of the franchise on the media guide cover. Pence is the right-handed bat Philadelphia's lineup has been crying out for all season; the Phillies' OBP against left-handed pitching is just .308, tied for 24th in the majors. Their .356 slugging percentage against lefties ranks 25th. The Phillies' corner outfield defense has been horrific with Domonic Brown and Raul Ibanez combining for -18 Defensive Runs Saved. Since 2010, Pence ranks fifth among all right fielders with 12 Defensive Runs Saved. Pence's role on the team and his fit in the Phillies' lineup represents the biggest change in the NL East. Yes, Michael Bourn is a great addition to the Braves, but Atlanta's biggest question is arguably the health and production of Chipper Jones, Jason Heyward and Dan Uggla. If those three aren't active contributors to the Braves' offense it marginalizes the trade for Bourn. There are no such concerns in Philadelphia.

THE ASTROS. Not only did Houston deal Pence, Bourn and Jeff Keppinger at the deadline, GM Ed Wade came up with a surprise last-minute punch line by sending the Astros' two young corner infielders, Brett Wallace and Chris Johnson, down to Triple-A. That makes five starters gone from the roster in less than two weeks. The Astros didn't take a step backward, they took a step back off the edge of the Grand Canyon. The only major league player they acquired at the deadline, Jordan Schafer from the Braves, is injured and won't be able to play for about 10 days. Still more Astros could be on the next bus out of Houston. Wandy Rodriguez is owed at least $25.5 million over the next two seasons and could still be moved through waivers. The same goes for Brett Myers, who's owed at least $14 million after this year. The Astros have picked up 10 players and prospects while trimming payroll to get ready for new ownership to come in and take over. From the very top of the organization to the very bottom, the Astros are essentially calling a do-over.

Follow Steve Berthiaume on Twitter @SBerthiaumeESPN.

Here are the top five reasons -- and there are like 324 reasons in all -- why you should listen to Tuesday's Baseball Today podcast with myself and Mark Simon!

1. ESPN contributor and former GM Jim Bowden makes his Baseball Today debut, discussing many topics, including the frailty of closers, Evan Longoria leading off and how the Buster Posey collision should have been avoided. That answer might surprise you!

2. Mark discusses a landmark Memorial Day around the big leagues, and whether weather might adjust statistics from here on out.

3. It's Power Rankings day, and let's just say one of us regrets jumping on the Cleveland Indians bandwagon. I should have known better! We list our top 10 and bottom five.

4. How is a pair of pants like Oliver Perez? I concede this is an odd one, but hang with us and you'll understand.

5. The Tuesday night schedule is full of young hurlers with bright futures, but we also discuss the ESPN battle in St. Louis. Are you taking Ryan Vogelsong or Chris Carpenter. Think about it ...

Plus: Excellent emails, brothers hitting home runs, how the umpires added to the Twins' discontent, today's birthdays, the Royals change closers and Bartolo Colon just keeps on keepin' on. All this and more in a packed Baseball Today podcast for Tuesday!

I was at a family function over the weekend and spent much of it talking baseball with my wife's uncle, a huge Yankees fan. The short version of his analysis: He's not too concerned about the state of the team because he's convinced the Yankees will make a few trades.

You know ... like for Felix Hernandez. Everybody in New York still thinks the Yankees can just trade for Felix because ... well, I guess because they're the Yankees. Now, let's repeat something we've said several times:

The Mariners aren't going to trade Felix Hernandez.

Repeat:

The Mariners aren't going to trade Felix Hernandez.

Now, my wife's uncle says that's OK, because the Yankees will just acquire Mark Buehrle instead. Now, maybe the White Sox will eventually fall far enough out of the race that trading Buehrle will make sense. But it doesn't now. But these five trades ... well, they do make sense.

Mets trade Carlos Beltran and $5 million to the Mariners for 2B Kyle Seager.

Considering genius Fred Wilpon just torpeded Beltran's value by suggesting he's not close to the player he used to be, the Mets can't expect a top prospect in return for their right fielder, a free agent after the season. Plus, his $18.5 million contract is a problem for most teams. The Mariners' current hot streak (granted, it's come against the punchless Twins and Padres) suddenly put them in the thick of the AL West race despite their offensive struggles. Designated hitter Jack Cust just hit his first home run and Carlos Peguero and Mike Wilson are hardly the short-term (or long-term) solutions in left field. Beltran could play left and DH, and Seattle has the ability to pick up some additional payroll. (Beltran would have to waive his no-trade clause.)

Seager was a teammate of Dustin Ackley's at North Carolina, but with Ackley set as Seattle's second baseman of the future, he doesn't have a spot. After hitting .345 with 40 doubles and 14 home runs in the California League, he's proving himself in the tough transition to Double-A, hitting .302/.371/.477. He has a nice line-drive stroke, although there are some doubts about his range. Then again, this is a team playing Daniel Murphy at second base.

Reds trade C Ryan Hanigan to Rays for P Alex Cobb and C Kelly Shoppach.

The Rays are getting no production from their John Jaso/Shoppach platoon. The Reds' 4.71 ERA from their rotation ranks 14th in the NL. Thus, a perfect trade matchup.

Hanigan is probably the best backup catcher in the majors. He doesn't have much power, but takes a walk and rarely strikes out (he has more walks than strikeouts in his career). More importantly for the Rays, he's signed to a cost-friendly contract of $4 million total through 2013.

Cobb is an underrated pitching prospect who doesn't wow scouts with his stuff, but he gets great results. He throws strikes and led the Southern League with 9.6 Ks per nine innings last season. He had a 1.31 ERA in seven Triple-A starts with a 45/10 SO/BB ratio and made his major league debut on May 1. The Reds can afford to trade Hanigan with two excellent catching prospects in the minors (Devin Mesoraco and Yasmani Grandal) and Ramon Hernandez still on the big league roster. Who gets bumped from the rotation? Take your pick. Bronson Arroyo and Edinson Volquez have both been terrible.

Padres trade P Mike Adams to Tigers for 3B Francisco Martinez.

The trade speculation with the Padres revolves around closer Heath Bell, an impending free agent, but they could possibly extract more in a trade by dealing setup man supreme Adams, who has a 1.25 ERA, 21/2 SO/BB ratio and .55 WHIP.

The Tigers make perfect sense: They have the worst bullpen ERA in the majors (5.97) and the highest batting average allowed (.287). Closer Jose Valverde has been the team's only reliable reliever. Martinez is a 20-year-old third baseman currently hitting .261 with five home runs in Double-A. He's a bit of a project, but scouts like his tools and the Padres need to take some chances in hopes of finding some offense.

Astros trade OF Hunter Pence to Phillies for OF Domonic Brown and P Jarred Cosart.

Why should the Astros trade their best player? For several reasons: (1) He's good, but not that good; he does a lot of nice things on a baseball field, but a mediocre OBP prevents him from being a true star. (2) He's starting to get expensive. He won $6.9 million in arbitration for 2011 and will likely get at least $10 million next season. (3) He's 28, and while he's at his peak right now, he may not be at his peak as he turns 30 ... aka, by the time the Astros are likely to be good again.

As for the Phillies, they are in win-now mode. Sure, Brown and Cossart are arguably their top prospects, but the jury remains out on how much Brown will contribute this season. They risk giving up a future All-Star, but Pence gives them a much-needed dependable bat for the middle of the lineup. With $24 million of Raul Ibanez and Brad Lidge coming off the books after this season, the Phillies can also afford to pick up Pence's future salary.

Royals trade 3B Wilson Betemit to Rockies for CF Dexter Fowler and P Esmil Rogers.

Colorado third basemen have been beyond awful, hitting .169 with two home runs. Betemit is hitting .315 with a .379 on-base percentage, but with Mike Moustakas soon to arrive in the big leagues, Betemit looks like perfect trade bait for the rebuilding Royals. Jose Lopez and Ty Wigginton aren't the answer at third, so unless you think Ian Stewart can rebound from his 3-for-47 start and banishment to Triple-A, Betemit looks like a nice fit to play third and take over Colorado's leadoff spot.

The man currently holding that position is Fowler, but the former top prospect just hasn't developed as expected. His game has regressed this season with too many strikeouts, a lack of power and just two steals in eight attempts. He needs a change of scenery and maybe a wake-up call. Rogers is a power arm in need of refinement.

So there you go. Five trades that make sense from all angles. And I didn't even mention Jose Reyes or Prince Fielder or ...

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