TRADING SEASON UNDERWAY
With RICHARD HIDALGO being sent to the Mets last week, and now the latest deals involving CARLOS BELTRAN to Houston and FREDDY GARCIA to the White Sox, the trading season is officially underway in Major League Baseball.

Teams usually wait at least 50 games before deciding to go in another direction or give up on a player. Some people would argue that 50 games isn't a broad enough sample, but you have to remember that GMs don't have the luxury of waiting to see every player have 800 at-bats in the bigs before making a decision. Sometimes management has to make a decision based on a limited amount of playing experience, which is why scouts will always have a place in baseball.