Dangers of the Trading Deadline

Maybe it wasn’t so bad that the Mets remained status quo through the July 31 trading deadline.

After all, imagine how the organization would be lambasted if, for example, they traded someone the day before that player’s bobblehead day?

As you many know, the Cleveland Indians dealt All-Star catcher / first baseman Victor Martinez to the Red Sox yesterday. What they did not factor into the trade was the fact that tonight, in Cleveland, is “Victor Martinez Bobblehead Day”. The Indians have confirmed that they do indeed plan to go forward with the promotion.

But that’s not all … on Thursday of next week, the Indians are also going forward with a Victor Martinez chest protector backpack promotion!

Really, they don’t have much of a choice but to go on with both promos. First of all, part of the reason thousands of people purchased tickets to these evenings was to get the items. Secondly, the items have already been manufactured — it’s not like there’s time to rip off the heads from the figurines and replace them with Kelly Shoppach. And finally, there are the promotional partners, who spent their money many moons ago to ensure these evenings would occur and have their brand associated with them.

So for once, congratulate the Mets — by not trading their closer, Frankie Rodriguez bobblehead night can go off without a hitch on September 6th.

Over at Yahoo, “‘duk” has a number of suggestions to make tonight a bit less awkward for the Indians and their fans; among them:

“Combine a little imagination with some sandpaper and it’s actually a Sandy Alomar, Jr. bobblehead!”

“The bad news? We’ve traded Victor to Boston. The good news? You don’t have to go Christmas shopping for your jerk nephew who lives in Columbus but claims to be a lifelong Red Sox fan.”

“It’s still less fragile than Kerry Wood.”

“You think you’re angry now? Wait until the LeBron James t-shirts in 2011.”