One of the truly fun things about being a baseball fan is trades: proposing hypothetical ones, anticipating rumoured ones, reading about the real ones (Who did they get? Who did they give up?), and debating for weeks afterwards about whether they were smart ones or dumb ones. Good times.

For the players, though, it's a different story. I don't think I'd enjoy being called into my boss's office and told I'd been dealt to a trucking magazine based outside Louisville in exchange for an art director and an advertorial to be named later. But that's life for major-league baseball players, and has always been so, well before they were making six figures a year, let alone seven. I don't care how much money you make: some things suck, and being made to change employers against your will is one of them.

This article, from the Blue Jays' MLB page, goes into interesting detail about the effect of the Cory Lidle deal on his family. I liked it because it's a pretty fresh angle on the same old "How are you dealing with the trade?" story. It's not much fun for the player, but it can be brutal on his wife, who likely has made friends, put down roots and established the family in the community while hubby is on the road six to eight months of the year. And speaking as someone who hates, hates moving, I have a lot of sympathy for Melanie Lidle. I also think a little more highly of Cory after hearing how he talks about his family. A nice little piece.

I don't quite as much care for the writer's cheap shots at Toronto weather. You know, Oakland isn't exactly Maui either, fella. When Dorothy Parker and Jason Giambi both diss your city, you shouldn't be casting stones.