Padres Dump Jim Edmonds, Jays Get Mench

Some notes from around the league:

-P- The Padres have released Jim Edmonds. I saw Edmonds play a number of times this year for San Diego, and he was just awful. In addition to hitting terribly, he played defense like he thought he was still 30 -- he'd run after the ball and come up a couple feet short, as if he hadn't adjusted to the fact that he can't run anymore. It was sad. The Pads called up our old friend Jody Gerut to take Edmonds' place. Gerut was hitting like crazy for Class AAA Portland, but mostly San Diego is just replacing one injury magnet with a younger one.

-P- The Jays have acquired Brad Wilkerson (on waivers) and Kevin Mench (from the Rangers for cash). Both are in the lineup tonight. Wilkerson will take a few pitches, but not much else. He was downright underrated as an Expo, augmenting his power with bunches of walks, but he began to decline once he left Montreal, and he hasn't had a good season since 2004. (If only a return to Canada were likely to help.)

Mench can probably still hit lefties a little, but he wasn't even very good in his prime years. The Jays haven't gotten anything out of the left field and DH positions this season, so there's really no harm in picking these guys up, but if the Jays can work their way back into contention, it still would be a good idea for the Pirates to see if they want Xavier Nady or Jason Bay. Keeping Frank Thomas around a little while longer might not have been a bad idea for them.

-P- Yovani Gallardo will have surgery on the torn ACL in his knee. That's obviously a huge blow to the Brewers, who were already dealing with issues with their rotation, the struggles of closer Eric Gagne, and slow starts by a number of key hitters. They look like a long shot to make the playoffs.