….was captured today by veteran Daily News columnist John Harper on the ongoing chess match between Brian Cashman and Theo Epstein.

If Harper is indeed correct that Epstein overplayed his chips to get Felix Hernandez instead of Roy Halladay it will turn out to be a remarkable turn of fate in the two franchises. With Boston’s rotation thinning its hard to undesrtand why Epstein used assets to get another bat. Martinez is an all-star caliber player, but the offense wasn’t going to be the Red Sox most pressing need. They are going to start hitting again and the best spark would have been Roy Halladay.

All of this is persumptive in that it assumes that Epstein could satisfy JP Riccairdi with an offer. One member of Blue Jay ownership said during the very public trade discussions on Halladay that any trade would be for baseball reasons, not financial. Perhaps it is that Riccairdi required significant current big league talent in addition to prospects for their ace. At no time did a trade seem imminent.

The Phillies appeared to turn their attention early to Cliff Lee and were able to complete the trade with prospects, something they knew they couldn’t do with Riccairdi. It appeared at the end the Dodgers were the only club whom might have come closest to getting Halladay.

Riccairdi received alot of criticism in his unusual public auction for Halladay, but be assured the heady former second baseman had a plan. He was able to start a bidding war that involved four of the richest teams in the game. Riccairdi played a card that he can play again in the off-season.

The Yankees as of this writing have taken three straight from the Red Sox in New York. If the Yankees begin to seperate from the Red Sox and they continue to fade, no one would be surprised if the Tampa Bay Devil Rays overtake Boston.

If this becomes the story of the 2009 season, history won’t be kind to Theo Epstein in Boston. It may not be fair either as Riccairdi’s demand was too costly to the Red Sox. The narrative in Boston will be the ill-fated trade for Victor Martinez when an arm for the rotation was desparately needed and was there for the taking.

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Baseball America listed Savannah Sand Gnats right-hander on its Prospect Hot Sheet:

Signed out of the Dominican in ’07, just a few months after Jenrry Mejia, Familia has emerged as ace of the low Class A Savannah staff. The 19-year-old righty lacks polish, but his low- to mid-90s fastball already rates as plus-plus, according to one scout for an AL club. The reason: Familia has exceptional life on and command of the pitch, a combination that’s rare for such a young pitcher. His changeup his is second-best offering for now, and he’ll need to refine his breaking ball to make it as a starter. On the season, Familia has gone 9-6, 2.90 in 20 starts for the Sand Gnats. Over 118 innings, he has stuck out 97, walked 40 and allowed just 94 hits (three home runs).

Toby Hyde rated Familia as the 27th ranked Mets prospect at the beginning of the season. Says Hyde:

Familia ranks here on the basis of a nice pitcher’s frame and a fastball that boasts average to plus MLB velocity already. Familia, despite inconsistent velocity, consistently threw strikes. In his first start of the year, Familia was throwing 93, 94 mph while that was down to 89-92 in his second appearance. The previous fall, scouts reported that he was consistently in the mid-90s. Familia’s off-speed stuff, a slider at 78 mph and a change at 84 are both about as far away from MLB caliber as one might expect from a 19-year old.

It will be interesting to see if the Mets promote Familia to AA. The firing of Tony Bernazard may have left a decision making vacuum. One theory is to let young players have a season of success that they can build upon. This is a extremely defensible position. If Familia has the goods, he’ll make the AA staff in spring training next year.

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Adam Rubin’s well reasoned piece today speculated on the Mets dealing Billy Wagner via waiver trade by August 31.

If the Mets do this it needs to be a baseball decision that’s weighed against the talent that would come in a trade versus what the Mets would get as a compensatory draft pick next June. But the Mets have been sending signals that its about the money right now. Lets hope this isn’t a snag.

Adding a healthy Billy Wagner to a contender’s bullpen must be intriguing right now for teams and their fans. He makes sense for team like the Cubs, Cardinals and (hold your breath) the Yankees. However, a Wagner trade could be blocked by an opposing GM to keep him from going to a rival. Yesterday’s acquisition of Chad Gaudin by the Yankees isn’t necessarily indicative of the gentleman’s agreement to keep the waiver wire open. It’s early in the month and Gaudin is not a player of significant caliber.

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