A Bullet Dodged Is Worth ...

Jim Bowden on Twitter, yesterday:

Vladimir Guerrero has small fracture in right hand which could eradicate the Orioles ability to trade him by the deadline.

Jon Heyman from yesterday's column on the top 40 realistic trade targets in this summer's market:

The Cooperstown-bound Vladdy is still a threat with the bat (seven homers, .279). Luke Scott, a professional hitter with some quirky ideas, was on the block in previous years and stayed put, but he could go this time. Derrek Lee seems like a perennial summer pickup.

This is pretty much academic now, because Guerrero figures to be shelved past the trade deadline, if not indefinitely past that ... but how is a replacement-level hitter who has gone .279/.315/.385 with the bat still any kind of offensive threat? And who would even give up something of minimal value for a guy who has no remaining offensive/defensive utility, even if the O's picked up the entirety of his salary?

Actually, I didn't come into this meaning to disparage the media silliness here -- though it really is quite silly; we can still respect his legend while being honest about what he is right now -- or Guerrero for his sharp age-36 decline. What I did want to reiterate yet again, however is just how fortunate the Rangers were in being able to get what they got out of him last season (he was dreadful in July, August, and October, but played a meaningful role in helping Texas move into the pole position in the first place), and then how doubly fortunate they were that he refused to budge from his demands of big money after the Rangers tried to re-sign him.

Because if Guerrero had decided to bite on a one-year, $3-4 million deal or some such last winter in order to come back to Texas, this roster looks different ... and not for the better, either.