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On Thursday, I suggested it might be the sort of day one might want to take off from work to watch baseball and see what trades come across the transom. By lunchtime, that was looking like some bad advice as nothing had yet happened. Things perked up immediately thereafter, though, meaning you probably could have gotten away with going home sick at lunch if you live on the East Coast but would have still had to miss the better part of the day to catch the action if you live in the Pacific Time Zone.

By now, we all know that Aaron Boone is in New York, Sidney Ponson is in San Francisco and Jeff Suppan is in Boston, as those frontrunners added to their formidable stockpiles of talent. What about the trades that didn't happen -- those deals that died a-borning for a variety of reasons? On the morning after the non-waiver trading deadline, there are plenty of stories about that which was not meant to be. Let's examine a few of them:

Chicago Cubs: Rafael Palmeiro of the Texas Rangers has been asked to consider a trade to the Cubs and is taking his time thinking about it. The Rangers first approached him three weeks ago, writes Mike Kiley of the Chicago Sun Times, and a deal is still a possibility. Kiley correctly suggests that clearing waivers won't be a problem for Palmeiro as he is still owed nearly $3 million on his contract for 2003. The arrival of Palmeiro would spell the end of the Eric Karros/Hee Seop Choi arrangement at first base and put Choi's development back another year.

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