LOS ANGELES—Montreal's acquisitions of right-hander Bartolo Colon and outfielder Cliff Floyd and Cincinnati's trade to get pitcher Ryan Dempster might not mean much in divisional races, but it certainly changes the wild-card picture.
Expos general manager Omar Minaya isn't conducting fire sales as expected but rather stretching the pocketbook of Major League Baseball, which is running the team.
The Expos entered Saturday trailing division-leading Atlanta by 11 1/2 games in the NL East, but Minaya has positioned the Expos to contend for the wild card.
The Expos were seven games behind Arizona in the wild-card standings entering the day, but playing in a downtrodden and disappointing division could become a factor late in the season.
While the Dodgers, Arizona and San Francisco are beating each other up in the NL West, the Expos will be playing Philadelphia, the New York Mets and the Florida Marlins.
MAJOR MINOR MOVE: Arizona remains in need of another capable starter to remove some of the burden from Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, but the D'backs' acquisition of reliever Mike Fetters could prove enormous.
Fetters, a proven setup man who can close if needed, gives depth to a bullpen that ranks 11th in wins (12-10) and tied for 13th-worst ERA (4.32).
NO METS MAGIC: The past four seasons, the New York Mets are 60 games over .500 (181-121) since the All-Star break after being 13 games over .500 (180-167) before the break, which provides hope for this season. But is it false hope?
The revamped Mets, who made a bundle of offseason moves to boost the lineup and depth to the pitching staff, are 44-45 and 13 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the NL East.
In the next two weeks, GM Steve Phillips will decide whether to trade second baseman Roberto Alomar, third baseman Edgardo Alfonso and pitcher Al Leiter.