Should MLB's July 31 Trading Deadline Be Moved Back?

For as long as I can remember, the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline was one of the most exciting days on the MLB calendar.

What often occurred set the bar for the rest of the season—what teams would compete, what teams would tread water, and what teams were in full selling mode and ready to deal away any valuable trade chips in the hopes of success in the future.

But for some reason, the upcoming 2009 trading deadline is beginning to feel watered down. Even though there is still almost five weeks to go until July 31, the trade chatter has been kept to a minimum as virtually no big names seem to have a realistic chance of changing addresses.

And the reason why? Mediocrity.

Right now, there are at least 25 teams that have a cautiously optimistic chance at making the playoffs. Hell, even the Nate McLouth-less Pirates are only eight games back in the NL Central and seven back in the wild card.

So you can't fault a general manager for holding off on becoming sellers on the open market when his team still has a chance to play October baseball.

With so many teams having a puncher's chance at making the playoffs, there are naturally going to be very few teams that appear to be clear cut sellers.

Teams like the Nationals, Padres, and Orioles have virtually no shot at making the playoffs in 2009, and could benefit greatly from acquiring young pieces at the trade deadline.

But because there are so many buyers on the market right now with so few sellers, the players who are available can only be had for a king's ransom.

For example, if the Mets wanted to go out and trade for Adam Dunn right now, they would have to give up a boatload of talent because Dunn is one of the only impact bats who could actually be traded for.

Obviously, it's very difficult for trades to happen under these conditions.

Having a bunch of mediocre teams might be good for baseball and might make commissioner Bud Selig feel good about himself for a few minutes, but mediocrity is actually very bad for trades.

So what can be done about this?

One option is to move the trading deadline back. If teams have more time to separate themselves (either positively or negatively) in the standings, then there will be more sellers in the marketplace.

I think the July 31 deadline has worked for a long period of time, but moving the date back another two weeks or so should lead to more impact trades.

Thoughts?

(Note: Obviously, teams can still trade after July 31st, but players have to pass through waivers in order to be traded any team. I know there are exceptions, but rarely does an impact player actually pass waivers or get traded after the July 31 deadline.)