The splashes did not cause any tidal waves, nor are they expected to be the kind of game-changers that severely alter the playoff races.
But that is not what they were meant to signal.
The New York Mets’ acquisitions, announced Friday, of Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for a pair of secondary minor league pitching prospects—John Gant and Rob Whalen—are simply shots to the lineup. They are meant to give it a boost and much-needed depth, not completely change the way it performs.