If you were Jason Giambi and you were getting ready to have surgery on your wrist, there are probably a few places where you wouldn’t want the surgery performed: a barnyard, the top of a mountain, the building where a teammate’s two-seater plane crashed just a week earlier, etc.

But it seems like Giambi’s surgery may in fact take place in one of those places. Can you guess which one?

Giambi’s procedure is being done by Dr. Andrew J. Weiland, who is an attending orthopedist at New York Hospital for Special Surgery. Weiland’s office is in the same high-rise that Corey Lidle’s plane crashed into last week.
From the New York Post:

The office of Weiland, who is actually the Mets hand specialist, is in the Belaire, the same Upper East Side high-rise the late Cory Lidle’s plane crashed into last week. Not only were Lidle and Giambi Yankees teammates, they played together with the A’s and were South Hills High School teammates in California. Giambi attended Lidle’s memorial service in Orange County Tuesday. There is a chance the surgery will take place in Weiland’s Belaire office.

This definitely falls into the “what are the odds?” department. Thanks to Zvee for pointing this story out.

Mayor Bloomberg said in a press conference “the only two bodies were found on the street.”

No people in the building died.

But Bloomberg did not confirm reports about Lidle being the pilot (even though his passport was found on the street).

Bloomberg declined to identify the identity of the victims.

So my buddy who works at ESPN’s Cold Pizza emailed me this afternoon to tell me that a small plane crashed into a Manhattan apartment building ten blocks from where he lives.

That was about two hours ago. He just called me to say that two people died in the crash and one of them is Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle.

There is a rumor that the other person in the plane was OF Bobby Abreu. But there is absolutely nothing factual to support that. NOTHING.

More to come as this story develops.

UPDATE: ESPN is reporting that Lidle was alone in his plane. That pretty much puts the Bobby Abreu rumor to rest. Three other people reportedly died in the crash, presumably all residents of the building that Lidle crashed into. 

This just in: the Philadelphia Phillies have pulled the trigger on a major deadline deal, sending RF Bobby Abreu and SP Corey Lidle to the Yankees in exchange for three minor leaguers. From ESPN.com:

Stark reported the Yankees will send the Phillies 20-year-old minor-league shortstop C.J. Henry — their No. 1 pick in 2005 — and 27-year-old left-handed reliever Matt Smith. The Phillies will also pick one other minor-league player from an agreed-upon list, while the Yankees will take on responsibility for Abreu and Lidle’s contracts. Abreu is owed $15 million for 2007 alone.

Abreu has a full no-trade clause in his contract and has the right to accept or reject the deal. In the past his agent has said any team trading for Abreu would have to pick up his $16 million option for 2008 to get him to waive the no-trade clause. However, Abreu himself recently has backed off that stance.

Abreu is hitting .277 with 8 home runs and 65 RBI in 99 games. He has a career batting average of .301 with 198 home runs and 841 RBI over 10 seasons.

Lidle, a right-hander, is 8-7 with a 4.74 ERA in 21 starts in 2006. In eight seasons he has a career mark of 78-69 with a 4.54 ERA.

Abreu was in the Phillies’ starting lineup Sunday but was pulled for Shane Victorino 10 minutes before their game with the Florida Marlins.

Some thoughts:

1. Phillies GM Pat Gillick has come a long way from last off-season’s assertion that he would only trade Abreu or LF Pat Burrell for top-of-the-line starting pitching. The Phillies didn’t get any starting pitching in this deal. Actually, they gave up a starting pitcher, though not much of a starting pitcher, in Corey Lidle.

2. So why was Gillick willing to trade Abreu, one of the league’s truly complete players, for just prospects and a 27 year-old reliever? It almost certainly comes down to the Phillies’ need to rebuild their farm system and the need to clear salary cap space so that Gillick can go after the major arms that he so covets.

3. Philly fans never warmed to Abreu. But at the end of the day, we’re talking about a guy with a nack for getting on base, with a cannon for an arm, who hits for power and has good speed. And what that Inquirer story doesn’t mention is that Abreu is third in the NL in OBP. How do you replace that kind of production? You don’t.

4. Abreu is joining a lineup where he’ll be surrounded by Jeter, A-Rod, Giambi, Damon and eventually Matsui and Sheffield. That’s scary. No, really. That’s just plain frightening.

5. Of course, the Yankees still need to address their pitching. Will Corey Lidle be the answer? That’s hard to imagine. But, Lidle can eat innings. And the Yankees will score runs behind him. So he’ll probably earn a few Ws.