Most baseball executives would sooner admit reading romance novels than the sports pages, especially in the days leading up to the trading deadline. Usually, there’s some justification.

What GM, after all, needs to learn yet another synonym for “dunce?” Or find out the beer vendors at the ballpark vowed to stage a wildcat strike if management didn’t bring so-and-so to town?

They get ripped for making one deal and not another. Then they get second-guessed more than the guy who makes the soup down at your corner restaurant every morning – and in the case of trades, no one knows whether the ingredients were right for months or years.

But one thing we do know, even as a flurry of blockbuster deals slid in just under the deadline Thursday, and more than half the GMs in MLB’s 30 outposts tempted fate. History is not on their side.

Last-minute deals typically don’t do much for teams, unless they’re already in good shape.

Consider that, since 1995:

¢ Nearly three-quarters of the teams that were in first place at the trading deadline – 76 of 104; or 73 percent – wound up making it into the postseason.

¢ Less than half of the teams facing a deficit of 11â2 games or less – 11 of 24; or 46 percent – managed to close it by the end of the regular season.

¢ Things were grim for teams two to five games out. Fewer than one in five of those clubs – 11 of 66; or 17 percent – had someplace to be when October rolled around.

¢ And, in what amounts to a double whammy, some of the clubs wound up trading away prospects they will regret letting go of for decades to come. The Tigers traded John Smoltz, the Red Sox dealt Jeff Bagwell, and the Mariners got rid of Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek.

Still, even if the numbers hold up this time, we can declare a few instant winners.

Just about every ballplayer in every deal, for example. Each is in line for a raise, including a few who expected to be tightening their belts instead.

LaTroy Hawkins was going nowhere – the Yankees had already designated him for assignment – when he found out he’d been traded to the Houston Astros.

“I was sitting at home doing nothing and all of a sudden, a team wants me,” Hawkins said Wednesday. “I’m pretty excited about that.”

Houston GM Ed Wade had to pretend he was excited, too.

“He gives (manager) Cecil Cooper one more weapon to call upon late in the game,” Wade said. Left unmentioned is that with the Astros already more than a dozen games out in the NL Central, they’ll need a lot more than one weapon.

Dodger fans, meanwhile, could start gloating even as Manny Ramirez made reservations to fly cross-country and start chipping away at the Diamondbacks’ slim National League West lead. This might be one of those rare deals, in fact, where everybody makes out. L.A. picks up one of the most potent bats in baseball; and if only half the rumors percolating in Boston are true, the Red Sox will be better for subtracting one of the game’s biggest headaches.

White Sox fans, relax. Yes, Ken Griffey Jr. will further weaken an already weak defensive outfield if he winds up in center too often this season. But he will still be hitting several seasons from now, long after Jim Thome’s days as a designated-hitter are over. Then, GM Kenny Williams will still be able to claim he got a bargain.

The Cubs look smart for acquiring Rich Harden and the Angels for adding Mark Texeira.

Escalating salaries were supposed to make trades harder to pull off, and more than a few of the GMs who did are going to wish they were harder still.

The Yankees might regret acquiring Pudge Rodriguez for Kyle Farnsworth, especially if the bullpen hole he plugged widens into a tear. But all those World Series titles and a new stadium coming on line next season buys some goodwill with the paying customers and, besides, they’ve got enough money to bury the occasional mistake.

The Brewers don’t. They picked up CC Sabathia on loan for the remainder of the season at a good price, about $5 million. But he’ll be back on the market next season looking for Johan Santana money and Milwaukee can’t afford even Carlos Santana.

There are two days on the baseball calendar when hope springs eternal.

The first is opening day. The second was Thursday. By this point in the season, fans in half of MLB’s towns have already turned their attention to fantasy football forecasts. To those of you who made the cut, good luck.