The trade deadline this year was one of the most dull and anti-climatic in the last few years.  The biggest acquisition prior to the trade deadline was Cliff Lee, and that occurred several weeks ago.  The rest of the players traded are decent players, but I’d be surprised if they dramatically alter the divisions.

Sure, Dan Haren and Roy Oswalt are quality pitchers, but Haren is struggling and now on a team eight games behind the division leader.  Oswalt is not the pitcher of three years ago, and probably will help the Phillies’ rotation, but the Phllies seem destined to win the NL East despite their pitching woes.

Other than Lee, Oswalt and Haren.. a whole bunch of yawn.. minor trades.

Teams looted the terrible teams in the league: Pittsburgh (Javier Lopez, Octavio Dotel), Cleveland (Peralta, Wood, and Westbrook), Washington (Matt Capps), Kansas City (Rick Ankiel, Kyle Farnsworth, Scott Podsednik), Arizona (Edwin Jackson, Chad Qualls, Dan Haren), and Houston (Oswalt, Berkman).

The Dodgers and Angels strengthened their clubs, but have a large number of games to make up.  The Reds and Cardinals made few upgrades worth noting (Westbrook?).

Now that the only way to make a trade from this point on is via waivers, I still envision a Phllies-Yankees World Series.  Certainly the Rays and Rangers have a shot at a WS berth, but it always comes down to the ability to fend off the Red Sox and Yankees in the playoffs.

But momentum is a great thing and if a team can stay in contention and in the lead of a division through August, they can start to believe.  Some teams in this situation are the Rays, Braves, Reds, and Padres.  August is a very important month for these teams.

Today, three days before the All-Star break, the Rangers stepped up and traded for the services of Cliff Lee for the rest of the 2010 season and almost virtually solidified a playoff berth in the process. The Rangers are playing great baseball, and their only in-division competition, the Angels, have fallen into a slump, falling five and half games back of the Rangers. Now the Rangers have an elite top-of-the-rotation starter who has the potential to not only help them reach the playoffs, but advance forward. The Angels’ pitching has been mediocre, and now will be very challenged to overcome the division lead with Cliff Lee starting every five games.

This trade comes the day after La Bron James signed with the Miami Heat. Regardless of the possible loss of Cliff Lee to free agency next year, he will give the Texas Rangers a legitimate shot at a playoff berth since 1999. If the Rangers fail to make the playoffs, this trade will go down in history as one of the most expensive without results. Now, the Rangers have a legitimate shot versus any of the other teams in the American League in a short playoff series, though great starters have been beaten in important series.

You have to hand it to any team that is willing to bring in someone of such talent. We have seen other teams gamble like this in the past, including the Milwaukee Brewers who brought in C.C. Sabathia for a final stretch and a playoff run and the Los Angeles Angels, who acquired Mark Teixeira for the end of the season. In an era with the Yankees and the Red Sox signing whoever they want for any amount and the lack of a salary cap, teams are forced to shoot for the glory in a single season or two. For many teams, retaining top players after their free agency is difficult and expensive. The Tampa Bay Rays have little time left before they are in danger of losing key fixtures on their team to free agency at the end of this season.

The first major trade before the deadline happens with one of the best pitchers today.

I don’t recall in recent memory so many significant players being traded after the trade deadline.  The Dodgers (ho-hum) added Jim Thome and John Garland.  The Angels traded for Scott Kazmir.  The Rockies get Giambi and Contreras.  The White Sox Armando Rios.  What is going on in the world of baseball?

Dumping quality high-contract players seems to be the new thing.  You used to never be able to acquire these types of players this late in a season.  Other peoples’ disappointments are contending teams’ saviors?  It should be quite interesting to see if these late season additions pay off more than the earlier trades.  If these late trades work out, we might see a new trend in baseball.  Maybe the trade deadline might not be as significant anymore, if teams know that non-contenders will dump their high-priced assets.