2009 MLB Trade Deadline

JP Ricciardi reminds me of myself, although maybe not in the way you think.

The world in the last three or four years has seemingly been swept up in the craze that is competitive poker. I, unfortunately for my social life, have not.

The Seattle Mariners have just won the World Series.

Ok, they didn’t, but to Mariners fans it feels like they did.

The Mariners finally made the move that fans had been waiting for.

Seattle traded shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt to the Kansas City Royals for two minor league pitchers Friday afternoon.

In the deal, Seattle received Double-A starting pitcher Danny Cortes and Single-A reliever Derrick Saito.

The Seattle Mariners and Jack Zduriencik have done a great job acquiring talent like Jason Vargas, Russell Branyan, and several more that haven't reached the majors yet.

Now right now the Mariners have some strong parts, but they have also found a few weak points.

I know some of you won't agree with this trade. Nationals fans and Red Sox fans alike will probably not like this trade. But baseball isn't about making moves that people like—it's about winning. And I believe that this trade will make both the Nationals and Red Sox better.

So imagine—You're in your living room, watching SportsCenter when Scott Van Pelt says something like:

Ken Rosenthal first reported yesterday that the Toronto Blue Jays will listen to offers about their stud ace, Roy Halladay, speculation started to fly around the sports world as if Brett Favre was considering a comeback.

ESPN picked it up and ran with it, Comcast Sportsnet ran with it as well. Just about every source for baseball did as well like they did last season with C.C. Sabathia.

I know it’s July, but some teams are already going “Holliday” shopping. Or perhaps “Halladay” shopping?

That’s because we’re in that month of the season where MLB teams not only face the trade deadline, but are looking at the two of the better players on the market in Matt Holliday and Roy Halladay.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports says that the Kansas City Royals "do not seem terribly inclined" to deal away Mark Teahen.

Now, I being a huge Royals fan am kind of split on this subject. I like Mark Teahen; he might be my favorite Royals player. But he's not an All-Star and most likely won't be.

Last night, before the Mets got blasted to smithereens by the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 8-0 loss, Mets GM Omar Minaya addressed the media, again, about the Mets current injury status and its affect on the club for the rest of the season and beyond. 

In my last article, I said that Blue Jays General Manager J.P. Riccardi would never trade Roy Halladay to divisional rival. Now it seems like he is ready to dangle his best pitcher in the division.

Rumor winds begin to swirl now that Halladay is all but gone in Toronto and the Blue Jays GM will now begin to listen to offers and if the right one comes along, he would pull the trigger.

Now, the Yankees aren't just the only team involved in this. There are plenty of teams who will be vying for Halladay's services.