AL Central

The non-waiver trading deadline has passed.

The Texas Rangers made arguably the biggest move in the AL with the acquisition of ace Cliff Lee.

They also added some depth with shortstop Cristian Guzman, infielder Jorge Cantu, and catcher Bengie Molina.

In typical New York fashion, the Yankees have put themselves in a position to repeat as World Series champions with the additions of first baseman Lance Berkman, outfielder Austin Kearns, and pitcher Kerry Wood.

Jake Westbrook and Ryan Ludwick were traded today in a creative three-way trade. The moving parts in this deal looked like this:

Cardinals acquire:
Jake Westbrook (From Indians)
Nick Greenwood (From Padres)
Undisclosed amount of cash (From Indians)

Padres acquire:
Ryan Ludwick (From Cardinals)
Undisclosed amount of cash (From Indians)

Indians acquire:
Corey Kluber (From Padres)

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It was a battle of the Big Daddies on Friday night at Fenway Park in Boston.

Detroit's animated closer Jose Valverde, or Papa Grande as he's known to Tigers fans, went head-to-head with Red Sox heavy-hitter David Ortiz, who is known as Big Papi in Beantown.

Imagine you are responsible to select an all-time starting rotation for the Detroit Tigers.  The pitchers you pick will form the Tigers all-time team and compete against the best of their competition.

Who would you select?  To whom would you give the ball to face off against Walter Johnson, Lefty Grove, Whitey Ford, Jim Palmer, and Roger Clemens?  Who would be your backup pitchers and relievers as well?

It had been reported over the last couple of days that the Minnesota Twins were looking to acquire a pitcher in order to bolster a bullpen that could use work, despite having the best ERA in the league today.

It appears as though the Twins have found that man. But he most certainly came with a price.

In exchange for the 26-year-old right-hander, Minnesota had to trade one of their best prospects, catcher Wilson Ramos.

Update: (8:20pm CDT) The two minor leaguers heading to the Kansas City Royals are catcher Lucas May and pitcher Elisaul Pimentel.

It's not often that the Indians make a trade that the fans can be happy about.

Think back to last year, when the Tribe dealt Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez away, or to 2008, when CC Sabathia was shipped out of town after his refusal to negotiate a contract extension at a reasonable price.

Even the Bartolo Colon deal of 2002—a phenomenal deal in retrospect—was heart-wrenching at the time, as it signaled the end of the team's streak of success.

Another disappointing loss has led to more trade talk among national columnists and Detroit Tigers fans. Tampa Bay defeated the Tigers 3-2 Tuesday night, after a ninth-inning bases-loaded opportunity didn't pan out for Miguel Cabrera.

Detroit is now four games behind the A.L. Central-leading Chicago White Sox, who will come to Comerica Park next week.

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? Since my last post, I've gone out of town twice, bought a new car, worked nearly every day in between (pulling doubles three days a week), and have begun to prepare for a move to a new apartment.

This has left little time for blogging and little time for the Royals. Under new manager Ned Yost, the Royals are playing roughly .500 ball. This has been more a curse than a blessing, as the perception of success has led to hesitation in getting involved as sellers on the trade market.