Baseball

I keep waiting for Indians owner Rachel Phelps to come out and admit that she is purposely trying to run the team into the ground so that she can move the club. I also wonder when Ricky Vaughn is going to come out from the bullpen with this thick black glasses, or when Willie Mays Hayes is going to swipe a bag against the Tigers.

After months of MLB trade rumors and speculation, the trade deadline is now over. Players who were expected to move stayed on their own teams, and players who completely slipped by all the trade rumors were shipped out.

As a result, as is the case every year, the landscape of baseball looks different. Which teams made great moves to push themselves to the playoffs and which teams stocked up on solid prospects?

As Minnesota Twins fans eagerly checked Twitter to see if general manager Terry Ryan would make a move at the Major League Baseball trade deadline, one had to wonder what would happen if this scene was set in the film Major League II.

The non-waiver trade deadline has come and gone, and as has become the "Yankee Way," Brian Cashman and the Yankees' front office made a couple of minor moves without pulling off a blockbuster deal.

The San Francisco Giants went into the trading deadline needing to fill three obvious areas of deficiency: a lack of power in the lineup, a lack of depth on the bench and in the bullpen due to the loss of closer Brian Wilson earlier this season.

For Giants' general manager Brian Sabean, two out of three wasn't bad.

The New York Mets showed up as an utter failure in the MLB Trade Deadline of this season.

It’s funny how well your sports team can act as a perfect mirror image of your life at some points. The relationship of your favorite sports team and your role as a fan is entirely abstracted in that you essentially make of it what you wish.

Hunter Pence did not expect the news he received early Tuesday afternoon as he was preparing to face the Washington Nationals later that night.  He was no longer a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, who had just traded him across the country to the San Francisco Giants.

The MLB trade deadline wasn't uneventful, but it lacked its signature dramatic flair. A handful of teams made moves to benefit their playoff picture, but not all of these will pan out in the end.

Factors have to be considered when picking up a new player. A change of scenery can have a negative, as well as a positive, impact. A new ballpark can impact their productivity, and their new teammates may not lend the same comfort as their previous home did.

Just before the 4:00 non-waiver trade deadline, the Texas Rangers made their biggest move by acquiring Ryan Dempster from the Cubs for two minor leaguers.

The move came after the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim traded for Zack Greinke over the weekend and after learning that Neftali Feliz will have Tommy John surgery.

It is Wednesday, August 1, and everyone in baseball knows what that means. The 2012 July 31 non-waiver trade deadline has passed, and any deals that hope to be done from now until August 31 will have to be completed by attempting to pass players through waivers. Not an easy venture.

So, as usual, 2012 saw its fair share of players switch uniforms over the past week or so. But which teams made the best trades? Which moves will most greatly benefit their clubs, giving them a better shot at reaching the postseason, or maybe just enhance their chances of victory once they get there?