Opinion

The All-Star break is suddenly approaching, which for many signifies the upcoming trade deadline on July 31.

With the recent trade of perennial Cy Young candidate Cliff Lee to the Texas Rangers, many teams will open the floodgates after determining if they are going to make the push for October glory, or pack it in for 2010.

One team that will not be giving up is the Chicago White Sox, who with a resurgence that almost no one predicted over the last 40 days, have put themselves near the top of the American League Central.

The Texas Rangers shook up the race to October in the AL when they swooped in yesterday and acquired the best pitcher on the market, Cliff Lee.

It looked like the New York Yankees had done everything but sign the paperwork to trade for Lee yesterday, but Jon Daniels and his staff sweetened the pot enough at the last minute to close the deal with the Mariners.

The Rangers front office packaged Justin Smoak, Blake Beavan, and two other prospects in a trade to get Cliff Lee and right-handed reliever Mark Lowe.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim need help to reclaim another American League West division title. With the Texas Rangers adding Cliff Lee to their rotation it's going to be tougher than ever for the Angels to catch the Rangers. 

Currently the Angels own a 47-42 record and are four and a half games out of first place. Yet, if the Angels would like to catch the Rangers and pass them for first place the Angels could use some help.

For the third time in less than a year, Cliff Lee has a new home. This time, he has joined the Texas Rangers.

Lee, 31, was brought in to help strengthen a relatively inexperienced rotation as the Rangers look to make a deep run in the playoffs.

Much like the past deals Lee has been involved in, the team parting ways with the star pitcher has looked for a huge haul of prospects in return.

The Indians', Phillies', and Mariners' prospects arrived with the glimmer of a brighter future, as each team will expect to find their value in the years to come.

This time last year, the Texas Rangers had received phone calls from other teams centered around third base prospect Justin Smoak. The Rangers weren't ready to give up one of the most highly-touted minor league prospects in any deal.

Fast forward a year later, and the Rangers were again faced with the decision of trading away a guy they wouldn't deal last year. The Rangers were sweating the decision, knowing that this might be the right time and the right player in return to finally relent.

The Arizona Diamondbacks drafted Ross Ohlendorf in the fourth round of the 2004 MLB draft. The scouting report on him at that time was:

Body Type: Strong as an Ox, thick muscular build.

Delivery: Low 3/4 arm. slow easy high leg kick with good hip rotation. Loose for his size.

Pitches: 89-92 mph fastball with occasional hard sink and bore. Can reach for extra and does it easy.

Small tilt to occasional tight slider.

Deceptive change with sink.

Command: Has improved.

Entering the 2010 season, the top second baseman in the National League included: Chase Utley (Philadelphia), Dan Uggla (Florida), and Brandon Phillips (Cincinnati).

At the mid-way point of the season, Phillips is making a case to be considered the best. Martin Prado is emerging as a superstar in Atlanta, but does not have all the tools Phillips has.

The chart below clearly shows Phillips is the most complete second sacker in the league.

Josh Hamilton only played in 89 games last season due to injuries and hit hit 10 home runs while driving in 54 runs and hitting .268 in 336 at bats.

So far, 2010 has been a different story as Hamilton has hit 22 home runs, which is one behind the major league leader Jose Bautista with 23. He has also driven in 64 runs and is leading the majors with a .349 batting average.

At the beginning of the MLB season the Mariners looked like serious contenders in the AL West.

That hasn't been the case.

The Mariners are 34-51 at the All-Star break and now they are trading perhaps their best pitcher, Cliff Lee, to the Rangers.

The trade goes like this: the Mariners trade Cliff Lee and Mark Lowe to the Rangers for Justin Smoak and minor leaguers Blake Beavan, Josh Leuke, and Matthew Lawson.

We all knew this was going to happen and I think it might have been the best trade possible.

After weeks of anticipation, Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Cliff Lee finally has a new home.