Opinion

Flash back to July 31st 2009. The trading deadline. Jake Peavy agrees to come to the White Sox.

The pretty girl at the dance who had already snubbed the White Sox, has now changed her mind and has agreed to leave sunny San Diego and come north to the south side of Chicago.

The Mets have given us a great first half.  They've risen to every challenge they've faced this year and have shown us some serious chemistry, character, and toughness.

David Wright shook off his strikeout problem and emerged an MLB leader in RBI.

The team adjusted to power-killing Citi Field by becoming a lineup of solid contact hitters who are willing and able to drive run-scoring singles and doubles into the gaps to earn their wins.

UPDATE (July 9, 2010, 4:10 PM) : It appears via several sources that the Lee to the Yankees deal is OFF. The reason has been given that the Mariners did not feel comfortable with the ankle injury of second base prospect David Adams.

While I view that excuse as a made up one, it seems to me that the Mariners were using the Yankees as leverage to maybe get a better deal from another team.

Or maybe they received a last minute offer which they deem as much better.

The Angels had the second best record in all of baseball for the month of June.

The problem is, the Texas Rangers were the only team better, and they are the team the Angels are trying to catch.

July has not started out with as much promise.

The Angels now find themselves 5.5 games back in the AL West after being swept by the Chicago White Sox during a four-game series in Chicago for the first time in 27 years.

Many are ready to push the panic button and start the fire sale. However, all is not lost with the Angels.

Anything that doesn't involve LeBron James in sports talk right now has my attention and the Cliff Lee rumors are at the top of that list.

Though it isn't the magnitude of the 1919 World Series, we have a very odd situation brewing in Seattle tonight, and it isn't their coffee.

Cliff Lee is rumored to be headed to the Bronx for Yankees prospect catcher Jesus Montero and possibly second base prospect David Adams as well.

The problem? Cliff Lee faces the New York Yankees tonight.

"Hey Alex, here comes a fastball middle-in, see if you can hit it!"

When Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano received an invitation to participate in this years Home Run Derby, the All-Star was surprised and excited.

He did not think twice about it. Cano accepted the invitation and had every intention of participating. Then the Yankees stepped in. The problem however is that it seems the Yankees stepped in without Cano knowing.

Before voting for this year's MLB All-Star Game, the Boston Red Sox were batting 1.000 in the Final Vote. Johnny Damon, Jason Varitek, and Hideki Okajima have all appeared on the ballot and all three made the team.

This year, the run came to an end. Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis lost out to Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher in his bid for a third straight All-Star appearance and will not fly to Anaheim for the Midsummer Classic. But he should be making that trip.

Baseball is mathematically past the halfway mark already, but many teams don't see the first half as history.  Many teams still have many big games in the first half. 

There are 162 baseball games in baseball's regular season, so 81 games is the mathematical halfway point in the season.  Even though that is true, many people look at the All-Star Break as the ending of the first half.

When does the Major League leader in losses by a pitcher generate major buzz amongst the teams looking to add pitching at the trade deadline?

When that pitcher has a 3.08 ERA, 112 strikeouts in 120 innings pitched and just threw a one hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday, in which he allowed only a two-out first inning single before holding the team hitless the rest of the way.

Or, to put it another way, when that pitcher's name is Roy Oswalt.

Did you see Price finish the sweep against Boston? Seriously? Even with all of Boston's injuries, they are still no offensive slouch.

David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis, and Adrian Beltre were no match for Price. The trio was a combined 2-for-13 with five strikeouts.

The crazy thing is, Price beat them with just one pitch: his fastball. Of his 111 pitches, 99 of them were fastballs.

But one start does not an All-Star starter make. However, this does:

Twelve wins—most in the AL.

2.42 ERA—second to Cliff Lee by .08.