Rankings/List

Last year at the trade deadline, the Philadelphia Phillies were 68-39, six games up in the NL East. This season, the Phils are just 45-57, 16.5 games out in the NL East and 13 games out in the wild-card race.

Needless to say, with the payroll over $174 million, second to the New York Yankees in MLB, expectations were high.

They have not come close to meeting those expectations.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were easily the most active buyers leading up to today’s 4 p.m. ET, MLB non-waiver trade deadline. 

They pulled off a stunning trade last week when they acquired former All-Star Hanley Ramirez and left-handed reliever Randy Choate from the Miami Marlins for 22-year-old pitcher Nate Eovaldi and lightly regarded relief pitching prospect Scott McGough.  

In the first half of the 2012 season, Chicago White Sox lefty Chris Sale was as dominant as any pitcher in baseball. He went into the All-Star break with an ERA of 2.19 and an opponent's batting average under .200.

Sale has been a different pitcher thus far in the second half, and not in a good way. His velocity is down, his stuff is flat and he hasn't missed many bats. In three starts since the break, he's seen his numbers take a hike.

As a result, Sale has gone from being an AL Cy Young favorite to being a guy on the fringe of the race.

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?

A number of big trades went down before the 2012 MLB trade deadline as big names went from struggling teams to teams that are in contention in the playoff races.

These deals could help shape the results that we see throughout the rest of the season. There were certainly a number of winners and losers from the 2012 MLB trade deadline.

The following analysis is for the biggest deals that went down on July 31st.

Every year, Major League Baseball teams make trades and improve themselves at the trade deadline.

The 2012 MLB Trade Deadline was no different, with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox and others putting themselves in great positions for playoff runs.

But the opposite is always true as well, with teams making questionable decisions that hurt their playoff chances.

Let’s take a look at five teams that made some very questionable moves at this year’s trade deadline.

Could Ryan Dempster actually be the best player traded prior to the 2012 MLB Trade Deadline? According to David Schoenfield of ESPN.com, that may be the case. 

With the 2012 MLB first-year player draft now in the books, and with prospects signing left and right due to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, baseball fans will get an early look at many of their team’s new players.

But how early can we expect to see some of these players? While some of the college players that were drafted may only be a year or two away, there are many prep players who are still years away from making an impact at the big-league level.

On Monday night, Los Angeles Angels rookie phenom Mike Trout almost single-handedly delivered a victory for his Halos over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the resumption of the Freeway Series.

In a game that was sloppy from the outset, filled with baserunning blunders, errors and walks, Trout simply stole the show. A towering home run blast in the fourth, his sixth of the season, an opposite-field RBI single in the sixth to tie the game, and then his actions in the top of the ninth that set up the go-ahead run.

With several surprises and disappointments, the 2012 MLB season has been a compelling one to watch thus far. 

However, something that has made the game less fun to follow is the number of superstar players that have suffered significant injuries. Yes, sometimes new players can emerge when established veterans go on the disabled list. Look at Bryce Harper with the Nationals or Freddy Galvis for the Phillies. (Unfortunately, Galvis has joined the ranks of the injured.)