The MLB trade deadline

Today was the Major League Baseball non-waiver trade deadline. At 4:00, no more trades could be made for the rest of the season. Teams that believe they can contend showed who they were, and teams that believed they were not contenders sold off many of their parts to build for the future. Only stat geeks and hardcore fans like myself can appreciate and enjoy this day. Leading up to the deadline, rumors were flying all over the place about possible blockbuster deals that might occur, and while this always happens on deadline day in all sports, it seems that baseball is the sport in which these rumors and ideas are the most fun to ponder.
The NBA trade deadline is my second favorite deadline day, but with such small rosters, and no existence of a true "minor leagues," NBA deadline day does not come close to MLB deadline day. The NHL trade deadline day is always full of deals, but a lot of them include young players playing in leagues all over the world, and many of the prospects are unknown, even to hardcore hockey fans. As far as the NFL trading deadline, the day is almost non-existent, as the NFL is a league based far more on free agency than on trades. A few minor trades will occur on deadline day, but there will never be significant players on the move. That is why the Major League Baseball trading deadline day is always the most fun.
Whether it is good teams trying to turn themselves into great teams, or bad teams trying to rid themselves of good players they may not be able to afford in the future, there are always big names on the move, and today was no different. Rumors were flying around that guys like Cliff Lee, Felix Hernandez, Jon Lester, Justin Upton, Shane Victorino, and Hunter Pence could be traded, and while not all of those guys were dealt, there was still plenty of intriguing moves that were made prior to the 4:00 PM deadline. We got to see which teams were going for the big splash, and which teams were planning on building for next season. By analyzing the moves that were made today, we learned that the Phillies believed they had no shot of winning anything substantial this season, and we learned that the Rangers, Giants, and Dodgers were all trying to make the moves needed to make a run at a World Series title.
First off, we saw the two top teams in the NL West make move after move in an attempt to go for the division crown. The Giants acquired Hunter Pence from the Phillies, and he can move into a starting spot in the outfield and hit in the middle of a batting order that is still in need of some life. In response to San Francisco's acquisition of Pence, the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired another stellar outfielder from the Phillies, Shane Victorino. Along with the recent acquisition of Hanley Ramirez from the Marlins, the Dodgers now have a very potent middle of the order that includes Ramirez, Victorino, Matt Kemp, and Andre Ethier. These moves also clearly demonstrated the Phillies' belief that they had no shot to contend this season, and that is music to the ears of the Washington Nationals and their fans, as they seem to be the clear front runner in the NL East.
While the moves made in the NL West were interesting, the AL West would not be outdone. In the week leading up to the deadline, the Anaheim Angels (who are now my pick to win the World Series by the way) landed Zack Greinke, a legitimate star of a starting pitcher, to strengthen a starting rotation that was already very good. As usually happens on deadline day, the Texas Rangers responded to the acquisition of Greinke by the Angels by adding Ryan Dempster, a starter who has been outstanding this year for the Chicago Cubs. These moves showed that all four of these teams believed they had a legitimate shot to contend for a title this year. While all of these teams were all-in for this season, the teams they dealt with were all planning for the future by getting young stars in return.
Along with these notable moves, the Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, and St. Louis Cardinals all aimed to strengthen their teams with acquisitions of Jonathan Broxton, Gaby Sanchez, and Edward Mujica, respectively. While those may have been minor deals compared to the ones involving Greinke, Dempster, Victorino, Ramirez, and Pence, they may prove to be important down the stretch. The Reds already have a spectacular bullpen, and the addition of Broxton will only make the bullpen even stronger. Pittsburgh's acquisition Sanchez gives them a young and talented (yet unproven and still disappointing) first baseman to at least provide depth at first base. The Cardinals' addition of Mujica makes their bullpen stronger, and it has been proven year after year that a strong bullpen is one of the keys to contending in October.
Overall, the 2012 trade deadline day did not disappoint, as we saw a bunch of big names move to teams that are legitimate contenders. It might still take a few years for us to truly get a feel for which teams were winners and losers on July 31, 2012, but for right now, we did get a fun day of trades, rumors, and a Twitter universe that exploded. The World Series contenders might be decided by moves that were made within the past week, and thanks to the trade deadline, we may see multiple days just as exciting as today in the playoffs two months from now.

Daily Diamondbacks Update: The only move we made today was a very curious one, giving away Craig Breslow to the Red Sox in order to acquire Matt Albers and Scott Podsednik. Breslow was our most reliable lefty in the bullpen, and Albers is a righty, while Podsednik will be sent to Triple-A. I must admit, I was not thrilled with this move because it leaves Mike Zagurski as our only lefty in the bullpen, and he is far from a stud. My biggest concern was Justin Upton being traded, and thankfully that did not happen. I think standing pretty much pat was the right choice, as we are only 3.5 games behind San Francisco and Los Angeles. Those two teams, as I said, made big splashes, but the deficit can still be made up, and with the extra Wild Card spot, our chances are even better that we might make the playoffs.
On the field, we took the first game of the series in Los Angeles, and Paul Goldschmidt just hit a two-run homer to give us the lead in the first inning tonight. There is nothing I would love more than to win the division in spite of the day that the Dodgers and Giants had. Wade Miley is on the mound to try to make it two for two in LA. Let's Go DBacks!