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Winner: Texas Rangers The Rangers’ bullpen was roughed up in the postseason last year and it has been a mix-and-match job for manager Ron Washington this season. By acquiring two of the top relievers on the market — Mike Adams and Koji Uehara — Texas is set up to go toe-to-toe with the best of the best in October. Both arms are locked up through 2012. (AP Photo)
Loser: Cleveland Indians In all honesty, they could be considered winners, depending on which side of the fence you sit. Some feel that prospects are unsure things and should be packaged for guys like Ubaldo Jimenez. Others would rather hoard promising youngsters like Drew Pomeranz and the three quality arms that the Indians shipped away. We’re just not so sure Jimenez is a sure thing himself. He’s been inconsistent since the first half of last year, all in the weak-hitting NL West, making this a rather significant gamble. And when you are 23-36 since late-May, is it time to gamble? Jimenez is under control for a couple more years, so if it works it’s fantastic. (AP Photo)
Winner: Philadelphia Phillies Anyone who saw the Phillies play for any stretch of the season knows that they really only had a few holes, and one was right field. Obtaining Hunter Pence creates a more balanced club that will be able to match up a bit better with the dominant pitching staff in San Francisco, if it comes to that in the playoffs again. (AP Photo)
Loser: Houston Astros Perhaps we should just include Astros fans. They’re the ones hurt most by their team’s purge of its limited talent. Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn are both young, good and entertaining. They’re also ex-Astros and the worst team in baseball became even worse. While the system gets loaded up with prospects, it will take years to produce much. It might’ve been nice to have at least one of the two around as the rebuild took place. Also, the organization failed to get rid of expensive lefty Wandy Rodriguez, although he could be had in a waiver-wire move later on. (AP Photo)
Winner: San Francisco Giants Speaking of the Giants, their acquisition of Carlos Beltran set the wheels in motion for the Phillies to go after Pence, for San Fran had an almost identical need for pop. This is the best team in its division, owns the only rotation that can match up with Philadelphia’s and now has a figure it can plug into the middle of what was a rather weak offense. The Giants also picked up Orlando Cabrera to play shortstop, another hole in their everyday lineup. (AP Photo)
Loser: New York Yankees Frankly, the Yankees will get stronger with the pending returns of Alex Rodriguez and Rafael Soriano in the coming days and weeks, but for a team that banks on October baseball, no upgrades to the rotation could end up hurting. Remember in the playoffs last year when A.J. Burnett was unreliable and Phil Hughes was already past the point in which he hit the wall? Unless Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia can maintain their paces, the options after CC Sabathia remain less than ideal. Still, the asking price for many trades involving the Yankees was extremely high. GM Brian Cashman deserves some credit for holding the line. This is a team that will probably add someone with a waiver-wire move. (AP Photo)
Winner: Toronto Blue Jays Remember a couple of years ago when the Blue Jays seemed destined to stagnate under hefty contracts for Alex Rios and Vernon Wells? They were able to rid themselves of both of those contracts and they have now completely moved on. Colby Rasmus, a multi-talented center fielder, was picked up from St. Louis in a three-team trade that gives Toronto even more reason for optimism going forward. The club is loaded with youthful talent. (AP Photo)
Loser: Chicago Cubs Going nowhere and saddled with a few medium-priced contracts on guys that could probably help out some other teams, the Cubbies were quiet. It seems that they could’ve picked up some much-needed prospects and some salary relief by working on a few things. (AP Photo)
Winner: Arizona Diamondbacks Like their mascot slithering through the desert, not many noticed the small but potentially impactful moves the Diamondbacks made. Jason Marquis, a veteran enjoying a solid bounce-back season, will help stabilize the back end of an unheralded rotation. A move that may prove even more significant was the acquisition of right-handed reliever Brad Ziegler. Arizona has made great strides to improve a bullpen that was unwatchable in 2010, but it needed more. Ziegler, who gets right-handers out a good clip, will be a welcome addition. The D-Backs did give up some pretty good prospects, including first baseman Brandon Allen. Not so sure Arizona did enough to catch San Francisco, but it made the effort. (AP Photo)
Loser: Cincinnati Reds The Reds did nothing outside of saying goodbye to Jonny Gomes, in large part because they’ve tumbled in the NL Central and may not like their chances to get back in the race. We’re not grading them so much on their relative inactivity at the deadline, but more so on their play leading up to it, which may have left the front office in a quandary as to what to do. (AP Photo)
Winner: New York Mets The Beltran rumors fought for headline space with the debt relief crisis, so it was a foregone conclusion that he would be dealt. The Mets got San Francisco’s top pitching prospect, Zack Wheeler, in return, and can now turn their attention to locking up Jose Reyes. (AP Photo)
Honorable mention losers: Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Tampa Bay failed to dump B.J. Upton for what could’ve been a profitable return. The Angels also didn’t do a thing, which can’t help their difficult pursuit of Texas. (AP Photo)
Honorable mention winners: Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers Atlanta for acquiring Bourn, Boston for adding Erik Bedard and Detroit for adding Doug Fister and David Pauley. (AP Photo)
