A Few Thoughts On the MLB Trade Deadline

• The Phillies' outfield next year is going to consist of Dominic Brown, John Mayberry Jr., and some guy they kidnap off the street in Manayunk. 
• Getting anything at all, much less a prospect with a pulse and a relief pitcher who's not actively gargling kerosene, back for Shane Victorino is impressive. Victorino's starting to slow down, he's going to be a free agent, and he's precisely the sort of guy Ruben Amaro Jr. has a hard time saying no to when the words "contract extension" get mentioned.
• Considering that the Phillies turned their farm system upside down and shook it until change came out of its pockets to get Hunter Pence, the return they got was not so impressive. It's hard to believe that Amaro couldn't have snagged an out-of-favor Brandon Belt instead of a never-had-any-favor-to-be-out-of Nate Schierholz. 
• On the other hand, the Phils seem to have pulled themselves below the luxury tax, which is really what this was all about. And there's still a month left to slough off Joe Blanton and Juan Pierre.
• Pittsburgh's moves - adding Qualls and Sanchez and Wandy Rodriguez and Travis Snider, and losing Gorkys Hernandez and Brad Lincoln and Casey McGeeheeheehee - looked suspiciously like the end-of-season bottom feeding that goes on in most NL-only roto leagues. I expect Reds management to weigh in on the NL message board over at ESPN to complain that the Marlins were totally, like, dumping and didn't call around to get the best offer.
• Who gives the best hugs? Travis Snider. (Bonus points if you get the movie reference)
• That being said, getting Snider out of his dysfunctional relationship with Toronto fans is probably a good idea. Now, if he could just avoid lefties....
• For all the deck chairs they rearranged, the Pirates managed to hang on to pretty much all of their farm system depth, which is impressive.
• Is there anybody the Dodgers didn't either trade for or try to trade for? Bugs Bunny, maybe? Ol' Hoss Radbourn? Craig Calcaterra?
• I suspect a lot of teams who passed on Zach Greinke because of his history of anxiety issues are going to watch him go bananas in Anaheim and kick themselves.
• Ladies and gentlemen, now playing at Wrigley, your 2012 Iowa Cubs. Seriously. Who's left?
• That being said, if Arodys Vizcaino recovers from Tommy John surgery, him being swapped for Paul Maholm and Reed Johnson is going to be the Bagwell/Andersen moment of this deadline.
• Speaking of which, "Reed Johnson" sounds like a minor character on Archer. You'd think the Braves would just clone their tweener outfielders by now.
• Remember when Geovanny Soto was going to be the next great NL catcher? Me neither. It's hard watching a career go off a cliff that fast. Why Texas wanted him I have no idea; it's not like he's a particular improvement over the mighty Yorvit. 
• On one hand, it's kind of sad that Jonathan Broxton went for a couple of meh prospects. On the other hand, not that long ago you couldn't have gotten a ham sandwich for Broxton, so this is progress. Royals fans, trust The Process. It's going to get a team - in this case, the Reds - to the World Series.
•  One can only assume that McGeehee will, upon his arrival in New York, be lowered into the Lazarus Pit below New Yankee Tax Boondoggle Stadium and be exposed to the same rejuvenative powers that have pulled Andruw Jones, Eric Chavez, Raul Ibanez and Ichiro off the scrap heap and turned them back into useful major leaguers. Then, he will go try to kill Batman.
• Seriously, Red Sox. Did you make those trades just because you were feeling left out?
• I'm fairly certain that KennyWilliams also got a few other GM's best Pokemon cards in this year's deals. The man is that good.