Tampa Bay Devil Rays: Why hold onto Baez? So he can save that all-important 60^th Rays win in late-September? Up to a half-dozen teams reportedly were interested in Baez, including some heavy hitters with top prospects to deal such as the Red Sox and Mets. There’s nothing wrong with trying to extract the best price for your talent, but it can be a mistake not to pull the trigger when a player’s value is at its peak.

Colorado Rockies: More rumbling, bumbling and stumbling at altitude, as two of last year’s supposed building blocks — Joe Kennedy and Shawn Chacon — were deemed “not part of the core” any longer, and shipped away. So the revolving door is spinning as fast as ever with no progress being made. Also, they dealt Byrnes to Baltimore for Larry Bigbie thinking/hoping they could spin Bigbie to Boston for top catching prospect Kelly Shoppach, which didn’t happen. 

Houston Astros: No fault of G.M. Tim Purpura and Co., who worked out a deal for Jamie Moyer to add a quality, veteran No. 4-5 starter in light of Brandon Backe going on the disabled list and two rookies currently in the rotation. But Moyer vetoed the potential trade, leaving the Astros to try to put together a waiver deal in the next few weeks.

Much ado about little
Texas Rangers: They couldn’t get what they wanted for Alfonso Soriano, so they hung onto him. Nothing gained, nothing lost, and they can decide later if they want to sign him to a long-term deal. They were able to unload the $65 million mistake that was Chan Ho Park, but really won’t save much given that Phil Nevin is owed $12 million beyond this season. Nevin’s bat can only help, but he can’t pitch, and Kevin Gryboski was the only move made to help the staff.

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Baltimore Orioles: After talking about (and eventually rejecting) the Burnett-Mike Lowell possible deal, then having Sir Sid Ponson land back in their laps after Nevin vetoed another potential deal, the O’s changed B’s in their outfield — Byrnes for Bigbie — and did nothing to dispel the notion that they are waiving the white flag in light of their long slide back below .500 after such a promising start.

Florida Marlins: They did add lefty Ron Villone to the bullpen, but they apparently will do with Burnett what they did with Carl Pavano last season — ride him out and hopefully get to the playoffs, and take the draft picks when he signs elsewhere as a free agent this winter. Lowell remains, and so does Juan Encarnacion.

Chicago White Sox: They really didn’t need Burnett anyway, but could have used Baez in the bullpen. In the end, they got backup infielder Geoff Blum, who could take some time away from Joe Crede. But will all the trade talk have a negative effect in the clubhouse?

San Diego Padres: They finally found a deal they could actually complete for Nevin, but had to take back Park to get it done in a relative financial wash. Desperate for a catcher, they got two — the disappointing Miguel Olivo from Seattle and backup David Ross from Los Angeles. Joe Randa was added earlier in July to replace Sean Burroughs, but given the Padres’ many current problems, these deals aren’t going to make much of a difference.

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