The trading deadline passed at 4:00 this afternoon. The Yankees picked up Bobby Abreu and Corey Lidle for four minor leaguers, none of whom is considered to be among the Yankees top prospects. The Red Sox countered by doing...nothing.

Actually, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Theo isn't one to make a trade for the sake of making a trade. He would only make a deal if he felt like he was improving the team and wouldn't trade any of the Sox prized prospects for a number 4 or 5 pitcher.

I think the Sox are hoping that their big upgrades in the last two months will be the return of David Wells and Tim Wakefield. Wells pitched against Cleveland tonight and didn't fare well, giving up 8 runs in 4.2 innings. He did look healthy, however. He mostly seemed to be missing locations and didn't seem to be laboring in throwing 96 pitches. Hopefully a second start will prove to be better.

As we get to August 1, there are essentially four teams battling for two playoff spots (assuming the Tigers don't pull a monumental collapse). The Sox and Yankees will be going for the AL East, while the Sox, Yankees, Twins and White Sox are all within a couple of games of each other for the wild card spot. It's going to be really fun to watch what happens over the next two months.

Other than the Yankees trade, there weren't too many other big deals. Carlos Lee went from the Brewers to the Rangers and future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux moved from Wrigley to Dodger Stadium. Probably the biggest surprise was that Alfonso Soriano stayed put with the Nationals. Most of the experts thought he would move somewhere.