Sports Page

There was certainly no shortage of moves not just today, but in the several days leading up to this afternoon’s non-waiver trade deadline. The dominoes started to fall when the Rangers beat out the Yankees for Cliff Lee and Dan Haren landed with the Angels, and the action hasn’t stopped since. Here’s a recap of all the major moves that were made recently…

AL East

• The defending World Champs made as many trades as anyone over the past two days. First they acquired Lance Berkman and cash from the Astros for minor leaguers Mark Melancon and Jimmy Paredes, then they pounced on Austin Kearns at the cost of a player to be named later or cash. Today they added Kerry Wood, sending Cleveland a player to be named later and cash considerations.
• The Rays responded by strengthening their bullpen with the acquisition of Chad Qualls, who cost them a player to be named later.
• Boston acquired Jarrod Saltalamacchia from the Rangers for minor leaguers Roman Mendez and Chris McGuiness, a player to be named later, and $350,000.

AL Central

• The White Sox fortified their rotation by acquiring Edwin Jackson from Arizona in exchange for Daniel Hudson and David Holmberg.
• Even with Jon Rauch doing a fine job in the interim, the Twins solidified the ninth inning by acquiring closer Matt Capps from the Nationals. They gave up Wilson Ramos and Joe Testa. 
• After suffering a string of injuries, the Tigers acquired Jhonny Peralta from the Indians for minor league lefty Giovanni Soto.

AL West

• The first pace Rangers continued to position themselves for a playoff run. With Lee and Bengie Molina already aboard, they went out and acquired Jorge Cantu from the Marlins in exchange for minor league arms Evan Reed and Omar Poveda.They also brought in Cristian Guzman, sending minor leaguers Ryan Tatusko and Tanner Roark to the Nationals. Texas also received $2MM in the deal.

NL East

• The division leading Braves added depth to their bullpen and outfield by acquiring Kyle Farnsworth and Rick Ankiel from the Royals for Jesse Chavez, Gregor Blanco, and Tim Collins. Atlanta also acquired Wilkin Ramirez from the Tigers in a minor deal.
• A few days before the actual deadline, the Phillies made a huge splash and acquired Roy Oswalt and $11MM from the Astros in exchange for J.A. Happ and prospects Anthony Gose, and Jonathan Villar. 
• The Marlins bought instead of sold, receiving lefty reliever Will Ohman from the Orioles in exchange for Rick Vanden Hurk.

NL Central

• The most complicated trade of the deadline involved three teams and four players. The Cardinals received starter Jake Westbrook and prospect Nick Greenwood, the Padres outfielder Ryan Ludwick, and the Indians prospect Corey Kluber.
• The Pirates took advantage of the Diamondbacks’ sale, acquiring Chris Snyder, minor leaguer Pedro Ciriaco, and $3MM in exchange for Bobby Crosby, D.J. Carrasco, and Ryan Church.
• After trading away Oswalt, the Astros turned around and flipped Gose to the Blue Jays for the suddenly well-traveled Brett Wallace.

NL West

• The division leading Padres added a veteran presence in Miguel Tejada, sending minor league pitcher Wynn Pelzer to Baltimore.
• Despite perceived payroll constraints, the Dodgers were one of the deadline’s most active teams. Their first move was to acquire Scott Podsednik from Kansas City for minor leaguers Lucas May and Elisaul Pimentel. They then added Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot, sending Blake DeWitt and minor leaguers Brett Wallach and Kyle Smit back to the Cubs. The final move was to bring in Octavio Dotel, surrendering James McDonald and Andrew Lambo.
• The Giants acquired a pair of arms for their bullpen. They picked up Javier Lopez from the Pirates for John Bowker and Joe Martinez, plus Ramon Ramirez from the Red Sox for minor leaguer Daniel Turpen.

The Sports Page is hosting a “man’s league-style” 16 team fantasy football league on ESPN.com this year. There are 12 available spots for our followers. All you have to do is email a short explanation (2-4 sentences) why you think we should pick you to sportspage.tumblr@gmail.com. Be creative. We’ll use these to determine who gets in and who doesn’t, unless we only get 12 replies. All owners will be chosen and notified by Aug. 18. As a bonus, the first person to submit there argument for inclusion can name the league’s fourth division.

We haven’t ironed out all the settings yet, most will be standard, but we’re probably going to do an auction draft and use a free agent acquisition budget instead of waivers. The draft date is set for Sept. 1 at 7:00, but it’s not set in stone.