Hello and welcome to another Wednesday of deep thoughts. Monday night, I watched the Angels obliterate Roy Oswalt. It is clear that RoyO is not the pitcher he once was. I am sure other Ranger fans that watched the Angels offensive explosion, hoped a deal for another arm was in the works. As the clock ticked down on the trade deadline, it appeared that the Rangers would miss out on a deal. But, with just a few minutes remaining, the Rangers pulled off a deal for Ryan Dempster. I was pleasantly surprised with the deal for Dempster as I figured that Texas would have to pull Ogando from the pen to fill a spot in the rotation. The other move the Rangers made was to grab Geovany Soto from the Cubs. Soto is a definite upgrade defensively from Torrealba and Napoli and of course is very familiar with Demptster. The Rangers are clinging to a 3 game lead over the Angels, but watching the Angels this week, it is clear that the Rangers must step up their play if they want to stay in first place. Did you notice that Albert Pujols hit his 19^th and 20^th HR of the season on Tuesday? Anyone want to bet that he does not end up with 35 for the season? Another safe bet is Mike Trout winning the AL MVP and the AL ROY. The rookie scored 32 runs in July to go with 10 HRs for the month. The runs scored ties the rookie record and the HRs is a new record. To be honest, unless Josh Hamilton gets very hot, the Rangers just don’t appear to have the firepower to match the Angels. But, as we have seen…hot streaks come and go. With all of the trading activity in this division, what did the A’s do to keep up with the leaders? Nothing…We will soon see if the A’s have enough to talent to snag a playoff spot. The AL West is playing great baseball and this race will be very interesting to watch.

Another team was busy at the trade deadline…the Pittsburgh Pirates grabbed Gaby Sanchez from the Marlins  and Chad Qualls from the Yankees for Casey McGehee. Sanchez and Qualls join Travis Snider and Wandy Rodriguez representing talent obtained on the cheap to help the Pirates make a postseason run. I am not sure if these moves will be pivotal for the Pirates, but I am sure that fans in Oakland and Cleveland would have enjoyed seeing their ownership make some attempt to improve their team’s chances for playing after the regular season. AJ Burnett looks ready for the postseason after throwing a one hitter Tuesday night. This Pirate team is fun to watch and really has a chance to do something this year. For the record, I think that Travis Snider will help Pittsburgh this season.

I like Snider and think his hard working approach will serve him will with the Pirates. His twitter handle is: Travis Snider @lunchboxhero45

The other big trade news was in the NL West. The Giants acquired Hunter Pence from the Phillies. I got a kick out of reading Philly fan’s reaction to this trade. “Pence’s offensive numbers are hollow.”  “Pence is a terrible outfielder”. “Good riddance to Pence, he was not worth the money.” I know it has been a tough year in Philly, but to blame the team’s struggles on Pence seems just a bit unfair. Without Utley and Howard for most of the year, Pence simply did not have enough help. The good news for Philly fan…one of the players obtained in the Pence deal is a very good player. Tommy Joseph is a AA catcher that is actually the nephew of a buddy of mine. Joseph is considered one of the best catching prospects in the minors. He had 22 HR’s last year and I suspect he will be very happy to hitting in Philly vs the cavernous Giant home park.

Here is a write up on Joseph: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1279701-tommy-joseph-full-scouting-report-on-prospect-dealt-for-hunter-pence

 If you take a look at the results of the Pence trade, the Giants finally have a lineup that can score runs. With Melky Cabrera, Buster Posey, Pence and the Panda…this can work. If Lincecum can figure out his issues, The Giants will be a tough team to beat. Of course, the Dodgers will have something to say about this race. Although the Dodgers were unable to grab an additional arm, they still are much improved with Greinke added to their rotation and Hanley at 3B and Victorino in the OF. Of course, Harvey would want me to point out that the DBacks dominated the Dodgers Tuesday night. Although the Snakes did not do much to upgrade their team, they did add a quality young bat in Chris Johnson.  This looks like another three team race, but my guess is the added offense in San Francisco will be tough to beat. Of course, it would be better for the Giants if the bearded one was healthy…

It is no secret that I am a Cowboys fan. It has been frustrating to see talented teams in Dallas underachieve each year. I was hoping that this might the year that things quietly came together for my team. I should have known better…Jerry Jones is on record of telling a group of fans at training camp that he looks forward to beating the Giants’ ass this year. I understand that Jerry was probably responding to former Cowboy TE Bennett that is now a Giant…Bennett announced last week that he just wanted to “kick those guys’ asses”. He apparently has some “ill feelings” from his time in Dallas. Well, Martellus, there are plenty of Cowboy fans that have some ill feeling toward you as well. Great things were expected of the former Aggie, but Bennett was a major disappointment…which brings me back to Jerry. If I was the owner of the Cowboys, the last thing I would want to do is poke the Giants. I have tried to forget most of last year, but didn’t the Giants beat the Cowboys twice and win the Super Bowl? Hey Jerry, just lay low and take it one game at a time…

I have been enjoying the bits and pieces of the Olympics that I have watched…but am curious what is going on with the athletes in badminton. I admit that this is not really a sport that I would normally pay much attention to…but what the hell? How do you show up for a once in a lifetime opportunity and try to lose a match so your pairing is more favorable? The ideals of the Olympics are pretty straight forward. Honor and integrity are assumed requirements for all involved. To intentionally lose is beyond poor form…it is idiotic. Formal complaints have been filed against 8 athletes and new single elimination rules will undoubtedly be instituted in the future.

Now...this guy is crazy!

That is all I have today, but I will leave you with a bit of Jack Handey:

“My young son asked me what happens after we die. I told him we get buried under a bunch of dirt and worms eat our bodies. I guess I should have told him the truth - that most of us go to Hell and burn eternally - but I didn't want to upset him.”

“There's nothing so tragic as seeing a family pulled apart by something as simple as a pack of wolves.”

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a few deep thoughts of your own...