By Tom Morris With a tension-filled two weeks of trade deadline build-up come and gone, a calm Wednesday afternoon aftermath leaves us mulling over who got dealt, where and why, and which teams came out winners. Some are painfully obvious: the Yankees smartly added a great, patient on-base man in Bobby Abreu, as well as a solid starter in Corey Lidle; the Reds added a handful of arms to their anemic bullpen, at least two of whom should be able to make positive impacts; the Dodgers landed a future hall-of-famer (Maddux) and a coveted defensive, .300 BA shortstop (Julio Lugo), and Texas stocked up all around the diamond. Meanwhile, a number of teams layed low and applauded, while themselves doing zip. In Boston?s case, it looks like doing nothing was smart. They have a strong core of players already, and a guy named Theo Epstein who has never given anyone a reason to second-guess him. Ditto, the Washington Nationals, who held on to one of the best in the game in Alfonso Soriano (although he pretty much gets to name his next contract). In the case of the Orioles, Astros, A?s and Angels, who all layed very, very low, standing pat was more like sitting on hands if you think about it, indecisions which may really hurt their short- and long-term futures. Whichever way you look at the past week?s wheelings and dealings,--and judging by all the online articles and blogs, there is no shortage of opinions-- there was apparently some baseball getting played the whole time, with plenty more of it to come this week as well. The Detroit Tigers held firm at their top spot, not letting the wins and losses of those other teams around the league bother them. Chicago finally curbed their snowballing slump; the Mets handed it to their nemeses, the Braves, in a weekend sweep at Shea, and the Red Sox grabbed a rabbit named Ortiz out of their caps again last night, something that?s becoming annoyingly predictable. The Yankees, meanwhile, are once again the team with their chips spread nicely across the craps table. Like last year, they are in the hunt for both the Wild-Card spot (tied for the lead) and the AL East (1 GB of Boston), and with the players they landed there?s every reason to believe the pinstripes will be on the field in October. Oh yeah, there are also these two other divisions called the REST, I mean WEST. Gosh, I almost forgot about them! I mean, how could I? They?re right there in the Standings. Fact is, in this small nation of ne?er-do-wells noone wants the lead, still, or even knows how to hold one, with 56 ? 51 (Oakland) the best a fan can get out of either the American or National League Wests. Oh well. We all know by now the two teams that survive these division-race dullfests will get throttled in an equally uneventful fashion. Here?s hoping my Top-Team Rankings this week are not nearly as boring. [ Last Week?s Rankings in Parentheses ] 1. Detroit Tigers (1) The Tigers could have quite easily fallen into a deep trance of complacency after the White Sox almosty entirely went in the tank for two weeks. But no, they held strong, undeterred, continuing what they have done all year to get here. They have four pitchers with 10 wins or more, while acquiring 1B Sean Casey from the Pirates may help them in a big way, or not much at all. Hard to tell, but it certainly was the kind of offensive impact they wanted to make, without having to give up too much in the process. Scoring 42 runs the past seven games, with a team BA in triple-crown territory also helps the line-up look pretty good, methinks. 2. New York Mets (5) The Mets made no real adjustments by Monday. Some thought they could have bolstered their bullpen, which never hurts. It makes me laugh, though, since this team has one of the best bunches of relief arms in the majors. How far will their starting arms take them is the key to the riddle. But it?s not that much of a riddle, really. This team is firing smoothly on all cylinders, just swept Atlanta for the first time in almost twenty years (!!), and play 15 of their next 18 games against sub-.500 teams. Sure, in the NL teams like that stand out like Martha Stewart at a metal concert, but that doesn?t make the Mets? schedule any less of a walk in the park. 3. New York Yankees (6) Also jumping up a few slots ?and never a team to be outdone by their Queens, NY, rivals?are the Bronx Bombers, who have been playing great ball of late (16 ? 6). Randy Johnson may still be as reliable as a coin-toss, and who knows what Jaret Wright?s return will yield, but Chien Ming-Wang has found a resurgence of form, and with luck Mike Mussina may get that 20-win season that has eluded him his career.The team may not have settled on a fifth starter, but in the AL East four is usually all you need. I can?t figure out which was a better trade: getting Abreu and Lidle or getting RID of Shawn Chacon, who makes a pitching staff worse merely for being on the roster. Six games against AAA-ball Baltimore should slightly soften an August schedule peppered with the best the AL has to offer. 4. Boston Red Sox (2) By virtue of a flip-flop week and the strong play of the NY squads, the Red Sox drop a couple slots, though #?s 2 through 6 in my list this week were almost interchangeable. The Sox may have Big Papi, whose late-inning at-bats often affect the New York Stock Exchange. But even Ortiz couldn?t stop Boston from going 4 ? 6 of late while being outscored 66 ? 47. Not good. And certainly a concern considering how their rotation had been rounding out so nicely. David Wells may be more handicap than help, and the team is now without their lynchpin of sorts, C Jason Varitek, for four weeks. This team must be thankful it has Cleveland, Tampa Bay, Kansas City and Baltimore all lined up on the schedule. 5. Minnesota Twins (3) The Twins did an amazing thing over the last seven days or so: they lost a few games. I do not lie. A 4 ? 3 record since last week would be a blessing for any team in either of the WEST divisions, but for a team that had just gone ballistic with a 34 ? 8 run, this is certainly noteworthy. I don?t think this team should be too worried. Torii Hunter is almost back from injury, and two months ago they had one foot in the grave. Now they are practically dancing on it . They are now entrenched in what will most likely be a nail-biting race with NY/Boston and Chicago for the Wild-Card. I love this game. 6. Chicago White Sox (4) Winning 4 of their last 5 helps this team, which was in danger of falling off the map due to poor play coinciding with the Twins? and Yankees? surges. But still not enough to stop them falling a couple spots in the rankings. #6 may be a tough pill to swallow for Southside fans, and we all know the White Sox are better than this (a World Series sweep does not happen by accident). Garland and Buehrle need to continue getting back on track, as does the line-up, which had been taking such a long nap one thought they?d been hanging out in the Cubs clubhouse or something.They should enjoy the five games they have against KC, ?cause the rest of August is a Best-of-the Central CD that may prove hard to listen to. 7. Los Angeles Angels (9) The Halos have been almost unanimously panned for their lack of trade activity: more specifically, not acquiring a bat to help their insufficient batting order. This may well be the last straw that broke the coffin?s back for a squad whose starting rotation should do nothing but excel over these last two months. Might be enough to surpass weak-hitting Oakland, but that?s about all, folks. LA has 16 games this month against sub-.500 teams, but 13 of those games are against division rivals. Chew on that revealingly weird stat for a minute or two ? 8. St. Louis Cardinals (7) The Cards may not deserve to be this high up on the list. They were starting to put together a streak of resurgence, un til losing 5 of 7, 6 of 10. Not good at all,but a team this talented simply should not be playing this poorly. What happened? A four-game sweep at the hands of the horrible Cubs. Ouch!That?s why they are at # 8. Plus, a .242 BA as a team the past week. An A-Ball team may have had better results, for crying out loud.This is a team in funk, plain and simple, and it simply cannot continue. Seven August games against still-in-it Cincinnati will determine where the Cards fall where they may. 9. Oakland Athletics (11) The A?s, close to last in the AL in almost every meaningful offensive category still have won 5 of their last seven, thanks to a 2.60 ERA over that time. The only way they can put it to the Angels, Rangers and Mariners is with those arms, and if just one or two of their hitters start stepping it up. Dan Haren and Esteban Loaiza need to round out the rotation, ?cause Zito is here to stay, and he and their other 11-game winner Joe Blanton can?t do it all by themselves. 10. Cincinnati Reds (10) The Reds stayed put on the Rankings, doing the one step forward, one back thing for far too long now. ( 1- 8; 7 ?2; 3 ?5 records since July 1st)You can blame that on a woeful bullpen, which should get much better after the team traded for a grab-bag of relievers. It had better get better. A 5.20 team ERA in the last eight games doesn?t get you very far. But though they are still in it, and lead the Wild-Card, these additions have to act quickly if the Reds want to hold their heads higher come Ocober. 11. Toronto Blue Jays (8) Puzzling, this team. Fought hard all season to stay within arm?s length of the Yanks and Sox. But their pitching has been scuffling of late ( 33 runs allowed last 6 games ). A.,J.Burnett is 1 ? 3 since coming off of the DL, and has been scorched a couple of times. That puts too much pressure on Halladay and a patchwork rotation. That patchwork can get threadbare real fast, and time is running out for the Blue jays to play catch-up with Minn., Chic., their division rivals 12. San Diego Padres (14) Fact is, no team is playing particularly well down this end of the list, where excellencegraciously makes way for the red carpet of Average. The Padres, though, still have the edge in the NL West. They have watched the Dodgers go through a slump (8 in a row), and now the Giants lose 9 ina row and counting. That makes the Padres look much better by default. All this despite a .250-ish BA this past week. Pitching was the glue , despite a largely disappointing Jake Peavy. Still the favorite to seal the division. 13. Arizona Diamondbacks (15) Levelled off abit (4-4) since winning 10 of 13, but still are putting together a nice run for a team not picked by many to do anything but wallow this year. Of course, the NL West democratizes the game, where anyone has a shot if they can stay 5 games under .500. The Diamondbacks are better than that, (or are they? ), which says something. Or does it? You really can?t tell in this division. 14. Seattle Mariners (Not Ranked) Seattle lost last night, to the Orioles, which is remarkable in itself. But the real truth is the M?s have a very strong pitching staff complemented by a middling line-up. And they have been quietly reversing a poor tart to the season to creep within 3 1/2 games of Oakland. Well, well, well. But the less-than-outstanding play of Felix Hernandez and Jarrod Washburn will prove to be eyesores even the best sunglasses can?t obscure. 15. Los Angeles Dodgers (Not Ranked) The Dodgers snuck in to the list by virtue of the Braves and Giants, neither of whom wanted to play well enough this past week to hold their ground. The Dodgers collapsed during an eight-game slide, but rebounded with 4 wins in a row, and 37 runs their last 5 games, to get back to within 4 games of San Diego. The Dodgers are hoping the addition of Maddux will count for something. The sunshine of LA may brighten Greg?s W-L record, or the heat wave may melt his aging bones. This team should have been much better than they are. I also should have been starting shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles when I was 18. Some things just don?t work out. Speaking of which, that?s what I need to do. Work out. Off to the gym. Two weeks of eating hot dogs, pizza, bagels and other stomach-enhancing food during my otherwise great vacation in New York City makes me feel a little exercise may do me good. Sitting in front of this computer for too long writing doesn?t help the noggin, either. This just in, Barry Bonds is still playing baseball. Funny how quickly a story gets old. Jose Canseco ?s getting more press than the future all-time HR leader. As always, keep your mind in the game, and the game on your mind.