Now THAT'S A Frenzy!

When comparing trade deadlines in sports, Major League Baseball's version is usually as exciting as a Tiger-less non-major golf tournament. But yesterday's (non-waiver) trade deadline produced 2 blockbuster deals that may dramatically shift the balance of power in half of the divisions in baseball.

First, the one no one saw coming as the deadline passed at 4 p.m.: Manny Ramirez to the L.A. Dodgers, Jason Bay to the Red Sox, and 4 guys named Moe to the Pirates. The A.L. East now no longer has to deal with Big Papi and Manny back-to-back, but Jason Bay is a very good hitter and fielder, and will fit in nicely with the Boston squad. Even with the Yankees improvements this week (Nady and Pudge), Boston is still the best team in the division, and should squeak by the Yanks and the Rays (who did nothing, but were close to getting Bay) to represent the East in the playoffs.

As for the Dodgers, the Ramirez acquisition puts them clearly ahead of Arizona in baseball's worst division. Adding his power to complement Andruw Jones and Jeff Kent should push this .500 team to the post-season, and it may allow them to challenge the Mets and Cubs for the NL pennant.

The other big deal of the day was Cincinnati sending Ken Griffey (please stop calling him Junior) to the White Sox. This gives Griffey his best shot yet of winning a World Series, but nothing is locked for him and Chicago. After fighting off Minnesota and Detroit for the Central crown, they will be forced to knock out at least one of Los Angeles, Boston, New York and Tampa, three of which have recent World Series championships. Kudos to the Sox for the trade, but in the deep American League, it likely won't help their chances.

And then, there's our beloved Blue Jays. Rumours say the Jays turned down a Jason Bay - Shaun Marcum/Travis Snider deal, as well as a deal with the Mariners for Raul Ibanez. At the end of the day, Toronto is not as strong a team as they were in April, what with the losses of Marcum, Aaron Hill and Dustin McGowan to injury this year. And let's be honest: they weren't that strong in April to begin with. But in a year where teams held on to future talent tighter than grim death, Toronto fell into line with the rest of the major leagues. We just need to hope that Snider is everything the Pirates wanted - and soon.