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A few weeks ago, Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports wrote an article that had a lot of the San Diego Padre fans up in arms. The day that article was released, I had one San Diego media member tell me, “I’d be upset if I actually knew who he was.” Ouch.

The article Morosi wrote was prior to the Padres’ series against the Atlanta Braves in late July. He was of the opinion that the Braves were going to be a playoff team while the Padres were going to fade right out of the playoff picture.

Since that article was released, the Padres are 8-6, hold a two game lead in the NL West, and currently hold the National League’s best record. As for the Atlanta Braves, they are 7-7 and they too hold a two-game lead in their division (NL East) over the Philadelphia Phillies. While a writer has his opinion, I have a lot of doubt that Mr. Morosi did a lot of research before filing that article, but he’s entitled to his opinion right? Just don’t expect me to agree with him.

I’m not going to spend my time bashing him for multiple reasons, though I will give you one reason: It’s really not worth my time.

What I will say is the Padres team that he said, so easily, would fade, has continued to hold on to their lead in the NL West and has played like contenders most of the year. Not to mention they have seven wins in eight tries against the second place Giants, putting them in a good position in head-to-head battles. They’ll need every bit of momentum as they begin a three-game series in San Francisco starting on August 13.

While they have the upper hand when it comes to their own division, it’s the rest of the National League that they will have to contend with come playoff time.

Bringing in Miguel Tejada from Baltimore hasn’t proved to be quite the move the Padres thought it was going to be, but adding Ryan Ludwick from St. Louis has definitely paid off. While Tejada is only batting .214 since coming over from the Orioles, Ludwick is batting .250 and has provided some protection to first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. Since Ludwick’s acquisition, the Padres are averaging almost five runs per game (24 runs in five games).

Everyone wants to talk about the Padres offense and how they are one of the worst in baseball. While that is accurate, ranking 25th out of 30 teams, they more than make up for it with their pitching. Both in the rotation as well as out of the bullpen.

The Padres, as a team, have baseball’s best pitching staff with a combined 3.28 ERA. Right behind them are the Giants (3.41), Cardinals (3.45), Braves (3.56), and Rays (3.59), two of which (Giants, Rays) the Padres have winning records against this season.

Say what you want about them as a team offensively, but let’s not forget that they managed just one hit against Giants right-hander Jonathan Sanchez earlier this year and still won the game 1-0. In baseball, you don’t have to win pretty, you just have to win. There’s no BCS computer ranking strength of schedule, there are no Alabama against San Jose States on the schedule.

Out of the bullpen, the Padres are probably the strongest team in baseball when they have a lead in the late innings. They can bring out guys like Ryan Webb (3.05), Joe Thatcher (1.59), Luke Gregerson (2.38), or Ernesto Frieri, who’s yet to be scored on in nine relief appearances. Those four guys can get you right to closer Heath Bell (1.93 ERA, 31 saves) who’s about as automatic as they come.

The Padres don’t want to play the role of Cinderella looking for their missing glass slipper, but they will come into the playoffs with a chip on their shoulder the size of the Grand Canyon. They don’t mind being doubted; it’s been happening all season long, but when you have a team that is out to prove something, it makes them dangerous.

The only other time the Padres have been in a better position this far into the season was back in 1998. The same season they went to the World Series.

You can have the best hitters money can buy, but it’s been proven over the last 10 years that good pitching will overcome good hitting any day of the week. Ask the Yankees what happened when they met the Anaheim, now Los Angeles, Angels in the playoffs a few years ago.

They have the players in place, they have the pitching staff, and they have the motivation to go deep into the playoffs. Whether they go to the World Series or not will depend solely on putting everything together at the right time.

Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports wrote an article this past Wednesday with his playoff predictions. In it, Brown has the Padres facing the Cincinnati Reds in the first round of the National League Division Series. The other National League game would be between the Giants and Braves.

Assuming Brown is correct and things end the way he has them going, the Padres, with their big league leading 3.23 combined ERA, would be facing the Reds and their offense which ranks fourth in the majors. It’s a matchup that would prove to be a lot of fun to watch but would eventually end with the Padres moving on.

The next two teams facing off to play San Diego, San Francisco, and Atlanta are both favorable match-ups in a seven game series especially with the Padres having home field advantage.

The Padres are 7-1 against the Giants and 1-2 against Atlanta. They have the pitching to win either series, especially if they get 6’10” right-hander Chris Young back in time for the playoffs. Having him anchoring the rotation with Latos, Garland, Richard, and either Correia or LeBlanc, gives the Padres a decidedly strong advantage.

While the playoffs are still a few months away, it never hurts to look ahead and talk about what might happen. The San Diego Padres have the best record in the National League, and as long as that continues, they should be considered the favorites. Offense isn’t everything, they’ve proven that pitching and defense can keep them on track to their ultimate goal—a World Series championship.

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All day yesterday, the attention of Texas Rangers fans was set on a courthouse in Fort Worth, Texas, where the auction of their team was about to take place.

On one hand, you had a group headed by Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan and sports attorney Chuck Greenberg going up against a group headed by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Houston businessman Jim Crane.

There were fireworks inside and outside of the courtroom—even a very heated confrontation between attorneys for both sides.

As the hours dragged on, so did the delays and recesses, as both sides tried to jockey for position. It was a chess match, with each trying to figure out what move their opponent would make next.

When the smoke cleared, it was Thursday at one o’clock in the morning, and it was finally over. The bidding had ceased, and it was the Greenberg-Ryan camp that came out victorious. Even in defeat, Mark Cuban was gracious, congratulating both Greenberg and Ryan, saying “Go Rangers” on Twitter early Thursday morning.

With the auction finally coming to a close, the focus of the Rangers’ front office can finally turn back to the team—a team that is currently in first place in the American League’s Western Division.

Not only will the focus now change to where it should have been all along—on a ball club that is headed for a probable run to the World Series—but also to the beginning of internal conversations about whether or not they can bring back two big pieces of their team for the next few years. One is outfielder Vladimir Guerrero, the other, left-handed pitcher Cliff Lee.

Rangers GM Jon Daniels chatted with fans on ESPN Tuesday afternoon and was asked about the aforementioned players as well as the re-signing of outfielder Josh Hamilton.

Daniels said he has notified the agents for both Guerrero and Lee to let them know that they are interested in re-signing their clients. Those conversations, however, will not take place until after the 2010 season is over.

As for Hamilton, who isn’t eligible for free agency until 2012, he was offered a four-year, $24 million extension back in 2009 but turned it down, according to SI.com’s Jon Heyman.

Ryan, during his testimony early on, told the court that the Rangers might have a hard time re-signing Hamilton, especially if he won the AL MVP Award. He testified that the contract total could go well over $35 million when the team began negotiations of a contract extension.

While it’s not out of the realm of possibility for the Rangers to bring back both Guerrero and Lee for next season and beyond, most think that Lee will test free agency after the 2010 season is complete. His agent told ESPN’s Buster Olney back in May, “We’re five months away from free agency, so I think that’s the most likely scenario at this point.”

The trade that brought the left-hander to Texas was done right under the nose of the defending World Series champion New York Yankees. Normally, what the Yankees go after, they get.

To be defeated, especially for a guy like Lee, isn’t going to leave the Bronx Bombers with a good taste in their mouths. They want the left-hander in pinstripes; there’s no question about that. When it looked like he was headed to the Yankees a few weeks ago, Lee and his wife actually met with Yankees pitcher and former Cleveland teammate CC Sabathia and his wife to look at where they might end up living.

The Rangers do have one thing in their corner: an ace in their back pocket, and his name is Nolan Ryan. He’s a guy the players respect, not only because he is a Hall of Famer, but also because he’s a former player and knows what the game is like. While he shouldn’t be given complete credit for the turnaround of the former joke of the AL West, he is a big part of the team’s success so far this season.

If you’re a guy like Lee and you know you’re going to be playing for a guy like Ryan, it would make any pitcher think twice about playing anywhere else. Make no mistake—I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to hear that Ryan stayed in touch with Lee after this season comes to a close and made it clear to him just how much they want him back in a Rangers uniform.

I talked to CBS 11’s Melissa Newton via Twitter who told me, “Chuck Greenberg told me last night, ‘we still have money, and we’re still going to go after Cliff Lee.'”

If the Rangers want to get a long-term deal done with the left-hander, they are going to need to include a no-trade clause in his contract—something Lee says he’s going to require. “I’m going to do everything I can to have that in there,” Lee told the media during his introductory press conference with the Rangers. “I want to have some control of my life.”

During that same press conference, Lee was asked about free agency: “I don’t know…there are so many ifs and buts. There’s no telling who is going to be out there trying to sign me. There are so many variables and unknowns to give you a really good answer.”

The Rangers are a better team with both of these guys in the mix. They were good before Lee was traded here to Texas, but they’re that much better with him in the fold, and Nolan Ryan, Jon Daniels, and the rest of the front office have to know that.

All Rangers fans—and players—can do is speculate at this point. No one knows where Lee is going to sign or even what he prefers at this point. All they need to be concerned with is making a push through the playoffs to their first ever trip to the World Series.

After that, Daniels and Ryan will do everything they can to bring both Guerrero and Lee back, and I don’t believe the Rangers will have a single problem with giving Lee the no-trade clause for which he’ll be asking.

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This is the day a lot of people have been waiting for since the decision came down that the Texas Rangers would go up for auction. At this moment it’s a two team race, so to speak, as to who will be the new owners of the Texas Rangers. The two teams are groups headed by Attorney Chuck Greenberg and Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan up against Houston businessman Jim Crane and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban .

What we learned earlier today was that the group led by Crane and Cuban had the highest bid over Greenberg and Ryan by more than $25 million. At that point, the attorney’s for the Greenberg and Ryan group wanted 12 hours to look over the Crane and Cuban bid. The judge gave them one hour and asked that they come back and tell him where they were.

If you think this has been a clean battle, you’d be dead wrong. Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News, Dan Kaplan of the Sports Business Journal, Bob Nightengale of USA Today, and Brian Dolgin with the Texas Rangers are all on hand, and all have reported several heated arguments between the attorneys from both sides.

Dolgin and Kaplan both reported, via Twitter, that Louis Streubeck and Thomas Lauria, respective attorneys for both sides, got into a shouting match and cussed at each other during a confrontation in the hallway of the courtroom.

We may not know the resolution of the proceedings today but what we do know is Major League Baseball is not a fan of Cuban and does not want to see him become the owner of any team let alone the Texas Rangers. After his attempt at buying the Chicago Cubs from The Tribune Company, Cuban wrote on his blog , “On the flip side, my dedication to winning could also make my job of getting approval with MLB baseball much harder.”

Whether Major League Baseball approves Cuban and Crane as the new owners of the Texas Rangers is still yet to be seen. However, if the creditors get their way, they will urge the presiding judge to award the Cuban group for no other reason than to get more money.

If you ask a lot of the Ranger fans, at least those not after the “big name” owner, they’ll tell you that the best ownership group for the foreseeable future is the group led by Ryan. However, it might not be so far fetched to think that Cuban can’t bring a championship to North Texas. He has the kind of money that can bring in the players needed for the Rangers to compete in not only the AL West but also in the American League year in and year out. He can take the money from ticket sales, concessions, and advertising among other avenues, and put it back into the players on the field.

I’m not saying Ryan won’t do the same as he’s been a big part of the rebuilding process of this team over the years, however,  Cuban isn’t a bad owner and Dallas Maverick fans will tell you the exact same thing.

What those around Major League Baseball object to is his constant questioning of NBA officials as well as the members of the NBA front office as well. Major League Commissioner Bud Selig gets questioned enough by those around baseball, having Cuban’s outspoken manner might not go over so well in baseball circles.

Whatever comes of the court proceedings over the next few days, I believe the Rangers will be in good, and capable, hands going forward.

One thing you can take away from both Cuban and Ryan is the fact that both of these guys will be committed to winning and both will show that as the owners. I’m not going to say one is better than the other, but what I will say is one knows baseball, the other has admitted at previous times that he is not a baseball guy. I’ll leave you to figure out which is which.

The bids are in and Cuban is the lead horse at this moment with a bid of $335 million, much to the chagrin of Ryan and Greenberg who’s offer currently stands at $320 million. There’s been no response from the Greenberg/Ryan camp and the judge has said that he’s willing to work through the night to have a resolution by morning.

Though there’s been some talk of stopping for the night, the two sides have ordered themselves dinner to be delivered to the courthouse so it looks like they are ready to work through the night as well.

This is a long ways from over and, if today was any indicator, there are more fireworks still to come.

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Although the non-waiver trade deadline has passed, don’t think for a second that teams aren’t still looking at ways to make themselves better before the month of August comes to a close.

What’s next for a lot of general managers is the waiver wire. For those of you who don’t know what a waiver wire deal is, most teams will put their players through waivers and other teams have the ability to put claims in on the players they’re looking at.

From there, players that have claims put up on them will either be taken off waivers and a trade will be worked out, or the player remains on waivers and goes to whatever team puts the claim in on him.

Often times, there are as many deals struck after the trade deadline than before. Players that weren’t moved before the deadline aren’t out of the woods yet. Deals that weren’t struck before the deadline passed this past Saturday could very well get done before the end of August.

Here is a list of players that are the most likely to be moved in a waiver wire deal.

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With Major League Baseball now 48 hours removed from the non-waiver trade deadline, we look back at teams that either made a move that didn’t help them enough or teams that didn’t make a move that should have.

We’ll go through six different teams who will be left out of the playoff races strictly because they didn’t do enough to help their team down the stretch.

With all the rumors and all the talk going on from the start of Saturday morning all the way through the absolute insanity of the final hour, it showed us who was serious about making a run this year and who just didn’t do enough to get them back into their divisional race.

There are several races still up for grabs, and while there were a few teams that didn’t need to do anything to keep themselves in the race, or even overcome the divisional leader, there were teams that made moves that didn’t quite help them enough.

Here’s my list of six teams that either didn’t help themselves enough or didn’t help themselves at all.

Begin Slideshow

11:00am CDT – Update on the three-team deal. The Padres would get outfielder Ryan Ludwick from the Cardinals, Jake Westbrook goes from the Indians to the Cardinals and the Padres would send one prospect each to the Indians and Cardinals.

10:58am CDT – Tom Krasovic reporting that the San Diego Padres are the third team involved in the Jake Westbrook deal with Jake Ludwick going to San Diego and Westbrook going from Cleveland to St. Louis.

10:57am CDT – Another deal I failed to mention from last night was the Yankees acquiring Austin Kearns from the Cleveland Indians.

10:56am CDT – Looks like the Adam Dunn deal to the White Sox is dead according to Joe Cowley.

10:52am CDT – Anthony Castrovince, MLB.com beat writer for the Cleveland Indians, reports that there is now a third team involved in the Jake Westbrook to the Cardinals deal. More details still to come.

10:51am CDT – The White Sox apparently called the Dodgers about acquiring Manny Ramirez. According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, the White Sox wanted the Dodgers to pay all but $1 million of what was left of Ramirez’s contract with no player coming back.

10:49am CDT – The Arizona Diamondbacks still would like to move Kelly Johnson or Adam LaRoche according to Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports.

10:46am CDT – The San Diego Padres are apparently deep in talks with the Cardinals about outfielder Ryan Ludwick. The Padres have been in need of an outfield bat and his .281 batting average to go along with 11 home runs would fit the bill.

10:39am CDT – Let’s get to the news of the morning so far.

Adam Dunn is still a member of the Washington Nationals and apparently the White Sox are none too happy with how things have transpired thus far.

The Arizona Diamondbacks traded catcher Chris Snyder last night for cash and a player to be named later to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates say they have no interest in flipping Snyder to another team.

One deal this morning is close and it’s the St. Louis Cardinals who are very close to landing Cleveland Indians’ right-hander Jake Westbrook. Several sources are reporting it but the deal is not complete. Westbrook is scheduled to pitch for the Indians in a few hours from now so we’ll see what happens.

10:37am CDT – Good afternoon baseball fans and welcome to one of the most exciting days of the baseball season, maybe even more so than the All-Star festivities. It’s the trade deadline.

This is the day where all of us fans sit on the edge of our seats waiting to see what kind of deals our teams are going to make. We want certain players, we hear certain rumors, we get our hopes up, and we wait.

We’ll have all of the breaking news of the day and all of the rumors from now until the end of the deadline later this afternoon. So hang with us all day, join in on the conversation, and we’ll keep you up to date all day long.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

10:54am CDT – Bob Nightengale of USA Today says the White Sox are now apparently working with the Astros on a deal for right-hander Brett Myers.

Myers is a guy that I thought the San Diego Padres would go after but I haven’t heard a single thing on that front. However, we didn’t know that the Padres had gotten in late for Roy Oswalt after the deal to the Phillies had already been announced. You just never know who’s really in or out on these deals.

10:53am CDT – While Rosenthal originally said that the “Yankees out on Adam Dunn” was a warning to the Nationals, he says that other sources tell him that the Yankees are indeed out on Dunn.

10:45am CDT – The New York Yankees aren’t “out” on Adam Dunn after all. There were several reports late yesterday that the Yankees no longer had interest in the first baseman but Ken Rosenthal said it was a “stop messing around” warning to the Nationals.

10:38am CDT – Ken Rosenthal reports that the Diamondbacks are reluctant to move reliever Aaron Heilman. Rosenthal says there’s also interest in Chad Qualls and Adam LaRoche who could both be moved after the Adam Dunn trade is completed.

10:25am CDT – SI.com’s Jon Heyman seems to contradict Peter Gammons. Gammons tweeted that the Nationals weren’t that excited about Edwin Jackson while Heyman says the Nationals “love him.”

10:16am CDT – Ken Rosenthal says the Nationals are shopping Adam Dunn to other clubs as well. Rosenthal says the Nationals want to know if they can do better than Edwin Jackson.

10:14am CDT – ESPN’s Jayson Stark reports that the White Sox are on the verge of landing Diamondbacks’ right-hander Edwin Jackson and admits that Adam Dunn could be in the plans as well.

10:04am CDT – Joe Cowley reports that the Hudson for Edwin Jackson trade is on hold. I imagine they White Sox and Nationals are working out the particulars to send Adam Dunn to Chicago.

10:02am CDT – Rosenthal tweets that the deal is in the hands of the Washington Nationals.

10:00am CDT – Ken Rosenthal checks in on the White Sox, Diamondbacks trade and says that it could now be a three-way deal with Adam Dunn going to Chicago and Edwin Jackson going to the Nationals.

However, Peter Gammons tweeted that the Nationals weren’t that interested in Jackson so I’m not sure where this stands at this point.

9:51am CDT – Hold everything, folks. According to White Sox beat writer Joe Cowley, the talks between the Diamondbacks and White Sox have been put on hold and apparently Sox general manager Ken Williams has an even bigger deal that’s being worked out. Cowley says, if complete, the Jackson deal is off.

9:28am CDT – According to Bob Nightengale from USA Today, officials from both the White Sox and Diamondbacks say they are close to a deal that would send Edwin Jackson to the White Sox.

If this deal goes through, watch and see if the Sox don’t turn and send Jackson to the Nationals for Adam Dunn.

8:47am CDT – MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat reports that the holdup on the deal that would send Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot to the Los Angeles Dodgers is the amount of money the Cubs are willing to send to cover the two contracts.

7:44am CDT – I forgot to mention the Minnesota Twins acquiring Matt Capps from the Nationals for catching prospect Wilson Ramos. Capps will be the new closer for the Twins.

7:35am CDT – SI.com’s Jon Heyman reports that the White Sox are close to a deal for Edwin Jackson. Heyman says the Sox will probably send Daniel Hudson plus one other prospect to Arizona.

If this deal gets done, it could mean that Jackson will then be on his way to the Nationals for Adam Dunn. We’ll have to wait and see.

7:31am CDT – The Chicago White Sox could still be after Adam Dunn but doing so in a roundabout way. The Sox have contacted the Arizona Diamondbacks about right-hander Edwin Jackson. SI.com’s Jon Heyman says the Sox, if they land Jackson, could then flip him to the Nationals in return for Dunn.

7:26am CDT – The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired outfielder Scott Podsednik from the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday, but it looks like they’re not done dealing. According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, the Dodgers and Cubs are discussing a deal that would send left-hander Ted Lilly and infielder Ryan Theriot to Los Angeles. It’s not known whether the deal is close at this point.

With just over 24 hours to go before Major League Baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline, there are still plenty of rumors that are flying around. There are still names out there that are available and teams that still need to make a move.

We saw a lot of late movement yesterday as both the Rangers and the Padres both made trades to strengthen their ball clubs.

The Padres acquired shortstop Miguel Tejada from Baltimore for a minor league pitcher and the Rangers landed Florida Marlins infielder Jorge Cantu while optioning struggling first baseman Chris Davis to Triple-A.

We’ll keep track of all the movers and shakers today as there are sure to be even bigger trades made today.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

10:47am CDT – Roy Oswalt just called ESPN and wants his own one hour special to announce his “decision.”

10:44am CDT – Ken Rosenthal reports that Jonathan Singleton is NOT in the deal and that the money coming back to the Phillies is less than $12 million.

10:42pm CDT – The ball is still in Oswalt’s court. The Astros are on the schedule today but he is expected on the hill tomorrow.

10:26am CDT – ESPN’s Jayson Stark has an update on the pending Roy Oswalt trade. The Astros would receive Triple-A pitcher J.A. Happ and two prospects in the deal and would send Roy Oswalt and $12 million to the Phillies.

10:21am CDT – There’s still interest in Cleveland Indians’ right-hander Fausto Carmona but Ken Rosenthal says the chances of the Indians trading him is “one in a million.”

10:19am CDT – ESPN’s Jayson Stark reports that if Jonathan Singleton isn’t in the deal from the Phillies, another player that has been discussed is first baseman prospect Matthew Rizzotti who’s hitting .364 in Double-A.

10:16am CDT – A quick note on the New York Yankees from Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. Even though catcher Jorge Posada is dealing with injuries, Rosenthal says the Yankees are unlikely to trade for a catcher before the deadline. They are also not confident about landing first baseman Adam Dunn from the Nationals.

10:08am CDT – ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick checks in on the pending Roy Oswalt trade. Crasnick says that another name Houston has talked about is Jonathan Singleton.

10:04am CDT – Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports notes that Corey Hart hasn’t started in over a week and that the odds of him being traded at this point are slim.

9:49am CDT – ESPN’s Jayson Stark reports that while there isn’t a former deadline set for Roy Oswalt to make his decision on the trade, both him and Triple-A pitcher J.A. Happ are scheduled to pitch tomorrow so both teams would like to have a decision today.

9:41am CDT – A lot of San Diego Padre fans are waiting to see what general manager Jed Hoyer is going to do. There are those around San Diego who are under the impression there aren’t going to be any moves prior to Saturday, that all of the moves the team makes will come in August.

The Dodgers made a move yesterday, picking up Scott Podsednik from the Kansas City Royals. Now we’ll see how the Giants, as well as the Padres, respond to that.

9:32AM CDT – Danny Knobler of CBS Sports weighs in on the pending Roy Oswalt trade. He said that though Astros’ general manager Drayton McClane has killed an Oswalt deal before (2007 to the Mets) it doesn’t look like that will happen this time around.

9:15am CDT – Amy Nelson of ESPN has an interested note on the pending Oswalt trade.

“Phils would need 2 compensate Oswalt 4 waiving no trade, & also 4 no income tax in TX. imagine that’d be part of $ discussions.”

9:05am CDT – Ken Rosenthal reports that the Roy Oswalt to the Phillies deal is a three-for-one deal and that Triple-A pitcher J.A. Happ is part of the deal. Rosenthal also says that the Astros are going to pay a “significant amount” of Oswalt’s remaining contract which is more than $23 million.

8:53am CDT – Funny little tidbit from Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan, funny enough for me to pass it along.

“Oswalt’s checklist: 1) Approve deal to Philadelphia. 2) Prepare for Cliff Lee comparisons the rest of the season. 3) Weep accordingly.”

8:51am CDT – Ken Rosenthal tweets what we’ve already known but just to confirm that a deal is in place pending Roy Oswalt’s approval.

8:47am CDT – SI.com’s Jon Heyman says he’s hearing that the Astros are sending a lot of money to Philadelphia to help cover what’s left of Oswalt’s contract. That will definitely help the Phillies as far as payroll over the next year or two.

8:45am CDT – Quick note on the Prince Fielder to the Rangers rumor that surfaced yesterday. Looks like that fell apart quicker than the rumor started. Not sure the Ranger will be willing to give up what Milwaukee is asking.

Speaking of the Brewers, with all the rumors that surrounded Corey Hart going to the Giants, it seems now that Hart will end up staying put unless the Brewers lower the price tag. I don’t see the Giants trading Jonathan Sanchez and that’s what Milwaukee wants.

8:40am CDT – Seems the only way the Astros trade Brett Myers is if Roy Oswalt nixes the trade to Philadelphia, according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. Rosenthal also says that Cubs’ left-hander Ted Lilly is the best left-handed pitcher on the market and that infielder Ryan Theriot could be traded as well.

8:34am CDT – Speaking of Ted Lilly, the Mets are unlikely to land the Cubs’ left-hander because they are unwilling to pick up Lilly’s remaining $4.37 million plus give up prospects as well.

8:10 a.m. CDT— SI.com’s Jon Heyman says the Astros apparently told the Mets they are wanting to hang on to right-hander Brett Myers especially with Roy Oswalt likely on his way out. The Mets apparently preferred Myers to Cubs’ left-hander Ted Lilly.

8:03 a.m. CDT— While the day is still young and there’s a lot more rumors to come today, I’m curious to get your take on which has been the bigger deal so far. Was it Cliff Lee to Texas? Dan Haren to the Angels? Or will it be Roy Oswalt to Philadelphia, IF he approves it? Which of the three pitchers will have the most success with their new teams?

7:49 a.m. CDT— Joel Sherman of the New York Post has the framework for the Oswalt deal. Seems the two teams looked at the Jake Peavy deal when he was traded from San Diego to Chicago last year. A pitcher still under contract and money left for four pitching prospects.

7:47 a.m. CDT— While Roy Oswalt is the hot topic this morning, there is other trade news going on today. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick thinks the Mets will be able to trade outfielder Jeff Francoeur sometime in August as he’s expected to clear waivers.

7:45 a.m. CDT— While we wait for Roy Oswalt to make his decision sometime today, SI.com’s Jon Heyman reports that the Phillies had been discussing J.A. Happ, Vance Worley, and two younger pitchers. Could be the players heading to Houston in return for Oswalt.

Also, Ken Davidoff reports that Oswalt had told friends he would not require a team to pick up his 2012 option. Seems we’ll see if he holds true to that statement.

Good morning baseball fans. Another day of trade rumors is upon us as we’re just two days away from baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline which comes up this coming Saturday.

We’ll get this started quickly as there’s one report that broke late last night on the Roy Oswalt front.

According to several sources, the Phillies and Astros intensified trade talks and eventually came to an agreement on the players, money, etc. The only thing that everyone is waiting for is the decision from Roy Oswalt as to whether he’ll waive his no-trade or whether he’ll opt to stay in Houston and hope they find another suitor.

That’s where we’re starting today. We’ll post updates on this and much more as the day wears on.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

A week ago today, about this time of night, rumors started flying that the Astros and Phillies were in negotiations that would send right-hander Roy Oswalt to the City of Brotherly Love.

The talks ended up fizzling as Oswalt demanded that his $16 million option for the 2012 season be picked up by whoever acquires him.

That turned the Phillies off and the talks ended up going cold.

A day or so later, it was the St. Louis Cardinals that ended up being the front-runner and it looked like Oswalt would be headed to another National League Central team within days. Even Oswalt seemed to embrace becoming a Cardinal, even telling the Astros that he wouldn’t require them to pick up his option for 2012 as he had demanded the Phillies do just days earlier.

Here we are, a week later, and the Cardinals are now out of the race leaving the Phillies as the front-runner once again.

According to ESPN’s Jayson Stark , the Phillies and Astros have once again intensified talks over Oswalt. There are a few different opinions from a few different national writers and those opinions seem to be that the two sides will be at odds over who is going to pick up the majority of what’s left on his contract.

Not only that, but the Phillies have apparently been looking into other options which include Ted Lilly, Jake Westbrook, and Fausto Carmona.

It seems to me that these rumors keep popping up but don’t seem to have a leg to stand on. The Phillies have to know that Oswalt doesn’t want to play for them and doesn’t want to wear their jersey before the deadline comes. The decision they have to make at this point is predicated on whether or not they are willing to give up at least three prospects on top of adding on payroll for next season and beyond.

At this point, we’ll have to wait and see if the talks go from “intense” to “hot and heavy.” Until that time, I’m going to look at these talks in a skeptical light.

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Update: (8:20pm CDT) The two minor leaguers heading to the Kansas City Royals are catcher Lucas May and pitcher Elisaul Pimentel.

According to ESPN’s Jayson Stark , the Kansas City Royals have traded outfielder Scott Podsednik to the Los Angeles Dodgers in return for two minor leaguers, though the names of those minor leaguers have yet to be released.

A few days ago, it seemed like the entire NL West was after the former Chicago White Sox outfielder but the Padres were quickly taken out of the mix by Tom Krasovic of AOL Fanhouse.

Earlier today, several writers were saying the Dodgers and Giants were still in it, but that the Dodgers were making a big push for him.

Podsednik is enjoying a great year so far, hitting .309 with five home runs and 44 runs driven in.

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