Trade deadline time can be one of the most interesting times of year for a baseball fan.  Is my team going to do anything?  Who can we get?  What should we give up?  Any opinions vary greatly.  A trade can produce positive and negative reactions from those who follow their teams.  Part of the reason is because, like the draft, it is a crap shoot.  Who knew that the Atlanta Braves would get a future Hall of Fame pitcher by trading Doyle Alexander to the Tigers in 1987.  After all, John Smoltz was 22nd round draft pick who was 4-10 with a 5.68 ERA in AA at the time of the trade.  By the way, as a Twins fan, I'm REALLY glad that trade was made as we did not have to face Smoltz - except in the 1991 series - throughout his career.  The Tigers did OK in that trade. Alexander went 9-0 down the stretch that year to help the Tigers win the East (although he got pummeled in the playoffs by that upstart team in Minnesota!) and was an All Star for them in 1988.  So while it appears that Houston got a leg up on the A's with the Kazmir trade, no one knows for sure.  Maybe in 3 years Jacob Nottingham will be the next Josh Willingham - hammering out 30+ homers a year.  Then again, perhaps, Daniel Mengden will be the next Jason Adam, and that is what makes this time of year so interesting.

I love the deadline for all the reasons youn just listed.

MLBTR is a fun site to get lost in.

I hate deadlines of all types. It's why I retired.