I was hoping the trading deadline would have passed with a loud bang. But instead, all I heard was Theo Epstein's whimper. He seemed utterly disappointed. He's probably asking the same question, everyone else is = "How could the Red Sox let the deadline pass without any trade?" It seems irresponsible to me.

On the surface Epstein makes some sense. Most of the teams, sensing desparation, asked for too much. Epstein and the boys did not want any of that. I'm a little perplexed as to why they value their current staff so highly.

Granted the team is in first-place, albeit marginally. And yes, Manny Delcarmen and Craig Hansen have been very steady hands in an otherwise shaky bullpen. But are they truly the future of the franchise? Can they bring us a pennant or better yet another World Championship?

Now I'm not privy to what was set on the table. I'm not sure who the Sox were talking about or what players were involved, Seems to me that something, anything should have been done to improve the 40-man roster.

ESPN reports that the Sox were in fact going to make a big splash, one that could have easily brought them to another title. But the Astros, pulled the plug on live discussions about the Rocket.

But they didn't necessarily need that. They cold have used a number of other "available" players to fill their holes.

The Boston Blobe reports that the Sox were close to getting Houston's Roy Oswalt.

The Projo.com says the team gets into more detail involving Andruw Jones and Oswalt.

Meanwhile the Yankees have once again improved their team. The New York Times reports that the Yankees took advantage of the waiting game. The price seemingly was pretty cheap too. Who says New York doesn't have a farm system? It was adequate enough to acquire one of the best bats in the game.

The other two (Cory Lidle and Craig Wilson) are bonuses. Lidle is by no stretch of the imagination washed up. Craig Wilson, when he plays, has shown some above average power and adds some flexibility to both the outfield and first base.

Will such additions move the needle? I believe they will.

Perhaps the Sox were too aggressive in their pursuit of Clemens. Perhaps they put their eggs into one basket full of longshots. We'll never know.

The team's failed attempts also put some people on notice - especially one Coco Crisp. Though the team officially denies he was involved in trade discussions, one could guess that with a very favorable contract, youth and potential would be interesting comodities in the majors.

I would not surprise me to see one of the Nationals pitchers come to Boston. In fact, it would be interesting to see if Tony Armas Jr. has any value to this club.

If not, I guess we'll all hope that Ortiz can continue his MVP quest and carry the team to glory. Dan Shaughnessy gives Big Papi props.

Red alert:
Trot Nixon on DL and Jason Varitek hurts his knee. Things continue to look grim.

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