About last night...

The Diamondbacks traded relief pitcher Tony Pena to the Chicago White Sox for first base prospect Brandon Allen. This puts the league on notice of at least one buyer and one seller. White Sox GM Kenny Williams reiterated his reluctance to add payroll too much payroll though.

MLBTradeRumors has some interesting links and tidbits. Love their site.

Cincinnati doesn't let the taste of a 22 to one drubbing linger long. Aaron Harang settled in after a shaky start to hep the Reds to a four to three win over the Phillies. Brandon Phillips had two homeruns.

Paul Konerko does his best to cram a good week into one night. The White Sox first baseman hit three home runs, including a grand slam for a total of seven RBI on the night. The Sox beat the Indians ten to six.

The Red Sox stayed one game up on the Yankees with a five to two win over the A's at Fenway. Jason Bay hit his 20th round-tripper of the year. New York beat up on Minnesota ten to two. CC Sabathia went seven innings giving up three hits and one run.

The Manny Ramirez side show came to Queens last night. The Dodgers won eight to nothing over the hapless Mets. Ramirez had three RBI before being ejected in the fifth. David Wright had some choice words for his team after the game.

The Blue Jays GM JP Riccardi has gone on record saying he will listen to offers for Roy Halladay. That does not mean they will deal him, but that he is smart enough to not shut down the process before it even starts. The normal suitors will line up, the Yankees, the Phillies, and maybe even the Mets.

Fantasy Fun

It's that time of year kids. The All-Star game is the time of the season when contenders and pretenders look themselves in the mirror and try to figure out what's next. The contenders will start calling those teams out of the race (not too many at this point, but think Diamondbacks, Nationals, and Pirates) and those who will take themselves out of the race (think Blue Jays) and see if they will unload anyone.

As we have discussed before, the trade deadline can heavily affect fantasy baseball. If a big player moves from AL to NL or vice versea it can wreak havoc on their stats. Also, it's time to start paying attention to the minor leagues. If these teams that are out of it start unloading bigger contract players, look for them to bring up some of their young talent. You may be able to catch some lightning in a bottle with a hot rookie. I posted a link yesterday to Baseball America's top ten minor leaguers to watch in the second half. It's a good read and it might be worth stashing one or more of those players on your bench for a second half run.

And then there is a Roy Halladay. He is already a dominate starter. If he goes to a team that is contending, his stock will only rise. You will have to pay a high premium to trade for him, but it might be worth it at this point as I see his stats only improving as the season goes on (if traded). If you are in a keeper league, you might be wary of a 32 year old pitcher, but he is a top five starter and should be for the next couple of years, even more so on one of the top teams in the majors.