They could be, but there are inhibiting forces to consider when dealing with the Mariners.

The Dodgers would have to eat a ton of dough to move Kemp anywhere. MLB Network said last night that his actual WAR this season has been -1. So you're getting an average OF (in a statistical sense) for over a hundred million dollars. That said, i'd rather have him on my team than Marlon Byrd thru 2016, who is also rumored to be going to Seattle.

Justin Masterson to St. Louis (currently on the DL). I guess that's the flexibilty a deep farm system gets you.

Jason Hammel just torpedoed both of my fantasy teams' week. Brilliant waiver wire pickup when he was with the Cubs, but he has been a greasefire ever since getting traded to Oakland. I should have known Houston would get after him, but I don't ever remember him being this bad when he was Baltimore.

Lester rumored to Baltimore. Strange if it happens. You normally don't see deals occur within the AL East.

Full Red Sox sell off. They traded Dubront to the Cubs and shopping Lackey as well...

Lester and Gomes were traded for Cespedes. The A's are in a win it this year mode. Good trade for both sides.

I like it a lot more for Oakland. Boston needs young/controllable players and Cespedes is only signed through 2015. Cespedes, while great on highlight reels, isn't really a consistent game changer, so this was a good deal for Oakland, even as a rental basis, especially that they have Gomes and Fuld (just traded for Tommy Milone) coming back.

Just saw that Cespedes' deal requires him to be non-tendered at the end, so no qualifying pick for him if he leaves Boston after next season. Even worse for Boston.

I think playing half his games at Fenway is going to boost Cespedes's value and the Red Sox should have no problem extending him if they want to I'd imagine.

Can not believe how aggressive Oakland has been this year. Good to see and I hope it pays off for them.

Cardinals add to their rotation and grab John Lackey for Allen Craig and Joe Kelly. Like this deal a lot for Boston, as I think Craig is far better than the season he has been having, and I really don't like John Lackey, but I can see him doing well in St. Louis given the culture of the club and that he is now in a pitcher friendly stadium.

I know the chances of Lester re-signing with Boston next season are next to nothing, but if it happens, Ben Cherrington will be hailed as a genius. Unless the A's go deep in the playoffs, I don't think there's any way to call one side the winner in the trade.

Oh? My impression was that Lester was quite open to the idea of resigning with Boston next season.

Absolutely crazy day today. Seems like it was one of the busiest and most exciting trade deadline days in awhile.

The sports radio here conjectures that Lester is going give the lean to resigning with Boston. I don't know if they've got an inside track or anything given that Lester is from Tacoma, but that would be a pretty good deal for Boston if it's the case. I'm still not nuts about Cespedes though.

The Lackey trade made a lot of sense for Boston. St. Louis as well.

Detroit landed David Price for a fucking song. Crazy as they had an OF or two to spare. They've now got the last three AL Cy Young winners on their team. Dombrowski is the man. Seattle did okay, I guess. They lost four years on the Jackson for Franklin switcheroo, but you won't need any 2B prospects for awhile with Cano locked up for another nine years.

I think the Cubs came out the best concerning the trades of the ace pitchers. They got what almost everyone says is a slam dunk top five prospect in all of MLB.

Jeez, Detroit totally made out like bandits.

And how the hell did Amaro Jr. NOT make any trades? I mean, at least get something back for Marlon Byrd. Ditto with the Rockies and Jorge De La Rosa, though I will support their not trading JDLR if they can resign him.

I guess the Rays have operated like this for a long time, but man, that team has been on a hell of a run. I guess they're pretty high on Franklin, maybe it'll turn out, but it seems like they could have waited and got more out of Price over the next year. It seems like they should have at least gotten one offensive-ready player out of the deal.

A day like this that really proves the meddle of the outstanding GMs in MLB (Beane, Dombrowski, it looks like Cherington too) over the mediocre ones (Jack Z in Seattle).

Boston Massacre. Everything must go!

I'm already over it. It's the way sports are, especially lately. Build a championship team quickly, and blow it up the minute things start going downhill. You got to love Jonny Gomes...he's been on what, three different teams that went to the World Series in the past seven years and won it with two of them, and now he's got a chance to get there a fourth time, with the A's. Not bad for a career .244 guy. Good luck charm...where's the stats for that?

They did one of those 30-on-30 profiles on ESPN last month about some dumbfuck that fizzled out in the Tampa Bay farm system when Gomes was there, in the same system in the early 2000's and Gomes was totally awesome in the documentary. That guy should definitely get into managing/coaching when his career is over. I don't think it is a coincidence that everywhere that guys goes, teams ends up winning.

Good interview with Gomes before the 2013 season. Can't really hear Gammons, but this is Jonny distilled. He talks about having a heart attack at 22 years old around the 13 minute mark. Great guy.

I thought being able to land Austin Jackson for Nick Franklin was a pretty solid move on Seattle's part, though it does seem like they needed to do something a little more/bigger. And read that article on Jack Z.....glad he isn't the GM on my team. Sounds like a first class clown.

Also, I definitely agree that it would have seemed as though TB should have been able to get more out of the deal than they did. Seems like they could have held on to him for the rest of the season, and maybe into next season, and been able to land this type of package if they wanted. I kinda think TB messed up a little here making this deal when they did.

Yankees are going to be the first team to face that last three consecutive Cy Young winners in a row three nights in a row.

I still really can't get my head around how Detroit ended up with Price for the price (heh) they ended up giving. Totally madcap, as Mullett would say.

Tony Bosch about to turn himself into the DEA and admit to distributing steroids.

Are the Indians going to win it all this year before LeBron? And what's the weather going to be like this week? Aside from the browns, I'm loyal to Cleveland. Very entertaining every night.

I hit the M's game tonight, where they inducted Sweet Lou into the Mariners Hall of Fame. I teared up through a lot of it, because he's my favorite manager ever. The style/art he managed with in Seattle was a pleasure to behold. Something I'll never forget.

He gave props to the Hall of Fame guys that played here (Griffey, Randy Johnson, Edgar, etc...), but I was most stoked he went out of his way to mention Norm Charlton and Mike Cameron. Two guys who were awesomely rock solid during their tenure i n Seattle. I think if you line up Griffey's stats next to Cameron's the four years after that trade, it is about a wash.

Anyway, cheers Sweet Lou! Can't believe it has been 12 years already!

Too bad Lou had given up by the time he got to Chicago, I thought he wouldve helped give the Cubs a chance.

Just finished watching 18 innings of Jays vs Tigers...nice to win and stay in it.