Trade Deadline Recap

The 2012 non-waiver trade deadline came and went with many familiar faces changing teams right before the 4p.m. ET deadline. Numerous moves were made within the division that could effect the race for the the 2012 N.L. West title.

The first move of the day came courtesy of the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers, when they acquired All-Star outfielder Shane Victorino from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for relief pitcher Josh Lindblom and minor league pitcher Ethan Martin. Victorino will take the third outfield position after All-stars Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier to create a three-headed monster in L.A.

Victorino was not the only Philadelphia outfielder to move out west as the San Francisco Giants acquired fellow former Phillies outfielder Hunter Pence in exchange for outfielder Nate Schierholtz, Double-A catcher Tommy Joseph, and class A pitcher Seth Rosin. Pence will provide an immediate impact to a Giants offense that has had difficulties scoring at times this season. Pence is currently hitting .271 with 17 home runs and 59 RBIs.

After acquiring third baseman Chris Johnson from Houston on Sunday, Arizona was not expected to make anymore major additions to the squad with most positions set for the stretch run. That was until Ken Rosenthal reported early Tuesday morning that Arizona GM was looking to make a blockbuster deal in order to secure a premiere starter. All morning rumors were surfacing of possible deals involving Arizona All-Star outfielder Justin Upton being involved in a package to secure such a pitcher.

Names such as Seattle starter Felix Hernandez, Chicago starter Matt Garza, Philadelphia starter Cliff Lee, Florida starter Josh Johnson, and Tampa starter James Shields, were all linked to Arizona. By the time the deadline came around, no deal was able to be done for a premiere starter.

Arizona did make a move before the deadline had come, sending relief pitcher Craig Breslow to Boston for outfielder Scott Podsednik and relief pitcher Matt Albers. The move was rather minor compared to the rumored blockbuster deal that Towers was apparently working towards.

San Diego third baseman Chase Headley ended up staying a Padre after being shopped around for weeks by San Diego management. It looks like they intend to keep him around with key players Carlos Quentin and Huston Street to build for the future.

It was a very eventful day with countless rumors thrown around all day. Whether the D-backs did enough to keep themselves in the thick of things in the N.L. West will remain to be seen.