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.

Apr 24, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg (37) laughs before a game against the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE

Tuesday night’s pitching matchup between Yu Darvish and Hiroki Kuroda illustrated how much starting pitching is worth on the field as well as “at the box office”.  There may not have been as much buzz in this country as there was in Japan, but the rarity of two Japanese-born hurlers squaring off against one another made for a sellout crowd in Texas.   That is part of the beauty of baseball where one player out of 50 in a Major League game can create so much excitement.

There are a handful of pitchers today that can generate a large spike in attendance on the day they are scheduled to throw.  The first guy to come to mind is Stephen Strasburg.   There is no one that can pack a house today quite like the Washington phenom.  Aroldis Chapman can be such a player once the Reds decide to put him in the rotation.   I think Roy Halladay still has little bit of that vibe to his starts; with his rough beginning this season, I am not sure the same can be said of Tim Lincecum.  I would put Felix Hernandez in this group even if others will hold his low career win total against him.

Diamondback fans once had a pitcher like that and his name was Randy Johnson.  It was quite an event whenever The Big Unit went to the hill.  You never knew if you were going to see history being made.  It didn’t hurt that he was 6″10 and threw 95 MPH.   The D-Backs have Trevor Bauer waiting in the wings to join this group.  While no one can top the hype surrounding Strasburg’s debut in 2010, the smart money says Bauer’s first start will be televised by MLB Network or ESPN.  If he can live up to his advance billing,  there is no doubt Bauer can increase the live gate by 10-20% each time he pitches.   More importantly for Arizona, he will also win a lot of ballgames.

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