With just one day left before the deadline to sign players from this year's Draft, the Washington Nationals announced the signing of left-handed pitcher Josh Smoker on Tuesday, the 31st overall pick in the First-Year Player Draft. Smoker, who's rated the 11th-best pitching prospect by Baseball America, was a top priority for the Nats.

I look forward to hearing radio announcers Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler come up with some good puns with Smoker's name in them. But more than that, I'm looking forward to the day when the Nationals have a killer lefty on staff. Could it be Smoker?

I admit that I was a little dissappointed with this year's trade activity at the deadline. I was hoping to see more big names on the move. Nonetheless, there were some suprises and coups that emerged as the 4pm EST deadline was reached, let's run through a few of those…

The Braves came out the big winner this year, landing big bopper Mark Teixiera, and relievers Octavio Dotel and Royce Ring. They gave up a good chunk of young talent, but you've got to pay to play! TalkingChop reflected on the aftermath.

The Red Sox didn't get Jermaine Dye or Teixiera, but they landed Eric Gagne, who will reportedly become Papelbon's new setup man. If Gagne stays healthy, this is perhaps the most solid late inning one-two punch in the Majors. Check out Boston.com's pictorial assessment of the acquisition.

The Padres picked up the recently DFA'd Morgan Ensberg, OF Rob Mackowiak from the White Sox, LHP Wilfredo Ledezma and LHP Will Startup from the Braves. (Side note: Jose Cruz Jr. was DFA'd to make room on the roster.) Where is all the Padres blog analysis of these moves? Not even Ducksnorts has anything posted yet (but Geoff's got a good excuse: he drove from San Diego to Cooperstown to see Gwynn inducted. Now there's a good Friar Boy!) Trevor Hoffman expressed his doubts about the front office decisions.

The Dodgers picked up reliver Scott Proctor from the Yankees in exchange for Wilson Betemit. This was a good move for the Dodgers, but they really needed to accomplish quite a bit more. A starting pitcher and reliable bat would have been nice! Dodger Thoughts dissects the the trade here.

The Pirates probably raised the most eyebrows with their acquisition of RHP Matt Morris from the Giants in exchange for OF Rajai Davis and a PTBN. Shockingly, the Pirates are picking up all of Morris' salary! GM Dave Littlefield feels the veteran could have a positive impact on his pitching staff. Cory Humes weights the reactions on the trade over at Pittsburgh Lumber Co.

I think the other big surprise was that Mets GM Omar Minaya was relatively inactive at the deadline. He did make a swap for the Twins 2B Luis Castillo, but Omar is generally a little splashier this time of year. Check out how some Mets fans responded when asked what trades they would've made in Omar's shoes.

Bill Stoneman's Angels were also surprisingly quiet. Like the other LA team, the Angels needed a starter and a bat, but acquired neither. Other than some rumors that were a few days old, all was silent from the Angels camp. As MLB's Jim Moloney put it, at least they're already in first place.

It was no surprise that Jim Bowden wasn't able to move anything. Chad Cordero, Jon Rauch and Ryan Church were on the radar for several teams, but no one could get Jim to back down from his characteristically ridiculous demands for prospects. Apparently Jim didn't take a look at Keith Law's assessment of the "sorry state of the Nationals" over the weekend. Federal Baseball has a good analysis of the Nats' lack of deadline trades. The Nationals Enquirer thinks Jim really blew it this time.

So there we have it, another trade deadline come and gone! Now we enter the waiver period! ESPN Insiders will want to check out Steve Phillips' old article, Explaining the waiver process. Those who don't subscribe can check out the waiver definitions on Wikipedia and ESPN's Transaction Primer.

When I first read this news, I wondered why the Padres, who are very much in contention, would deal Linebrink away for three minor leaguers. But then the pieces of the puzzle started to come together…

Firstly, Linebrink has been struggling this year. As WestCoastBias pointed out in a comment over on MLB Trade Rumors, Linebrink's 0-3 with a 6.05 ERA on the road so far this season.

With all the news to stay on top of in MLB, I must admit that my knowledge of minor leaguers is limited. Apparently, Will Inman was the Brewers' 3rd best prospect (source: Baseball America). Joe Thatcher (25) and Steve Garrison (20) are a couple of young stud LH pitchers who could wind up being important pieces of the Padres future rotation.

Linebrink (30) appears to be in some state of decline. The Brewers do need relief help. Will a change of scenery help Linebrink return to form?

The news of Belliard's extension prompted Dmitri Young to publicly assert that he too would like to remain with the Nationals. I've liked Dmitri Young for some time now, and he's been an undeniable powerhouse for the Nats this season. However, I do think he should be traded. He's got value NOW and could net some prospects from teams looking to make it to the post-season this year. I've said it before and I'll say it again: don't ask for the moon Jim!

This is no blockbuster trade–we're swapping mediocrity for mediocrity here–but the Padres appear to be on the better side of the deal, at least for now.

Rob Bowen has provided San Diego with league average defense and minimal impact at the plate. He's riding a .268/.371/.439 line so far this season over 30 games, with 2 HR and 11 RBI.

Michael Barrett, who's been grabbing headlines with his recent dugout scuffles, is not known as a strong defensive catcher either, though he does have more experience and a decidedly better bat. In 2007, he's posted a .256/.307/.427 line over 57 games, augmented by his 10 HR and 29 RBI.

A straight up Bowen-for-Barrett trade would have made the Kevin Towers and the Padres the obvious beneficiaries in the deal, however let's not forget Burke.

Kyler Burke is an left-handed batting outfielder who can play RF and CF. He's currently on the roster of the Class A Fort Wayne Wizards. Over 45 games last season, Burke posted a line of .209/.313/.294, very similar to what he's done this season in 62 games: .211/.305/.268. According to MLB Trade Rumors, 19 year old Burke was drafted 35th overall out of high school last year based on his huge power potential and athleticism. Despite having not yet demonstrated this potential, Burke has been considered a top 10 Padres prospect and apparently has an "enormous ceiling" with a strong right field arm.

Burke is unproven, but if he pans out Hendry might actually wind up looking like the intelligent negotiator in this deal. For the time being though, we can thank Towers for making moves in the direction of another post-season berth. Let's just hope that Barrett has left his confrontational leanings back in Chicago, and chooses instead to convert that energy into more HRs and RBIs.

Gonzalez, who entered the 2006 season as a backup infielder with the Phillies, retired last May after racking up poor offensive numbers and spending most of his days on the bench. The adjustment from everyday player to the bench didn't sit well with Gonzo, who found himself unhappy and pondering his commitment to the game. After a few months away from the diamond though, the once highly touted shortstop started "reviving" his frame of mind and physique and found himself "hungry for the game". He was reinstated on Nov 1 and signed a minor league contract with the Royals on Jan 12.

While he may not be a shoe-in for the Royals' starting line-up, Gonzalez is certainly trying to prove his worth: in the 8th inning in the Royals 4-3 win over the Wite Sox on Monday, he drove in the winning run with a single and prevented a run with a gritty diving stop. If he doesn't make the roster though, Gonzalez has a clause in his contract that will force the Royals to release him. "It is either here or another club," Gonzalez said, though he's 100% committed to winning the spot with KC.

For the Royals, picking up Gonzo may just be the ticket: 2B Mark Grudzielanek will likely start the season on the Dl following knee surgery earlier this month, and shortstop Angel Berroa has never lived up to the high standards he set in his rookie season. Gonzalez could challenge for the starting SS role, or fill in at second while Grud' rehabs. In either case, the Royals have an experienced vet who can field, and you can never have too much defense up the middle!

While it looks like the Jays are scraping pretty close to the bottom of the barrel, there wasn't much else J.P. could do: he missed out on signing a free agent at the Winter Meetings and the list of available quality arms is slim pickings this time of year.

Zambrano is several years removed from a quality season. I think Ohka has a better chance of securing the #4 or #5 starting positions.

Clayton didn't get much love from Nationals fans last year (or Cinci fans for that matter), but I thought he did a pretty good job filling in for Christian Guzman. He's a quality defensive player who had some good success at the plate last season. Like Counsell, Clayton's veteran presence in the clubhouse should prove to be a stabilizing influence on Aaron Hill and Russ Adams. Landing Julio Lugo might have been nice, but I'd prefer to see that money spent on a proven arm, perhaps Gil Meche or Barry Zito.

Barajas apparently signed a 2-year deal with the Jays only to back out shortly before his physical. The defensive catcher made the agreement while under the advisement of his former two agents. He fired them after signing with the Jays, then hired Dan Lozano. That's when the Jays received a request to re-open contract negotiations with Barajas. One would assume that this request was one of Lozano's ideas. J.P. Ricciardi stressed the issue of integrity: "Your word is supposed to mean something. What does that say to the agents you just did a deal with? You're going to get a new agent and start renegotiating? No." He went on to add, "We'll remember this one."

Over in the National League, the Brewers made headlines today with the signing of veteran infielder, Craig Counsell. (I still think the Jays should have looked at Counsell last season… he could have provided excellent mentorship for the Jays' young infielders, a solid defensive backup, and some pop off the bench.) In the article that appears on MLB.com, Adam McCalvy suggests that this move indicates that the Brewers will take a pass on Tony Graffanino, who arrived in Milwaukee via a mid-season trade earlier this year. Despite his good performance as a Brewer, GM Doug Melvin expressed frustration earlier this offseason at the lack of communication from Graffanino's agent–you guessed it–Dan Lozano.

I don't follow the moves of agents very closely, but it struck me to see his name out there twice today and decided to learn a little more. I did a few Google searches for Lozano and was impressed with the long list of players he's linked with, including:

• Mike Piazza
• Curt Schilling
• Shea Hillenbrand
• Michael Young
• Albert Pujols 
• Desi Relaford
• Geoff Jenkins
• Kevin Mench
• Orlando Cabrera
• Jacque Jones
• Jimmy Rollins
• Raul Ibanez
• …and many more! 

(Cot's Baseball Contracts was another good reference for my search.) 

TeenSpeakNews.com has a particularly flattering profile in the "Leaders of Tomorrow" section of their website: Danny Lazano: Making A Difference. Has anyone emailed this link to J.P.?

With his declining speed, it's safe to assume that more than a few American League GMs will be thinking of dropping Bonds into the lineup as a DH. Assumming Oakland re-signs Frank Thomas, I think we can rule out any West Coast destination other than Anaheim for Bonds. MLB Trade Rumors suggested that New York would be an interesting place for Bonds to wind up, and based that suggestion on the Yankees moving Gary Sheffield. Now that the wheels are in motion to carry Sheff out of the Bronx, it's a distinct possibility that Barry Bonds will wear pinstripes in 2007. If you thought the Yankees line-up was tough in 2006…