'Dodger Talk' mentions my work, kind of, on Wednesday night's episode

It's always nice to get recognized for your work. That happened – in some way – on last night's episode of "Dodger Talk," with Kevin Kennedy and Jorge Jarrin.

I wrote an article for Yahoo! Sports about the Dodgers and them targeting starting pitching. Here's an excerpt:

"I never thought I'd be writing these words, but it appears the Dodgers might be in need of a starting pitcher before the July 31 trade deadline.

My target: Jake Peavy of the Chicago White Sox.

Peavy, 32 at the end of the month, signed a two-year, $29.5 million contract extension with the White Sox on Oct. 30. A former Cy Young award winner with the San Diego Padres, Peavy has pitched well this season. He's 5-1 with a 2.96 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, a sparkling 1.6 walks per nine innings rate and a 10.0 strikeouts per nine innings. The only thing concerning about Peavy is he's giving up more home runs than is preferred, with a 13.7 percent HR/FB rate. He plays in a hitter's park, but has given up just two home runs at U.S. Celluar Field this season."

Mind you, I have zero inside information on this or any trade rumors (at least for now). I was merely speculating. I even made that clear in the headline: "If the Los Angeles Dodgers target a starter, it should be Jake Peavy of the Chicago White Sox."

Much to my surprise, the first caller on "Dodger Talk" referenced my piece. Big hat tip to George Cantu, via Twitter.

Link to the show (sorry, couldn't embed it). It's at the beginning of the show and done with in six minutes.

Unfortunately, the caller takes what I wrote as a true rumor, rather than fan speculation with no basis. Kennedy touches on the "rumor" toward the end of the call.

While they didn't mention my name or anything (and I promise I wasn't the one who called), it was kind of nice to hear the piece mentioned on such a big platform.

Maybe this writing for Yahoo! stuff isn't so bad, even if the comments are. Seriously, if you want to witness the lowest of the low – the true Internet basement nerds – just read the comments on any of my submissions so far.

Here's to more recognition and notoriety in the future.

Photo credit: Joe Biewala, Flickr

Lots of deals, nothing big for LA

The non-waiver trade deadline came and went at 1 p.m. Pacific time with a flurry of moves. However, there was no other significant move for the Dodgers. The Dodgers were in on Roy Halladay, whom is staying in Toronto due to the foolishness of Blue Jay GM J.P. Riccardi. There was a late rumor that said the Angels could be getting Halladay, but that fell apart.

There was also a report for the always accurate (lol) Ken Rosenthal, stating the Dodgers were trying to get 1B Adrian Gonzalez and RHP Heath Bell from the Padres. If Dodger GM Ned Colletti thought the price for Halladay was expensive, he must have been off his rocker to think LA could acquire both Gonzalez and Bell.

The biggest deal of the day was the White Sox getting Jake Peavy, again, from San Diego. The teams agreed to a deal a few months back, only to have Peavy block it. Now that Peavy has been injured for awhile and the rumors of San Diego trying to trade its other stars, Peavy probably thought it was time to say good bye to the Padres. It was a post-deadline deal that seemingly came out of nowhere.

Here is a rundown of all the deadline day trades and winners:

• Detroit acquired LHP Jarrod Washburn from Seattle for two prospects: LHPs Luke French and Mauricio Robles. Winner: Detroit
• Milwaukee acquired RHP Claudio Vargas from the Dodgers for C Vinny Rottino. Rottino is a 29-year-old Double-A catcher who has no value. Vargas was moved to clear a roster spot for the newly-acquired George Sherrill. Winner: Milwaukee
• Minnesota acquired SS Orlando Cabrera from Oakland for SS Tyler Ladendorf. Winner: Minnesota
• Boston acquired C/1B Victor Martinez from Cleveland for RHPs Justin Masterson, Bryan Price and LHP Nick Hagadone. The Indians got a better return here than they did for Cliff Lee. Winner: Push
• Atlanta acquired 1B Adam LaRoche from Boston for 1B Casey Kotchman. Winner: Atlanta
• N.Y. Yankees acquired INF/OF Jerry Hairston, Jr. from Cincinnati for C Chase Weems. Winner: New York
  
• Colorado acquired LHP Joe Beimel from Washington for RHPs Ryan Mattheus and Robinson Fabian. Winner: Colorado
• Cincinnati acquired 3B Scott Rolen from Toronto for 3B Edwin Encarnacion, RHPs Josh Roenicke and Zach Stewart. Winner: Cincinnati
• Florida acquired 1B Nick Johnson from Washington for LHP Aaron Thompson. Winner: Florida
• Chicago White Sox acquired RHP Jake Peavy from San Diego for LHPs Aaron Poreda and Clayton Richard and RHPs Adam Russell and Dexter Carter. Winner: Chicago

Like I said, a busy day. Trading isn't completely over, though. Players can still be traded if they pass through waivers. Don't expect guys like Halladay and Gonzalez to be traded, but some of the lower-tier players will easily clear waivers and could make a small impact on divisional/wild card races.

The Dodgers end up as losers in this deadline season. The Sherrill acquisition was solid, but without a big addition (a workhorse SP or the Bell-Gonzalez combo), it is going to be tough for the Dodgers to compete with Philadelphia and St. Louis. The Cardinals absolutely own the Dodgers. I'm disappointed, especially since this seemed to be such a buyers market. The Phillies, Cardinals and Red Sox all won this trade season. We'll see what happens in October.