Maybe no trade is a good trade

Off on Halliday

Leading up to today's MLB trade deadline, I was pumped as a fan of the Texas Rangers.

They were in a curious spot. They've got the best farm system in the universe and could set up a package to get anyone they wanted. They also had a handful of veterans that could help another team.

The Rangers are a young time that is winning. The idea is to maybe get younger and maybe better. Often, the two may not intersect.

Getting Roy Halladay made you older, but it made you better. But at what cost? We're talking Derek Holland and Justin Smoak to start. According to sources that are not me, the Rangers were the closest to getting Halladay, but apparently those talks are deader than a doornail. I would suspect the Blue Jays will keep their ace and try to shop him in the winter.

However, 57 wins in and a ton of good times had, I'm willing to ride out this season with the team currently constructed, warts and all. I don't know how good they are, but, frankly, I don't know how good the California Angels or Boston Red Sox are either (T.R. Sullivan chronicles the Angels' insane July ... can that keep up forever?).

All I know is that trade chips like Hank Blalock and Marlon Byrd have played hard and had some big hits this season. I know that Derek Holland has a ton of promise and I'm not really willing to give that up right now. I know that it's fun to watch Tommy Hunter every fifth day, it's cool to see Andruw Jones resurrect his career and it's still worth it to root on guys like Josh Hamilton, Dave Murphy, Nellie Cruz and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

I also know that Rome wasn't built in the day. Trading for Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, the bevy of relievers out there or a bat does not guarantee anything, or as much as hanging on to 20-year-old prospects.

But those are my prospects. And there's some value to that seemingly innocuous point of view. There's also value to a 57-win team that plays hard and has rewarded its fandom all season.

It wouldn't shock me to see the Rangers do something before the day is out, but if they don't, I'm content with the progress this franchise has made.