Who came out ahead? Little of significance happened before the nonwaiver deadline, but some teams still fared better than others

WINNERS

Marlins, The best thing they did was keep righthander A.J. Burnett. Even third baseman Mike Lowell is reviving.The acquisition of lefthander Ron Villone from the Mariners will help the bullpen, though it cost the Marlins a highly regarded prospect, righthander Yorman Bazardo.

Cubs. One scout calls newly acquired outfielder Matt Lawton "the biggest dog in the game," but the Cubs will make the equivalent of three trades when they activate shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, reliever Scott Williamson and, yes, reliever Kerry Wood from the disabled list.

A's. General manager Billy Beane didn't need to pull off one of his patented deadline blockbusters. Oakland is red-hot, and Beane's three earlier additions--outfielder Jay Payton, lefthander Joe Kennedy and righthander Jay Witasick--are making solid contributions.

Phillies, They did well by doing little. Righthander Ugueth Urbina, acquired in June, has become a quality addition, joining righthander Ryan Madson and lefthander Billy Wagner to form one of the league's best bullpens.

LOSERS

Devil Rays. They nearly hit the prospect jackpot in a proposed three-way trade with the Mets and Red Sox, then failed to move outfielder Aubrey Huff or closer Danys Baez. General manager Chuck LaMar is unreasonable, and the team's current and future ownership groups further complicate matters.

Reds. Another do-nothing operation, save for the solid return they received for third baseman Joe Randa. In the Reds' defense, it will be easier for them to get quality pitching for outfielder Adam Dunn in the offseason, at which point outfielder Austin Kearns would become more valuable to their future.

Yankees. Al Leiter, Shawn Chacon, Alan Embree and Hideo Nomo are not George Steinbrenner's idea of deadline fun. Asked why the Yankees acquired Chacon, another National League refugee, a club official said, "Beggars can't be choosers." The Yankees as beggars. What a concept.

Orioles, They've needed two starting pitchers since the end of last season and have not yet acquired even one. At a time when the Yankees and Red Sox are vulnerable, the Orioles were able to add only outfielders Eli Marrero and Eric Byrnes. Pitiful.

Red Sox, They still need to fix their bullpen.

Twins. They still need to find a bat.

White Sox. Utilityman Geoff Blum is a decent pickup, but the bullpen still looms as a major flaw for the postseason.

Nationals. Outfielder Preston Wilson wasn't the answer, and a thin farm system crushed them in other pursuits.

Diamondbacks. The Padres can be had in the N.L. West; why didn't Arizona push harder? The Diamondbacks keep adding relievers who were dumped by other clubs-lefthander Buddy Groom (Yankees) being the latest example.

INSIDE DISH

The Braves made a run at Rangers 2B Alfonso Soriano, offering 2B Marcus Giles, RHP Jorge Sosa and a pitching prospect for Soriano and OF Kevin Mench. The Braves would have had a difficult time parting with Sosa, acquired from the Devil Rays at the end of spring training for IF Nick Green. Sosa was 4-1 with a 2.63 ERA in his first nine starts after leaving the bullpen. > The Blue Jays and MarlinS Called the Red Sox about LF Manny Ramirez, but both clubs ultimately decided against making a strong push for him. Although Jays ownership has approved a payroll outlay of $210 million for 2005, 2006 and 2007, Ramirez still would have represented too large a percentage of the budget. > A's LHP Barry Zito entered the week having won seven consecutive starts, posting a 2.34 ERA in those games, and the Rangers were duly impressed when he held them to two hits in eight innings in mid-July. "He's back to the old Zito--big curveball, hard fastball, good change," Rangers 1B Mark Teixeira says. "When he has all three of those going, there's not much you can do." > Agents say that an underrated aspect of A's G.M. Billy Beane is his aggressiveness in signing emerging young pitchers such as RHP Rich Harden to below-market, long-term deals. Harden--like Zito. RHP Tim Hudson and LHP Mark Mulder before him--gave up his arbitration years for long-term security at a pay rate that's favorable to the club. > The Dodgers and Indians tried to acquire Royals 1B/OF Matt Stairs. Rather than accept a marginal prospect, Royals G.M. Allard Baird preferred to keep Stairs as protection for DH Mike Sweeney. Stairs, 37, wants to stay with the Royals past this season. > The Mariners acquired C Yorvit Torrealba and RHP Jesse Foppert from the Giants for OF Randy Winn after the Yankees reportedly refused to send them lefthanded pitching prospect Sean Henn and righthanded reliever Scott Proctor. A scout says of Torrealba, "I've seen him play in winter ball, and I like him. When he plays every day, he's doing something every time you look up, whether it's offensively or defensively." The same scout says of Foppert, who is nearly two years removed from elbow surgery: "I saw him in spring training and thought he was interesting. But the more I've seen him, the less I've liked him. He's struggling to find command. And he doesn't overpower anybody." The Yankees, Orioles and Padres were among the teams that made unsuccessful attempts to acquire Indians RHP Kevin Millwood. The Indians wanted a young pitcher who could help them next season, preventing the need for them to sign a free agent, The Yankees didn't have that pitcher--the Indians apparently weren't sold on Henn as a starter--and the Orioles wouldn't part with RHP Hoyden Penn or RHP Chris Ray. > The Devil Rays are considering moving 2B Jorge Cantu to first base next season. They have multiple options for the rest of their infield: playing B.J. Upton at shortstop and moving SS Julio Lugo to second; keeping Lugo at short and playing Upton at third; or trading Lugo, who stands to make about $5 million in arbitration. > Orioles 1B Rafael Palmeiro is a worthy Hall of Famer based on his offensive production alone, but his defense frequently gets overlooked. "He's the absolute best I've ever seen at feeding the ball to the pitcher at the bag." Orioles bench coach Sam Perlozzo says. > From the oh-what-might-have-been department: The Mariners were prepared to take OF Jeff Francoeur with the 28th pick of the 2002 draft, but the Braves grabbed the Georgia native at No. 23. The Mariners ended up taking OF John Mayberry, whom they failed to sign. Mayberry went to Stanford, the Rangers drafted him at No. 19 this year, and he signed for $1.525 million.