The drastic decline in run scoring the last few years has been a major story, especially as it related to the rise in drug testing and the end of the so-called “steroid era” in Major League Baseball. There’s no denying the fact that offense has tumbled in the sport, with the league average wOBA falling from a high of .341 back in 1999 to the .316 of today. As baseball has worked to eliminate performance enhancing drugs, scoring runs has become more difficult.

But, perhaps an underreported aspect of this story is that home runs are making their way back into Major League Baseball this year.

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While this kind of thing is expected, there’s still some news today from Jeff Passan of of Yahoo Sports.

Source: Phillies have placed Cliff Lee on waivers. Executives expect him to clear Friday afternoon, be eligible for trade.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 2, 2012

Most teams run nearly their entire rosters through waivers in August, just on the off chance that someone gets through and they can end up making a deal with a contender in a seller’s market. Probably every big name player in baseball is going to be put on waivers at some point in the next few weeks, and so Lee is no different in that regard.

He is somewhat different, though, in that his contract makes it likely that he’ll actually clear waivers, and a team putting in a claim would force the Phillies to make a pretty interesting decision.

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As you’ve undoubtedly heard by now, the Rangers have summoned third base prospect Mike Olt from Double-A, and he’ll be joining the team in Texas in time for tonight’s game against the Angels. With Adrian Beltre manning the hot corner, though, third base is not in his immediate future, and the Rangers certainly aren’t calling Olt up to sit on the bench. Instead, his arrival signifies the likely end of the Michael Young Era in Texas. At least, the era where Young played any kind of meaningful role on the team.

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Well, apparently I’m not the only one who thinks the Rockies need to make some changes, as Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports that General Manager Dan O’Dowd is going to have his job change to “focus more on the minor leagues and player development”, which doesn’t sound very much like a GM at all. Assistant GM Bill Geivett is being given “expanded day-to-day duties with the Major League Club”, which sounds much more like what a GM actually does in most organizations.

Renck’s article notes that O’Dowd is retaining his title and Geivett will still report directly to O’Dowd, but this seems like the kind of arrangement that might not last very long. The Rockies are a massive disappointment and in need of a change of directions, so I would expect that a more permanent change will probably be made before too long. If Geivett becomes the de facto GM, they’ll likely reward him with the official title eventually.

Building a winner at altitude is not easy, but the Rockies have made too many questionable decisions lately to continue on with the current plan. A change was necessary, and Rockies fans should be happy that the organization isn’t sticking with the status quo any longer.

With the trade deadline behind us, it’s worth looking back at which teams improved themselves the most with mid-season acquisitions, which clubs found value without surrendering much of their future, and which organizations may regret missing an opportunity to upgrade their talent base. Each club had different goals and different needs, so any review of this sort is going to be subjective in nature, but there are some clubs that made moves that certainly have the appearance of improving their overall organization either in the short term or in the long term.

The Winners

Los Angeles Dodgers — added Hanley Ramirez, Shane Victorino, Brandon League, and Randy Choate

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For those of you just playing catch-up, here’s a rundown of the deals that were made before the deadline today.

Philadelphia Phillies send OF Hunter Pence to San Francisco for C Tommy Joseph, OF Nate Schierholtz, and RP Seth Rosin.

Pence analysis here, Prospects analysis here

Philadelphia Phillies send OF Shane Victorino to Los Angeles Dodgers for RP Josh Lindblom and SP Ethan Martin.

Trade analysis here

Chicago Cubs send SP Ryan Dempster to the Texas Rangers for 3B Christian Villanueva and SP Kyle Hendricks.

Dempster analysis here. Prospect analysis here

Kansas City Royals send RP Jonathan Broxton to the Cincinnati Reds for SP J.C. Sulbaran and RP Donnie Joseph.

Broxton analysis here.

Miami Marlins send 1B Gaby Sanchez and RP Kyle Kaminska to the Pittsburgh Pirates for OF Gorkys Hernandez and a competitive balance pick in the 2013 draft.

Sanchez analysis here.

Arizona Diamondbacks send RP Craig Breslow to the Boston Red Sox for RP Matt Albers and OF Scott Podsednik.

Miami Marlins send RP Edward Mujica to the St. Louis Cardinals for 3B Zack Cox.

New York Yankees send RP Chad Qualls to the Pittsburgh Pirates for 3B Casey McGehee.

Boston Red Sox send 1B Lars Anderson to the Cleveland Indians for SP Steven Wright.

You can find stats for each player by clicking on their name above, and find analysis of the deals in the posts here on the main page.

Okay, they didn’t actually get him for nothing. To acquire the Phillies center fielder (who will almost certainly play left in LA), the Dodgers gave up 25-year-old reliever Josh Lindblom and enigmatic right-handed pitching prospect Ethan Martin. Reports are that the Dodgers felt comfortable moving Lindblom after acquiring Brandon League from the Mariners last night, but in reality, they should have always been comfortable trading Josh Lindblom for value, because Josh Lindblom is simply not a particularly valuable player.

Over the last two years, Lindblom has thrown 77 innings in the big leagues and posted a 2.91 ERA, so on the surface, he appears to be a good young relief pitcher. In reality, though, there are warning signs everywhere.

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There might not be a harder to evaluate GM in sports than Kenny Williams. Since 2006, his teams have alternated between winning and losing seasons each year, so his team’s recent performance track record is a mixed bag. At the same time, his farm system is universally considered the worst in baseball, and the team has not drafted well or developed any international talent, and as such, the White Sox have had to rely on aging veterans to keep the team in contention. This is generally not a great roster construction strategy.

However, Williams has the White Sox winning again this year, and it’s due in large part to one aspect of the game that he seems to be exceptionally good at — grabbing good players from other teams at the absolute nadir of their value. Or, to borrow from an old cliche, Kenny Williams seems to be better than anyone else at turning chicken $&*# into chicken salad.

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