-P- The Braves are close to getting Mark Teixeira and reliever Ron Mahay from the Rangers in exchange for a package of young players that includes Jarrod Saltalamacchia, shortstop Elvis Andrus, and perhaps pitchers Matt Harrison and Neftali Feliz. This seems like a pretty good trade for both teams - the Braves weren't ever going to get the most out of Saltalamacchia, who's blocked by an even better young catcher in Brian McCann, but he's a potential star. (Weirdly, though, the Rangers already had two good catching prospects of their own, in Max Ramirez, who they just acquired from the Indians, and Taylor Teagarden, who just destroyed the Cal League before a recent promotion to Class AA.)
Andrus is a potential star too, but he's so young and so far from the majors that he could really turn into anything. Feliz is 19 and already in full-season ball, throwing in the high 90s. Harrison isn't having a great year, but he's already in Class AA at the age of 21.
The Braves had easily the worst OPS at first base of any team - they actually have a .633 OPS at first base, which is so spectacularly bad that it's almost 100 points worse that the Pirates in the year they had to cut Randall Simon - so putting Teixeira there improves them even more dramatically than it might seem at first glance.
-P- The Mets aren't interested in Shawn Chacon.
-P- One writer speculates that Jack Wilson could be headed to Detroit, although that doesn't seem likely.
-P- The Yankees are in the hunt for Damaso Marte. (Thanks to Pro Sports Daily.)
-P- This video of the Cubs celebrating an Aramis Ramirez homer isn't deadline-related, but you should watch it anyway. Thanks to my brother Sam for bringing it to my attention.
UPDATE: The Mets are close to acquiring Luis Castillo from the Twins for prospects Dustin Martin and Drew Butera. Only Martin is even a little bit interesting, and he's a 23-year-old in High-A. Nice trade for the Mets, who get a reasonably helpful player in Castillo.
-P- The Phils have acquired Kyle Lohse from the Reds for minor league pitcher Matt Maloney. Maloney has mostly looked good statistically, but he walks a few too many batters, has been a bit old for his levels and has mediocre stuff. Lohse has been surprisingly good this year, but has a pretty bad track record. This is a decent deal for both teams.