Rangers-Angels trade deadline standoff

July, 27, 2012

7/27/12

10:00

AM ET

By Jim Bowden | ESPN.com

The buildup to the 2012 trade deadline has been better than advertised. We've already seen the Detroit Tigers trade a couple of top prospects for Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante, the Los Angeles Dodgers swing a deal for Hanley Ramirez, and the New York Yankees make a surprising move for Ichiro Suzuki, and we still have four days to go!

For me, the real drama these next few days centers on the best rivalry in baseball, and I'm not talking about the Yankees and Red Sox, but rather the Rangers and Angels. These two AL West teams are in an "arms race" that is more crucial to how the rest of the season turns out than any head-to-head series.

The GMs for these two clubs -- Jon Daniels (Rangers) and Jerry Dipoto (Angels) -- ultimately will determine where Zack Greinke goes, and that could have an impact on a number of races beyond the AL West.

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ABOUT THIS BLOG

Jim Bowden

Bowden, who served as the senior vice president and GM for the Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Nationals, is an analyst for ESPN.com. In 1992, Bowden became the youngest GM in MLB history when the Reds hired him at age 31. The Reds finished in first place twice during his 10 years as GM, and he was named MLB Executive of the Year by Baseball America in 1999. After working for ESPN in 2004, Bowden became the first GM of the Washington Nationals when the franchise relocated from Montreal to Washington, D.C., in 2005, working in that role until the 2009 season. Bowden co-hosts the "Inside Pitch" radio show on Sirius XM satellite radio. Follow on Twitter: @JimBowdenESPNxm.