It's been a relatively quiet afternoon — Arthur Rhodes to Florida, yawn — but we still have about 45 minutes left on the non-waiver trading period. The Manny three-way deal is said to be dead (though maybe not), so there stands a good chance we'll have to remember this year for all the trades (Sabathia, Harden, Teixeira, Pudge, etc.) that occurred before Deadline Day came around.

We'll see.

However, I don't think it's too early to crown a winner for Silliest Trade of the Season and that one goes to Houston Astros GM Ed Wade and Co., who traded 22-year-old prospect Matt Cusick for 35-year-old middle reliever LaTroy Hawkins on Wednesday, so that his team might compete better for the NL Central title. 

Did I mention the 'Stros are 13.5 games behind the Cubs?

And that Hawkins had already been DFAed by the Yanks?

And that they already pointlessly added Randy Wolf?

Predictably, Houston fans are not pleased.

From The Astros Dugout:

"I just love it when my baseball team is one of the national laughingstocks. Like I keep hearing how this team is supposed to have such great offense, but we’re 12th in runs scored in the NL.

"All I can say is that either (owner) Drayton McLane is seriously insane and he thinks this lousy team has a snowflake’s chance in heck of actually competing for something besides 4th place in the NL, or he figures that this is the only way to keep butts in the seats in the ballpark and keep the season ticket sales strong.

Sigh.

Wade explained the trade as a means to shore up the back end of the bullpen, but I'm still confused as to why a team with a double-digit standing deficit is attempting to be a buyer, not a seller.

Maybe Shawn Chacon did a little more damage than we thought?