Ten questions with the trading deadline now behind us ...

1. Which team helped itself the most?
Call it a tie between the San Francisco Giants and Houston Astros.

The Giants got John Vander Wal and Jason Schmidt from Pittsburgh, which gives them another bat in the outfield and a pitcher to slot in behind Livan Hernandez and Shawn Estes.

"Schmidt is a pretty good pitcher who's better off when he doesn't have to be a front-of-the-rotation guy," said one scout.

Giants general manager Brian Sabean is criminally underrated. Manager Dusty Baker is one of the game's best and deserves his reputation as the manager who gets the most out of his roster, but Sabean always manages to make relatively inexpensive deals that impact his team and stay within his modest payroll budget.

The Astros got the best starting pitcher (Pedro Astacio) in an admittedly thin pitching market, improving their rotation. But their best move may have well been obtaining reliever Mike Williams from the Pirates.

"When you throw him in there with Billy Wagner and Octavio Dotel," said the scout, "they're like the Seattle of the American League now -- they can really shorten the game on you."

2. Which team didn't make a move, but should have?
Cleveland. Every other American League contender -- except Seattle, which has a playoff spot locked up -- made a pretty significant deal. The Indians got Milton Bradley from Montreal, but that won't make much of an impact.

The Indians needed a starting pitcher and didn't get one. How well will C.C. Sabathia hold up down the stretch? Can Danys Baez be counted upon?

Granted, there wasn't a lot to be had. But wouldn't Pedro Astacio have been an upgrade? For that matter, wouldn't Sterling Hitchcock? Hitchcock, a free agent after the season, wouldn't have represented much of a financial commitment.

The Indians were tied by financial restraint, which seems a little silly. True, Cleveland owner Larry Dolan can't spend quite as freely as the Yankees or Dodgers. But given that this is an aging team (Alomar, Finley, Lofton, Burks, Vizquel), isn't it incumbent upon ownership to try to win now and reward the Cleveland fans for their support since Jacobs Field opened?

Last month, GM John Hart was told he couldn't add to his payroll, effectively killing a deal he had in place for Rick Reed. When Reed ended up in Minnesota Monday, ownership demanded to know how he could let him go to the team the Indians are battling for the AL Central title. And you wonder why Hart is getting out of Cleveland?

3. Did the Twins make one move too many?
Adding Todd Jones gives them one more dependable arm in the bullpen and improves them in the late innings. But when the Twins gave up Matt Lawton for Reed, they weakened their offense, which ranks seventh in the AL in runs scored.

Admittedly, Lawton wasn't having a great year. But on a team where Corey Koskie and Doug Mientkiewicz pass for threats in the lineup, Lawton was an experienced major-league hitter capable of driving in runs and getting on base (he was leading the team with a .396 on-base percentage).

Where does the rest of the sock come from? The Twins went into Wednesday ranked 10th in homers and below the league average in slugging percentage. No one disputes the fact that pitching wins pennants, but teams have to score -- especially in the American League.

4. Will Ugueth Urbina become the closer in Boston?
Not yet. But he could soon be.

Jimy Williams moved to head off any controversy when, seconds after the deal was announced, he said: "Derek Lowe is still our closer."

That was the smart thing for Williams to say. Lowe has already experienced a crisis of confidence in recent weeks and the news that he was being supplanted by Urbina could have shaken him further.

But for the first time, Lowe has reason to look over his shoulder. When Lowe struggled in April (1-4, 6.75 ERA, two blown saves) and again, more recently, the Red Sox didn't have a lot of options. Rod Beck doesn't throw hard enough any more and has given up 11 homers in 58 2/3 innings. Rich Garces isn't durable enough. Bill Pulsipher hasn't closed on the major-league level.

Urbina, of course, has. Should Lowe falter again, the Red Sox won't wait long before handing the ninth inning chores to the new guy.

5. Will there be any further trade activity before the August 31 deadline?
Remember, deals can still be made before September 1, providing players pass through waivers. In recent years, those trades have become more rare, as teams exercise their power to block deals that would help rival clubs. But when the Yankees got stuck with Jose Canseco last summer exercising just such a maneuver, it serves as a cautionary tale for others: Be careful what you claim -- you might just be stuck with it.

Still, the possibility exists that some players slip through.

"A lot will depend on the next couple of weeks," said a source. "You've got a lot of contenders going head-to-head. That could weed out some teams, or it could highlight some needs and force some teams to make more moves."

6. Why didn't the Mariners do anything?
With the best record in the game by a long shot, the Mariners didn't have any pressing needs and certainly, no immediate sense of urgency.

The Mariners have a strong rotation, a deep and dependable bullpen and enough offense to survive.

GM Pat Gillick would have liked a front-line starter, but there were none to be had. He also would have liked another outfielder, but he couldn't work anything out with Toronto for Shannon Stewart or Jose Cruz Jr., feeling that the asking price was too high for each. The Mariners were willing to group some of their excess pitching together (John Halama, Brett Tomko) but they simply refused to include Joel Pineiro, killing a deal with Toronto.

7. What smaller deal have biggest impact down the stretch?
Atlanta acquiring shortstop Rey Sanchez from Kansas City.

The Braves lost Rafael Furcal (separated shoulder) last month and have been trying to patch-and-fill at shortstop with Mark DeRosa.

Sanchez is underrated defensively and with the Braves pitching staff, making the routine plays and turning double plays is critical.

"Plus," adds one baseman man, "he's the perfect No. 2 hitter there because he can hit behind the runner and move guys over."

Sanchez is nowhere near the offensive sparkplug that Furcal is, but he could still contribute some offensively. It's his defense, however, that will pay the biggest dividends as the Braves try to hold off the Phillies and Marlins in the NL East.

8. Who's the most unpopular GM in the game this week?
Gord Ash of the Blue Jays, whose indecision frustrated several teams.

Ash had agreed to send Stewart to Colorado in a straight-up deal for Astacio, but backed out, saying he didn't have the pitcher's medical records. But Ash had examined Astacio's records last summer when he was interested in dealing for him and the right-hander hasn't missed a start since.

By all accounts, Ash was afraid to make a bad deal. Already under pressure in Toronto for the David Wells-Mike Sirotka fiasco, Ash apparently figured that no deal was better than another bad one.

9. What currently injured player could have most impact when he returns?
Predictably, that would be Pedro Martinez.

Martinez threw long toss at a distance of about 250 feet Tuesday as he continues to strengthen his ailing right shoulder. The hope is that he can get up on a mound before the Red Sox leave on a road trip Monday night, then start a rehab assignment soon after.

Clearly, this shoulder problem is considerably more serious than the ones that sidelined him in past seasons. But if Martinez can make it back in time for the first of two remaining series with the Yankees beginning August 31, the Red Sox would get a huge boost.

Adding Martinez to a rotation that also includes Hideo Nomo, Bret Saberhagen and David Cone would give the Sox arguably the best rotation in the American League -- assuming everyone stays healthy.

10. How desperate was Jim Beattie to deal Ugueth Urbina?
Enough to include $1 million in the deal with the Red Sox. Strange, that a club with a $34 million payroll and the threat of contraction hanging over its head would be giving cash to a team with a $109 million and a selling price estimated at $450 million.

But after all the deals for relievers (Dennis Cook, Turk Wendell, Todd Jones, Mike Williams, David Weathers), the market for Urbina was pretty limited.

The Expos probably weren't going to tender him this winter, when Urbina can go to arbitration and win a salary close to $7 million. So by paying $1 million of Urbina's remaining $1.4 million the rest of this season, the Expos get out from underneath a big salary next year and get a starter with some major-league experience (Tomo Ohka) and a young lefty (Rich Rundles) they believe can be a star.

Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal writes a major-league notebook each week during the baseball season for ESPN.com.