Some Answers

Colin, it was a nice surprise to see that you had blogged during my jaunt to the confederacy and back. I'm gonna try to answer your questions briefly:

1) Sox are more than 10 games back because of a litany of injuries (the most notable, in my mind, is Trot's absence for the majority of the season), god awful defense (who would've guessed that replacing todd walker with pokey reese in the offseason would result in worse fielding stats? yes, i realize that the nomarscandalgateinjurything forced the regular play of bellhorn, who despite playing well is actually a downgrade from walker), and terrible coaching. did you know the sox are something pathetic like 3-15 in one run games?
2) I can't really explain the Rangers. Prolific offense, very solid defensively, tons of terrible pitchers whose deals with the devil haven't expired yet.
3) Cardinals are the best team in baseball because all the guys you mentioned are amazing, and their pitching staff has been extremely good. their bullpen is 4th in MLB in ARP. I'm not lying, see for yourself (oh yeah, you're not seeing things - texas is #2):

Team Bullpen Totals (teams ranked by Adjusted Runs Prevented):
Team IP R ARA APR RRA ARP
-----------------------------------------------
LAD 325.0 113 3.42 48.7 3.61 42.1
TEX 336.7 152 3.48 48.3 3.71 39.7
SDP 329.3 139 3.92 31.1 3.69 39.6
STL 288.3 110 3.76 32.5 3.86 29.3

Similarly, their starting pitchers have been extremely solid. Nothing thats gonna get any statgeek all hot and bothered, but with the exception of matt morris, it'd be tough to find a more effective starting rotation at this point in the season:

VORP
Matt Morris 10.5
Chris Carpenter 31.4
Jason Marquis 28.6
Woody Williams 26.1
Jeff Suppan 25.9

4) I think the right answer to this question was "yes". Why exactly does larry bowa still have a job? Shouldn't they think about outsourcing the managerial position in philly to bangladesh or something? I'm pretty sure some underpaid dweeby guy there could probably get that team to the playoffs.

I refrained from commenting about all the deadline trades because I felt really saturated with all the coverage about it here in Boston. Obviously, trading a guy like Nomar is a big deal. But I think this bill simmon's article summarized my thoughts best, and hit the nail right on the head. I heart the boston sports guy.

I do like the trade from a baseball standpoint - sox were just horrible on D, and they got a couple more gold glovers. Sure, the dudes can't hit, or at least, haven't been hitting this year. But maybe they learn to use the monster (meinkads;fk, i'm looking at you lefty contact guy) and have a 60 games in a sox uni. Who knows.

I nearly pooped when I saw the Cardinals got Larry Walker. Just what they need: another slugger.

Also, I don't care how the Yankees or the new york media try to spin it - the yankees made a horrible deal in trading Jose Contreras for Esteban Loaiza. Ready for my hardcoah analysis, here it comes. Loaiza is a terrible pitcher who had one good season which (gasp!) happened to be a contract year. The only upside to the guy is that hes consistent - every game he gives up 5 or 6 runs and gives you 4 to 5 innings. If you'd rather have that then a guy who pitches well against every team except the red sox, then I guess its a good trade.