Larry Stone: Time will tell which teams got the best of the deadline deals

Roland Hemond, the legendary baseball executive who served as general manager of the White Sox and Orioles, once told me that he always got scared when a trade of his received too much early praise.

Those were the ones that usually backfired, he said. It was the panned deals that often turned out best.

If that's the case, then Dodgers GM Ned Colletti should be very worried. Because at first glance, and in the first industry and media reviews, he looks like the major winner of the trade-deadline sweepstakes.

After initial Internet reports on Thursday had Manny Ramirez landing with the Florida Marlins, Colletti swept in and swiped him for the Dodgers.

Got him at minimal cost — no money (Boston is paying the remaining $7 million on Ramirez's contract) and two prospects that weren't considered blue-chippers (pitcher Bryan Morris and third baseman Andy LaRoche).

In so doing, Colletti swung the balance of power in the highly mediocre, yet highly competitive, NL West toward the Dodgers, and away from Arizona.

It all depends, of course, on the state of Manny's head, but now that he got the financial concession he wanted — a guarantee that he'll be a free agent next year — he should be happy and motivated. And a happy and motivated Ramirez is a lethal Ramirez.

Considering that Colletti also landed the useful Casey Blake from Cleveland in the past week to fill another big Dodgers hole, he tops the winners list. Here's a look at the rest of the winners and losers at the trade deadline — and those who fall somewhere in between.

Winners

• Yankees. So Brian Cashman didn't get Jarrod Washburn — yet. The Yankees GM skillfully filled needs in the outfield (Xavier Nady), left-handed relief (Damaso Marte) and behind the plate (Ivan Rodriguez). And the Yankees no longer have to worry about their arch-nemesis, Ramirez, who hit 55 homers against them in 200 games.

Not until the World Series, anyway.

• Angels. I was amused to see a spin from anonymous scouts that the Angels shouldn't have given up developing young first baseman Casey Kotchman to land Mark Teixeira.

Usually at this time of year, former GM Bill Stoneman was being criticized for not parting with people like Kotchman for the power bat the Angels have been seeking for several seasons now. You can't have it both ways.

I give new GM Tony Reagins major credit for pulling this one off. Yes, it's a risk, because the Angels were going to cruise into the playoffs anyway.

But remember this: the Angels are 4-12 in the postseason since winning the 2002 World Series.

Teixeira could be the piece that puts another ring on the Angels' fingers. It was worth a shot to find out.

• Brewers. The CC Sabathia deal, now 3 weeks old, has already been a resounding success for Milwaukee, even at the cost of power-hitting prospect Matt LaPorta.

In six starts, Sabathia is 5-0 with a 1.88 earned-run average and three complete games. Now that's instant impact.

• Cubs. The Cubs responded brilliantly to the Sabathia acquisition, and it took just 24 hours. They got Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin from the A's, and maintained the upper hand in the NL Central with a huge four-game sweep in Milwaukee this past week.

Losers

• Rays. Maybe the Rays will have the last laugh and their philosophy of zealously guarding prospects will be vindicated.

But I'm in the school that says that a team like the Rays, in their first pennant race, in the process of awakening their town to the joy of meaningful stretch-drive baseball, in a division with teams like the Red Sox and Yankees who make it to October on muscle memory alone, had to do something dramatic. They didn't.

• Mets, Marlins and Phillies. These teams are engaged in a heated battle, and one of them could have gotten a real advantage with a blockbuster trade.

The Marlins came close to landing Ramirez but didn't. The Mets were reportedly itching to make a deal but didn't. The Phillies got Joe Blanton, who had a 7.88 ERA in two starts before winning Saturday night.

• Braves. I'm not saying that GM Frank Wren made a bad deal for Teixeira; Kotchman is a nice long-term replacement at first.

It's just that the Braves as sellers highlights the end of an era that is taking place in Atlanta.

• Astros. For some odd reason, the Astros are acting like contenders with the acquisitions of Randy Wolf and LaTroy Hawkins. News flash: They aren't.

• Pirates. They broke up a strong outfield to trade Jason Bay and Nady for prospects. That's what the Pirates do. And the prospects might be good ones. But it has to be dismaying to their fans to see another in a long line of rebuilding projects launched.

Winners and losers

• Red Sox. Yes, they had to get rid of Ramirez, who had become a growing cancer in and out of the clubhouse, by all accounts. And faced with that necessity, GM Theo Epstein did well to land Bay, an underrated player and a proud Northwesterner (Trail, B.C; Gonzaga University).

But Ramirez is a big part of what made the Red Sox special the past four years, which included two World Series triumphs. Take him out of their lineup, and they lose a major intimidation factor. Take him off their roster, and they're not nearly as colorful or appealing a group.

That doesn't mean they're not better without him, under the circumstances; just not as much fun.

• A's. I'll defer to Billy Beane's track record and assume he cleaned up with the prospects he received for Harden, Gaudin and Blanton. He usually does.

But if I were an A's fan, I'd be uneasy about the fact that Oakland went from contender this season to noncontender almost instantly after the pitching deals.

Maybe it would have happened anyway; Beane seems to think so. But it takes some major guts to give up on a season when it's not yet lost.

Incomplete

• Mariners. The M's have made every trade deadline "losers" list I've seen, but I'm going to be charitable and give them the benefit of the doubt. Deals can still be made in August, after all.

Plus, standing pat is not always tantamount to failure. It can be the wisest path if the offers are particularly inequitable — and there is evidence that teams were trying to take advantage of the Mariners' perceived desperation.

Orioles president Andy MacPhail put it perfectly when he told Baltimore reporters in a conference call, "We had opportunities to do something stupid, and we didn't do it."

On the other hand, the Mariners obviously need a major retooling, and it would have been nice to see the process jump-started beyond a deal for Arthur Rhodes.

But unlike contenders, their timetable is not predicated upon an October payoff.

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com