Ned Colletti, Dodgers took best advantage of White Sox sale (cont.)

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The NL West was where all the action was at the Aug. 31 trade deadline, and here's a summary of what the other contenders in that division did ...

GIANTS: Brad Penny made sense to fill their No. 5 starters' slot and round out one of the better rotations in the league. He was mostly solid in the even tougher AL East and might be aided by the bigger ballparks and thinner lineups in this division. Penny explained why he chose the Giants over a return to the Marlins, where he starred on the 2003 World Series title team, saying, "I want to play in front of some fans.'' The Giants do have fans, but their lineup remains a question, and they failed to significantly upgrade an offense that's only better than the pathetic Reds in the National League. Ryan Garko and Freddy Sanchez helped (though Sanchez is currently on the DL), but they needed to score an outfielder, which explains why they were the claiming team on the Mets' Gary Sheffield. The White Sox gave them a chance, too, as Jermaine Dye would have fit them perfectly. But the Giants, despite having about the least productive outfield in baseball, made no overtures toward Dye, according to sources. He's the big right-handed bat they need, and they did nothing.

ROCKIES: After talking to the Diamondbacks about Garland, they made it three for three in the division in finding rotation help from the AL. Contreras was so bad lately with the White Sox that he was upsetting longtime supporter Ozzie Guillen, but he may fare better pitching to National Leaguers who haven't seen him much. Judging by GM Dan O'Dowd's other deals this year (Jason Marquis, Huston Street, Rafael Betancourt), it has a chance to work.

Around the majors

• Competing execs believe that the Mariners are going to try hard to lock up Felix Hernandez this winter. Only if a long-term deal looks completely hopeless are they expected to entertain trade offers -- though one exec said they're "sure to get hits'' on King Felix.

• The Rays did well to get the Angels to pay the $22.5 million remaining on Scott Kazmir's contract and get three prospects for Kazmir, who had passed through waivers. This was a significant money-saver for the small-market team. But it's not as if any of those players is going to outperform Kazmir the rest of this year, not even infielder Sean Rodriguez, who remains a "decent prospect'' but isn't considered a future star.

• Three teams showed interest in Brewers center fielder Mike Cameron. With Cameron a free agent at season's end, there was really no great reason for the Brewers to keep him, but they did.

• The timing of the extension for Royals GM Dayton Moore was somewhat surprising. He's well respected, but four more years after a horrific season did raise a few eyebrows.

• Meanwhile, Colletti and Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd, who is also doing a terrific job, still haven't had their contracts extended with mere weeks to go before they can become free agents. Colletti suggested in the interview on Tuesday that he likes working for the Dodgers and hopes to continue to do so.

• Grant Balfour gets the lame excuse of the week award. Balfour claimed that when Rays manager Joe Maddon instructed him to pitch around a batter it took him out of his "aggressive mode,'' leading to a gopher ball to the next hitter. Weak, very weak.

• Jimmy Rollins is the best defensive shortstop in baseball. There, I said it.

• The first round of bids are in for the Texas Rangers and someone with some knowledge of the bids said, "the wining bid hasn't been submitted yet.'' In other words, the bids aren't exactly big. Here's my suggestion for a fair price: double the $252-million A-Rod contract, which would be $504 million.

• Congrats to great guy Aaron Boone, who made it back to the bigs with the Astros only five months after open heart surgery.

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