Opinion

Imagine an alternate world for the New York Yankees.

It's the All-Star break in 2014, Derek Jeter's still retiring at season's end and domestic beer still costs $9 at the Stadium.

But in this reality, they did not make the postseason in 17 of the last 19 years.

With the NBA and NHL free-agency periods slowing down considerably, sports fans with a hunger for transactions need a new source of entertainment.

Enter the MLB trade deadline. 

With the All-Star break behind us, the trade market should start to really heat up. Below, we'll take a look at some of the most recent rumors.

The San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Angels Might Be Making a Deal

Adam Wainwright clearly never took a lesson in integrity from the Derek Jeter school of baseball.

In interviews following his All-Star game start, Wainwright told reporters that he put his first-inning, 1-0 pitch to Jeter on a tee:

The Cincinnati Reds have reached the All-Star break as legitimate contenders, and with the 2014 MLB trade deadline only a couple of weeks away, the team has to address a few weaknesses on its roster.

Look, we all know it's silly to get excited about any All-Star Game in any sport. Even in MLB, where the game actually means something, the mood is jovial and players largely exhibit the intensity of a mid-March spring training game. 

Part of the fun of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game is watching managers get to play fantasy baseball with their starting lineups.

This is the only time where you'll see the best the sport has to offer playing together on the same teams. These are the kinds of batting orders you could only hope to create in video games, and that's only when you turn off the trade logic.

Tim Lincecum has taken fans on a roller-coaster ride during the last three years, and it's finally reached its peak.

The MLB All-Star Game is used to highlight the best players in baseball near the halfway point of the regular season. Derek Jeter is not one of these players, but he still is worthy of his spot in the starting lineup for the American League.

While Major League Baseball's All-Stars take the field on Tuesday night to celebrate the game, there are a lot of players anxiously waiting to find out where they will be after the July 31 trade deadline.

This is the time of year where fans and players are in perfect sync, pulling their hair out and biting their nails trying to determine if the latest rumor being floated out there is true or just due diligence by the team.

It can be difficult to break down Tuesday's MLB All-Star Game in a strategic manner. After all, these are teams molded by fans and feature talented players all lumped together, not carefully pieced together by a general manager.

Players may play unusual roles. They hit from new spots in the lineup. Starters become relievers. Closers become setup men. Up is down, left is right...you get the point.

But clear strengths do become apparent when you study the rosters closely. This year is no different.