ADVANTAGE GOES TO THOSE WHO WERE BOLD DODGERS, CARDINALS, RANGERS BOLSTER ODDS OF WINNING THEIR DIVISIONS.

Byline: TONY JACKSON  Staff Writer

For weeks, the same mantra has been heard from all five corners of the sad-sack National League West, whether from managers, general managers, scouts or whomever else was asked: The team most likely to win this laughable division is the one that makes the most significant acquisition at the trading deadline.

If that holds true, the champagne might already be on ice at Chavez Ravine.

The Dodgers acquired Greg Maddux, a 300-game winner and almost-certain future first-ballot Hall of Famer, from the Chicago Cubs on Monday. He might be old (40), and his best days might be behind him. But in packaging Maddux with Wilson Betemit and Julio Lugo, a pair of solid and probably underrated infielders the club picked up from Atlanta and Tampa Bay, respectively, the Dodgers still pretty much blew everybody else in the division away when it came to deadline activity.

The question now is whether they have stockpiled enough ammunition to blow everybody else away on the field. That is something they probably will have to do over these final two months in order to win the West. They presently stand five games below .500 and five games off the division lead.

First-place San Diego did little of consequence, other than acquiring reliever Scott Williamson and infielder Todd Walker in separate trades with the Cubs. The Padres' best and most significant move might be the one they didn't make: trading reliever Scott Linebrink, who was coveted by several clubs but somehow, for now, remains in San Diego.

Colorado acquired pitchers Jeremy Affeldt and Denny Bautista from Kansas City, but Affeldt has never quite been what the Royals had hoped he would be and Coors Field will be an adjustment for him. San Francisco did most of its maneuvering last week, most notably acquiring wayward infielder Shea Hillenbrand from Toronto.

And then there was Arizona, which despite being in second place, despite being one of only five NL teams with a record of .500 or better and despite having played well of late, decided to do absolutely nothing at the deadline.

In the NL Central, perennial champ St. Louis upgraded at second base, trading utility infielder Hector Luna to Cleveland for Ronnie Belliard, and also picked up former pitching phenom and current enigma Jorge Sosa from Atlanta. Those moves probably were enough to ensure the Cardinals their fourth division title in the past seven seasons.

In Cincinnati, the wild card-leading Reds had fans scratching their heads. They traded two franchise cornerstones, outfielder Austin Kearns and infielder Felipe Lopez, to non-contending Washington for middle relief help, then acquired Minnesota castoff Kyle Lohse hours before the deadline, hoping he could bolster their rotation. Making the playoffs for the first time in 11 years, already a long shot, just became a bit longer.

Milwaukee, meanwhile, added a few more seeds to a long rebuilding program that appears ready to blossom in the next season or two. The Brewers acquired David Bell from Philadelphia and Kevin Mench, Francisco Cordero and Laynce Nix from Texas. All they really gave up for that haul was Carlos Lee, one of the big carrots at this year's deadline, a free agent-to-be who last week turned down a four-year, $51 million extension.

The NL East isn't much of a race anymore, and the first-place New York Mets' acquisition of starter Oliver Perez and reliever Roberto Hernandez from Pittsburgh is more about the playoffs than the regular season. With every other team in the division at least five games below .500 and with perennial champ Atlanta having dumped Betemit and Sosa, the wild card isn't likely to come from here, either.

In the vastly superior American League, which seems a virtual lock to produce its third consecutive world championship team, there was surprisingly little activity. The only significant moves were made by Texas -- which might now be the favorite in the West after picking up slugging outfielder Carlos Lee from Milwaukee -- and the New York Yankees, who picked up Bobby Abreu to play right field despite the fact Abreu has hit just 14 homers since swatting 41 of them on a single evening in last summer's All-Star Home Run Derby.

That the junior circuit mostly stood pat might be a testament to the fact there are so many good teams in it that most of them didn't think they needed much tweaking.

Detroit, whose best record in baseball is a ridiculous seven games better than anyone else's, did pick up first baseman Sean Casey from Pittsburgh. That will allow a popular and respected player to finally get a chance at the postseason for the first time in a career that has been spent almost entirely with second-division clubs. But it won't do that much for the Tigers, who don't really need much help, anyway.

The AL West was eerily quiet for a division largely still up for grabs between all four teams. Division-leading Oakland, the Angels and Seattle all essentially stood pat, probably making the Rangers the favorites. And with East-leading Boston also inactive, the hard-charging Yankees figure to take that one.

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