When the 2008 trade deadline loomed, the Tampa Bay Rays were in the thick of their first ever playoff race. They were in the midst of a miraculous turnaround season where they had surprised most everyone in the baseball world as they had surged to the top of the tough American League East.
Here were the standings heading into play on July 31st. (courtesy of Baseball Reference):
And here's how the Rays lineup looked on July 30th:
It was an exciting time for Rays fans as usually at this point in the year, they'd have to send one of their regular players away to get younger cheaper players that had some potential.