I'm late in finding this, but I think Scott McCauley's account of the Pirates' AAA team's trade deadline is fascinating.
↵↵↵Pirates closer Octavio Dotel was sent to LA in return for RHP James McDonald and OF Andrew Lambo. The last two deals had the players interested. INF Brian Bixler knew of McDonald and he liked his stuff. "I Always have thought he was a pretty good pitcher, good curve and change-up; I actually like this deal." Bowker comes over the organization with a history of being a very good hitter with who can play both first base and the outfield. Pacific Coast League players were high on Bowker and Martinez. After the deal with the Dodgers it was determined that McDonald would join the Pittsburgh rotation, Martinez and Bowker would join Indianapolis, with Repko [sic - he means Andrew Lambo] heading to Double-A.
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Ironically, Bixler ended up being the odd man out - there wasn't space on the roster for him after all the trades, and now he's with the Nationals' Class AAA affiliate in Syracuse. Anyway, there's nothing groundbreaking here, but all this trading affects the minor leagues too, and this is a nice piece on minor league culture.