Focused on improving their rotation before Thursday’s non-waiver Trade Deadline, the Cardinals completed their work by dealing for Red Sox righty John Lackey less than 24 hours after adding starter Justin Masterson.

Thursday marked a memorable Trade Deadline, one which saw the Tigers and A’s acquire new aces, the Red Sox reshaping their roster and several other moves around baseball.

Here’s the thing you need to understand about Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane: He simply does not care about next season. Or the one after that.

Every lineup, every day, as they are made public by the clubs.

White Sox slugger Jose Abreu needs just four doubles and 17 RBIs to join Hal Trosky, Ted Williams and Albert Pujols as the only rookies with 30 doubles, 30 homers and 100 RBIs in their rookie year.

A lot can happen in the final hours before the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline. Here’s a look at some of the most impactful buzzer-beater deals.

The 75th anniversary of the inception of Little League Baseball is going to be celebrated with a big birthday bash in Cooperstown, N.Y., on Aug. 2. A most worthy place to honor this connection between the twin souls of baseball — where so many Hall of Famers, who once were Little Leaguers, are now enshrined.

On the eve of the non-waiver Trade Deadline, it appeared Jon Lester was in his final hours as a member of the Red Sox, while the Dodgers could be done dealing as they are balking at moving top prospect Joc Pederson.

Catcher John Baker pitched the 16th inning and then scored the game-winning run on Starlin Castro’s sacrifice fly with one out in the bottom of the inning to lift the Cubs to a 4-3 win over the Rockies in the longest game, time-wise, in franchise history.

Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully will return to the Dodgers broadcast booth for an unprecedented 66th season in 2015.

The Cubs and Rockies took part in a 16-inning marathon Tuesday night at Wrigley Field that extended into Wednesday morning. The game, time-wise, was the longest in the history of both franchises and it also brought several rare occurrences.

Matt Kemp went deep twice, Yasiel Puig went 4-for-5 and fell a homer shy of the cycle and Adrian Gonzalez had three hits and two RBIs as the Dodgers topped the Braves, 8-4, on Tuesday night for their fourth straight victory.

Yangervis Solarte homered in his first game at Petco Park and Tyson Ross delivered another solid performance to help the Padres snap their three-game slide with a 3-1 victory over the Cardinals on Tuesday night.

Charlie Blackmon made two diving catches that together robbed Welington Castillo of three RBIs, and stole from the Cubs runs that could have shortened a game at Wrigley Field that went well into the night and into the wee hours of the morning.

The Yankees erupted for their biggest inning of the season on Tuesday night, sending 11 men to the plate in a seven-run sixth inning. It could have been a laugher, but instead they had to hang on for a 12-11 victory over the Rangers at Globe Life Park.

The Twins have signed 24-year-old Brandon Poulson, a right-handed pitcher who has touched 100 mph on the radar gun, to a deal worth $250,000. The kicker: He’s never been drafted.

The A’s scored six times in the ninth inning for a dramatic, come-from behind 7-4 win, evening their series with the Astros at Minute Maid Park. The A’s scored off three different pitchers in the ninth.