Actually Epstein has come down with something at the deadline every year except for 2006 if I recall correctly.
In 2004 we had the Nomar trade, I believe we got Graffanino in 2005, in 2006 all we got was Bryan Corey. The Gagne fiasco hampered us in 2007, and in 2008, we said hello to Bay.
That said, Andy LaRoche could easily be seen as our "deadline" acquisition this year.