The Boston Red Sox are having a busy week! Shortly after securing a deal for John Lackey, the Sox are reportedly close to inking outfielder Mike Cameron to a two year deal worth $15.5 million.

The Sox are in need of an outfielder after abandoning their quest to resign outfielder Jason Bay. It's unknown, however, whether the Sox will have Cameron play center or left field.

The trade deadline has come and gone and left a TON of trades in it's wake. We've compiled a list of all the trades that occurred during the entire month of July in one giant trade recap. One interesting note, unless I've missed something, 27 of the 30 teams completed at least one trade last month. The Astros, Angels, and Rangers were the thre teams to stand pat in July.

• The Cubs traded for Jeff Baker from Colorado for Alberto Alburquerque.
• The Indians traded Joan Meloan from the Rays for Winson Abreu.
• The A's traded Ryan Webb, Greg Italiano, and a PTBNL (Sean Gallagher) for Scott Hairston from the Padres.
• The Orioles traded Ryan Freel to the Royals for a PTBNL.
• The White Sox acquired Tony Pena from Arizona in exchange for Brandon Allen.
• The Royals acquired Yuniesky Betancourt from Seattle for Danny Cortes and Derrick Saito.
• The Mets and Braves made a straight up trade of Ryan Church and Jeff Francoeur.
• Seattle acquired Jack Hannahan from the M's for Justin Souza.
• The Brewers traded for Felipe Lopez from the Diamondbacks for Cole Gillespie and Roque Mercedes.
• The Orioles and Padres made the second straight up trade of Oscar Salazar and Cla Meredith.
• With the third straight up trade, the Cards sent Chris Duncan to Boston for Julio Lugo. Lugo was recently DFA'd by the Red Sox.
• The Red Sox added another left-handed bat when they acquired Adam LaRoche from the Pirates for Hunter Strickland and Argenis Diaz.
• The Cardinals acquired slugger Matt Holliday for Brett Wallace, Shane Peterson, and Clayton Morentsen.
• The Giants trade Scott Barnes to the Indians in exchange for Ryan Garko.
• The Pirates and Mariners made a 7 player deal that sent Jack Wilson and Ian Snell for Jeff Clement, Ronny Cedeno, Nathan Adcock, Brett Lorin, and Aaron Pribanic.
• The Reds acquired Wladimir Balentien from Seattle in exchange for reliever Robert Manuel.
• The Yankees acquired Jason Hirsh from the Rockies for a minor leaguer and released Brett Tomko to make room.
• The Phillies traded for Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco for Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, Lou Marson, and Jason Knapp.
• The Giants acquired Freddy Sanchez from the Pirates in exchange for Tim Alderson.
• The Royals acquired Josh Anderson for cash considerations after he was DFA'ed by the Tigers.
• The Dodgers acquired George Sherrill from Baltimors for Josh Bell and Steve Johnson.
• The Cubs acquired both Tom Gorzelanny and John Grabow from the Pirates for Kevin Hart and Jose Ascanio.
• The Tigers acquired Jarrod Washburn for Luke French and Mauricio Robles.
• The Dodgers and Brewers swapped Vinny Rottino and Claudio Vargas.
• The Red Sox made the biggest trade by acquiring Victor Martinez in exchange for Justin Masterson, Nick Hagadone, and Bryan Price.
• The Blue Jays acquired Sean Smith from the Pirates for future considerations.
• The Yankees added Jerry Hairston Jr. from Cincinatti for minor leaguer Chase Weems.
• The Red Sox then went ahead and traded Adam Laroche to the Braves for Casey Kotchman straight up.
• The Marlins traded for Nick Johnson in exchange for Aaron Thompson.
• The Rockies added two pieces to their bullpen, a righty and lefty. Joe Beimel and Rafael Betancourt.
• The White Sox acquired Jake Peavy surprisingly and they traded Aaron Poreda, Clayton Richard, Dexter Carter, and Adam Russell for him.
• The Reds and Blue Jays exchanged third basemen, with Scott Rolen going to Cincinatti in exchange for Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Roenicke, and Zach Stewart.
• The Twins got Orlando Cabrera from the A's for Tyler Ladendorf.

Update 7-31 3:30 CST:

It looks like Halladay is indeed staying put. While the Angels were making a late push, nothing got done before the deadline passed.

Update 7-31-09:

While there has been no news on a Roy Halladay trade 15 minutes after the official deadline, there are still rumblings that we may still hear about a deal similar to the Manny Ramirez trade last season that wasn't announced until after the deadline had passed.

Joel Sherman points out that the Jays had said Scott Rolen wouldn't be traded unless Halladay was and Rolen was traded to the Reds. So, there may be a deal we've not heard about.

Throwing more fuel on this possible rumor fire, ESPN's Jayson Stark is reporting that the Angels have made a late push for Halladay with a deal centering on young pitcher Joe Saunders.

If there's a deal, we should certainly begin to hear about it soon and of course, we'll keep you updated.

Update 7-30-09:

FoxSports' Ken Rosenthall is reporting that while the Red Sox, Rangers, Rays, Dodgers, and Angels are all still interested in acquiring the Jay's ace, it is "very quiet" on the Halladay front.

With the Phillies out of the running and Blue Jays' GM J.P. Ricciardi sticking to his high asking price, it seems more and more likely Halladay will remain with Toronto for the rest of the year.

I don't see the Jays getting the same quality offers this off-season and certainly not at next years deadline. While I understand Ricciardi wants to get the most he can for his ace, the offers that have been floating around in the media seem more than fair.

Update IV 7-24-09

Man the Halladay info is flying fast and furious today. While the Sirius report was apparently false, Ed Price is now reporting that the Blue Jays are "considering [the] Phillies offer of RHP Drabek, 3B Donald, C Marson and OF Taylor."

More as we get it...

Update III 7-24-09:

Andrew Fitzpatrick of Sirius Radio dropped the following note to me about the previous MLB XM report saying "Please be advised:  SIRIUS XM Radio is NOT reporting that the Phillies are close to a Halladay trade."

This would seem to confirm the statements of Jonathan Mayo we reported below. Also of note, the same Twitter account which made the false MLB XM claim is now reporting Buster Olney is reporting that the deal is close. Given the fallacy of the previous report, the latest alleged report should be viewed skeptically.

Update II 7-24-09:

MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo is refuting the earlier report that the trade is close saying the deal is "no where near being done; Not saying it doesn't happen, but it's not close."

Mayo still expects Halladay to end up in Philadelphia saying "usually, where there's smoke there's fire" but doesn't think it will happen as soon as is currently being reported.

Bottom line: it sounds like Halladay's probably a Phillie but will give a fairwell performance tonight in Toronto.

Update 7-24-09:

MLB XM and MLBNetwork are reporting that the Philadelphia Phillies are "close" to trading for Toronto Blue Jays ace, Roy Halladay.

An announcement could apparently come within the next 24 hours but considering Halladay is scheduled to start tonight for the Jays I would expect the deal to be completed within the next couple of hours. If Halladay is scratched from the start or pulled early, it will be a clear indication that a trade has been agreed upon.

If the Phillies do indeed land Halladay, it could set up a showdown with the St. Louis' newly acquired slugger Matt Holliday with the Cardinals in town for a three game set against the Phils.

Update 7-22-09:

It's time to catch up on all the latest rumblings & grumblings about Roy Halladay. This has all the hallmarks of being one of those deals that's talked about for the whole month of July and then nothing happens. Thankfully though, the Jays have put a deadline on negotiations of July 29th when Halladay is schedule to make a start in Seattle.

ESPN Insider (subscription required) lists the Phillies, Rays, and Rangers as the front-runners to land the coveted pitcher. However, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Joe Strauss reports that the Cardinals are still in the mix, and could get a deal done without trading Colby Rasmus.

Yahoo Sports' Gordon Edes reports that the Phillies and other teams will likely turn their attention to other targets such as the Indians' Cliff Lee if the Jays don't come down off their sky high demands.

At the same time, the Toronto Sun's Bob Elliot quotes Jay's GM Ricciardi as saying "It's unlikely Halladay will be dealt."

Before Halladay hopefulls everywhere get too upset, ESPN's Jason Stark reported this morning that Ricciardi expects talks for Halladay to heat up next week.

With all that being said, we still don't know all that much more than we did a week ago. It sounds like the Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, and Cubs are out of the running for Halladay. However, GM's don't exactly like to negotiate trades in full view of the public & the media. Most of what we hear from Ricciardi and other sources from around the league could just as easily be posturing to manuever the price more to their liking.

Nevertheless, we'll keep you up-to-date on all the rumors as we hear them!

Update 7-16-09:

Lots of Halladay related news today. Ken Rosenthal started his most recent article with this tidbit:

"The Angels and Cardinals are among the teams interested in Roy Halladay, but rival executives are skeptical that either club can produce a strong enough package to land the Blue Jays' ace."

Rosenthal lists the Phillies and Yankees as the favorites to land Doc Halladay.

SI's Jon Heyman says the Blue Jays have "told AL East contenders they much prefer to trade Halladay out of the division" which would seem to knock the Yankees back out of it.

Cardinals reporter Joe Strauss reported today that the Cardinals recently contacted the Jays but are now "downplaying" the possibilities of a trade due to the Jay's high demands which apparently included Colby Rasmus. Rasmus would obviously be a deal breaker for the Cardinals and Strauss mentioned in a chat that he believes the Cardinals' best shot at landing Halladay may require a third team involved.

That's quite a few snippets of Halladay news today but as expected, it doesn't appear anything is in the works yet & the only teams I'd really count "out" of it are the Red Sox and Yankees. Even then if one of them (read as Yankees) got desperate enough, even they could make a late surge.

Update 7-13-09:

Speaking in St. Louis before his All-Star game start, Roy Halladay estimated his chances of being traded at 50/50. That's considerably better than the 20% chance Peter Gammons gave last week, but not quite as certain as Jon Heyman seemed yesterday.

Halladay once again cited his desire to play for a winner but failed to specify whether a contract extension would be required for him to waive his full no-trade clause.

While it's probably anyone's guess at this point where or even if Halladay gets traded, I'd be surprised if one contending team (most likely the Phillies) didn't make a big push to land the ace.

However, if Cleveland begins to seriously consider trading lefty Cliff Lee, Toronto may be forced to either come off their sky-high demands, or wait to trade Halladay in the offseason or even at next year's deadline.

Update 7-9-09:

Baseball Prospectus' Will Carroll just Tweeted that the Jays may try to "hang" Vernon Wells onto any Roy Halladay deal similarly to how Mike Lowell was included in the deal that netted the Red Sox Josh Beckett.

Of course, Wells is still owed over $100 million by my count and Halladay is making quite a bit more than Beckett was back then as well.

To be honest, I don't know that the Jays would find a team willing to take on Wells' contract if Toronto threw in Halladay for free.

Update II 7-8-09:

The New York Post's Joel Sherman says that the Phillies should be viewed as the favorite to land Halladay from the Jays. He quotes on GM as saying "No team in baseball is more motivated to get a starter than the Phillies."

Sherman also lists the Cardinals and Rangers as darkhorses in the bidding. As mentioned previously, the Cardinals have two top prospects the Jays are known to covet and as Sherman notes, have nearly $30 million coming off the books next year.

Despite that increased flexibility, Bernie Miklaz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch makes a pretty convincing case on why he doesn't the Cardinals are a fit.

Last but not least, Sherman finally gives some ink to the Rangers who have been rumored to be limited by payroll issues but certainly have the players possible to grab Toronto's interest.

Update 7-8-09:

As expected, lots of talk around the league about Halladay. The NY Daily News doesn't expect Toronto to trade within the division and also doesn't think the Yankees would pay the price in players it would take to land the ace.

The Philadelphia Inquirer believes the Phillies will make a big push to land Doc Halladay, and they would seem to have the trade chips to do so. The only problem of course is that they're not the only team that will be vying for his services.

MLB.com's Dodger beat writer doesn't seem to like the chances that Halladay will be wearing Dodger blue any time soon.

Future Redbirds author Erik Manning points out that Jay's GM J.P. Ricciardi has long coveted Brett Wallace (who was drafted by the Blue Jays back in '05 before attending ASU). Manning speculates that Wallace and highly touted prospect Pete Kozma would be the likely starting point if St. Louis were to acquire Halladay.

While some onlookers faulted Ricciardi for not trading Halladay sooner, when more teams would be able to afford to take on his salary, the feeding frenzy that has ensued after the announcement makes it clear he's still going to get plenty of bang for his buck.

7-7-09

As the Toronto Blue Jays have fallen out of contention, the pressure to trade ace Roy Halladay has been mounting. Halladay's a free agent after the 2010 season and with so few impact players on the trade market this year, the Jays could make a killing by trading the hurler.

Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi was quoted as saying "I'm not saying we're going to shop him. But if something makes sense, we at least have to listen. We're (leaning) more toward listening than we've ever been."

Halladay, 32, has a full no trade clause but has reportedly stated he'd wave it to play for a contender.

When a pitcher like "Doc" is moved AND is more than just a rental, the entire league gets interested. And, according to a tweet by Jordan Bastian, MLB.com's beat writer for the Jays, more than a dozen teams "have asked about Halladay [but] "Serious" interest [came from] NYY, NYM, STL, MIL, LAD, LAA, BOS"

While it's going to take a king's ransom for anyone to pry the former Cy Young winner away, I have a hard time believing the Jays would trade him within the division.

Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman tweeted that the "Jays may want top SS prospect in package for Doc." Which, he points out would be "good for #phils (donald), #brewers (escobar), #chisox (beckham)."

We'll undoubtedly be hearing MUCH more about possible trades in the coming days and we'll keep this post updated with up to the minute news as we hear it. I get the feeling this year's trade deadline is going to be a wild one!

The Los Angeles Dodgers have traded pitcher Claudio Vargas back the Milwaukee Brewers in echange for catching prospect Vinny Rottino.

Vargas had been used as a reliever with the Dodgers after coming off a 3 month stay on the DL. Vargas won 11 games for the Brewers in 2007 but struggled before being released in 2008.

The Brewers are hoping to snap out of their recent slide which has seen them fall 4 games behind the first place Cubs and 3.5 back of the second place Cardinals.

The Milwaukee Brewers acquired Arizona Diamondback's short stop Felipe Lopez in exchange for two prospects.

Arizona will reportedly receive pitcher Roque Mercedes and outfielder Cole Gillespie in exchange for Lopez who is in the midst of a one year deal with Arizona.

Lopez finished strong last season with the St. Louis Cardinals after being released from the Washington Nationals. He then inked a one year deal with Arizona where he's batted .301 with 6 HR and 25 RBI.

The switch hitting leadoff man should improve the Brewers offense, providing more RBI chances for the Brew Crew's heavy hitters, but that won't matter much if slugger Ryan Braun doesn't snap out of his funk soon.

The Boston Red Sox are reportedly showing interest in the Milwaukee Brewers' shortstop JJ Hardy.

Tom Haudricourt reported via Twitter that the Brewers would "have to get a very good pitcher in return to think of doing that."

While Brad Penny is said to be available, I highly doubt Milwaukee sees him as the kind of "very goood" pitcher they'd want in return. The BoSox do, however have several young arms who would no doubt qualify so don't be surprised to see this rumor stick around for a while in one form or another.

Update: Haudricourt has added:

"I don't think the Brewers would trade Hardy. He's one of those "glue" players that holds team together. Would have to be a blockbuster."

Given the Red Sox wealth of young pitching and the Brewers' penchant of making deals happen for the stretch run, I still wouldn't be surprised if this deal got done.

The slow market for type A free agents such as Orlando Hudson, Orlando Cabrera, and Juan Cruz might lead Major League Baseball to alter the rules surrounding the trade of free agents, effectively opening the door for sign-and-trade agreements.

Currently, free agents are not allowed to be traded until June 15th, however FoxSports' Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the players union would be open to allowing players, specifically Cruz, to waive that right. Since signing a type A free agent requires a team to give up their first round draft pick as compensation, the market for Cruz and others has been incredibly slow. The Twins, Dodgers, and Brewers have all been rumored to be interested in Cruz, but have made it clear they don't want to give up a first round pick in order to sign him.

Assuming the players union and MLB actually do change the rules, Cruz's agent would then negotiate with any interested teams. Once the terms of a deal were agreed upon, the Diamondbacks would negotiate with the interested team to determine what compensation (presumably a player worth slightly less than a first round pick) the D'backs would receive. Cruz would then re-sign with Arizona (thus negating any type A triggered loss of draft picks) and be imediately traded to a new team.

MLB.com is reporting that a sign-and-trade deal is being discussed in regards to Cruz, however, there's no word on whether other type A free agents will seek a similar agreement.

The Milwaukee Brewers have avoided arbitration with first baseman Prince Fielder, signing the slugger to a two year deal, reportedly worth $18 million.

The hard hitting first baseman had been asking for $8 million in arbitration this year. While the annual average of the deal is more than Fielder was asking for in arbitration this year, the Brewers will likely money with this deal next year. If Fielder, who has averaged 37 home runs and 100 RBI in each of his first 3 full seasons, had another solid year this year he'd no doubt be asking for a raise in arbitration next year. Considering Ryan Howard's $10 million arbitration judgement last year, after putting up very similar numbers to Fielder's, it's easy to envision the $18 million over the next two years ending up being a bargain.

Despite a recent report, the Yankees and Brewers were apparently not in discussions to swap Nick Swisher for Mike Cameron. Buster Olney goes so far as to say that the two teams haven't talked since the Winter Meetings.

This comes as good news to Yankees fans, specifically Joseph P. over at the River Ave Blues blog, who pointed out that the Yankees would have been trading youth (Swisher) for age (Cameron) without much of an upgrade in overall performance. And, while the Yankees showed everyone they can still spend unlike anyone else, getting older is not the direction they need to be headed in.

And, while the Swisher for Cameron rumor proved to be less than accurate, the Yankees are looking to deal from their depth in the outfield, and according to Ken Rosenthal (4nd paragraph) have had talks with the Altanta Braves about either Swisher or Xavier Nady.

The Yankees don't really have many pressing needs right now having signed three of the best free agents on the market,  but could certainly stand to stock up a farm system that will send its 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, round picks to teams in compensation for those free agents.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have reportedly signed reliever Guillermo Mota to a one year deal that will bring the pitcher back to LA where he spent 3 years as a set-up man for closer, Eric Gagne.

The 35 year old right hander had an ERA of 4.11 over 57 innings last year with the Milwaukee Brewers and will take one of the spots in the Dodgers bullpen that was decimated by free agent defections this offseason.

Mota will likely resume his role of 7th or 8th inning set up man, possibly to the up and coming Jonathan Broxton, although the Dodgers have stated they'd like to ease the young reliever into that roll. If LA is insistant on not using Broxton as their closer to start the year I suppose it's conceivable that they could give Mota a shot in the 9th but he's not been impressive in that capacity in the past, with career totals of 8 saves and 15 blown.