After a LOT of back and forth, the Boston Red Sox have acquired former closer Billy Wagner from the New York Mets.

The Red Sox claimed Wagner off waivers and a brief soap opera ensued about whether or not Wagner would accept a trade to Boston.

With the deadline for a deal closing in, Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated is reporting that the deal is done.

Wagner was effective in his first appearance back off the DL but his health is still no doubt an issue and he may be limited to pitching only once every three days.

Even so, the veteran should help solidify the late innings for the Red Sox, as a setup man for closer Jonathan Papelbon.

In exchange for the pricey reliever, the Mets will reportedly receive two players to be named later, and likely will have to kick some cash into the deal as well.

Update: Well that goes to show what I know... Heyman is now reporting that the Red Sox are actually picking up all of the remaining $2 million on Wagner's deal (for just over 5 weeks of service!). If that's the case I'd be surprised if the PTBNL's were significant at all.

The injury plagued New York Mets have reacquired infielder Anderson Hernandez from the Washington Nationals.

The Mets traded Hernandez to the Nationals last year to complete a deal for Luis Ayala but today sent minor league infielder Greg Veloz to Washington to get Hernandez back.

Hernandez is batting .251 for the Nationals with 23 runs driven in.

With the way the Mets are going down with injury, it wouldn't surprise me to see them trade for just about any warm body they can get. In just a two game series with the Cardinals the Mets had 3 players leave the game due to injury with one of them, pitcher Jonathon Niese, hitting the 60 day DL with a torn hamstring.

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!

Both the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays are discussing possible blockbuster trades with the Cleveland Indians that would net them both Cy Young award winner Cliff Lee and former All Star catcher Victor Martinez according to several sources across the league.

Joel Sherman is reporting that the Rays are willing to part with pitching prospect Wade Davis while the BoSox seem hesitent to include Clay Buchholz.

While Fox Sport's Ken Rosenthall reports that the deal is unlikely to happen simply due to the magnitude of the potential trade & the number of prospects that would be required, it doesn't seem like an impossibility just yet.

Sherman says the Rays are actively shopping Scott Kazmir to the Rangers and Mets in hopes of freeing up payrol & obtaining prospects that would be required in a deal with the Indians. Ed Price ads the Angels name to the mix of teams possibly in on Kazmir.

They Rays are also said to be willing to deal Carlos Pena and possibly even Carl Crawford if the price is right so they certainly look to be ready to make big waves as the deadline approaches.

The New York Mets and Atlanta Braves have swapped right fielders, with the Mets sending Ryan Church to the Braves for Jeff Francoeur.

Francoeur had been rumored to be on the trading block for well over a month now, having been mentioned in a possible deal for Boston's Brad Penny.

Francoeur had two great years for Atlanta in '06 and '07 compiling 48 home runs and 208 RBI over that span. He's dropped off considerably since then, batting just .239 last year with 13 HR and 71 RBI. His performance this far this year hasn't been any better, batting only .250 with 5 HR and 35 RBI before being benched from his staring role in Atlanta's outfield.

Church on the other hand is hitting .280 thus far this year but with hardly any power, hitting only 2 home runs with 22 RBI.

While Francoeur is making about half a million more than Church it's hard to see the upside here for the Braves. Francoeur is 5 years younger than Church and has been a great RBI man for the Braves in the past. Church's best year statistically was also in '07 when he smacked 15 HR while driving in 70.

There had been some rancor in the contract negotiations between the Braves and their young right fielder this offseason but had things really soured to the point that the Braves felt they need to get rid of him in exchange for a mediocre at best player like Ryan Church?

There's bound to be more to this story and we'll keep you up to date as the story unfolds.

Reports are that Atlanta will also be sending cash along with Francoeur, who while playing on a one year deal is still under team control until 2011. The trade keeps looking worse and worse to me from Atlanta's perspective.

The Oakland A's have acquired Scott Hairston from the San Diego Padres for pitching prospects Ryan Webb and Craig Italiano as well as the proverbial player to be named later.

While the Padres and A's are both considered "sellers" for this year's trade deadline, Oakland has attempted to land Hairston for quite some time now. The outfielder is under team control through the 2011 season at a very reasonable rate, making him a natural fit for Oakland's Moneyball GM, Billy Beane.

Also, by landing Hairston who's in the midst of a career year batting .299 with 1o HR before the break, the A's may now be more willing to trade hard hitting outfielder Matt Holliday.

The Mets, Reds, Giants, and Phillies were also rumored to be interested in Hairston but all would likely become suitors for Holliday if Oakland decides to come off their demand of two "high impact" prospects in exchange for the soon to be free agent slugger.

The Padres, for their part, are said to view the PTBNL as the key to the deal. The player will reportedly be one of two Oakland pitchers one of whom is said to have Major League service time.

The player will be announced next month but landing 3 decent arms for a formerly mediocre player having a career year seems to define "selling high" for the Padres.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are reportedly the close to signing free agent pitcher Randy Wolf.

The longtime Phillie spent the 2007 season with the Dodgers winning 9 games with a 4.73 ERA, making just 18 starts due to injury. Last year the lefty split time between the Padres and the Houston Astros and putting up a 3.57 ERA with the 'Stros.

Wolf has also been linked to the New York Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks, Philadelphia Phillies, and the Houston Astros over the course of the offseason but is apparently leaning towards a one or two year deal with the Dodgers who are looking to replace both Brad Penny and Derek Lowe. The deal is rumored to be for significantly less than the three year, $28.5 million deal the Astros offered earlier this winter.

If Wolf does indeed sign with LA, the deal could pressure the Mets to intensify their persuit of free agent Oliver Perez.

The New York Mets and Yankees are reportedly the favorites to land free agent pitcher Freddy Garcia, who is seeking a guaranteed deal despite having only pitched 73 innings combined in the past two seasons.

Garcia, who topped 200 innings pitched in the 04-06 seasons, had shoulder surgery in 2007 and returned to action in September of last year, making three starts for the Detroit Tigers going 1-1 with a 4.20 ERA over 15 innings.

The 32 year old pitcher would be battling for the 5th spot in the rotation for both New York teams and would obviously represent an injury risk. While a non-guaranteed deal is the most likely scenario, the Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers had been rumored to be interested in Garcia as well.

Whichever team blinks first and offers a guaranteed deal will probably land the veteran hurler. Naturally, when you're talking about taking a financial risk in the game of baseball, the teams from New York immediately stand out as the front-runners.

I'm a bit behind on the rumor and trade news so I'll try to catch you up today.

The Mets, Mariners, and Indians got together on a three team deal that sent a total of 12 players to new teams.

The Mets acquired former All-Star closer JJ Putz, outfielder Jeremy Reed, and reliever Sean Green while giving up Aaron Heilman, Endy Chavez, Jason Vargas, Joe Smith, and three minor leaguers. Putz figures to slide into the setup role for newly signed closer Francisco Rodriguez. With two top flight closers finishing out games, the Mets hope to avoid the late inning collapses that plagued them last year. Also, if injured closer Billy Wagner can return to form next year, the Mets could have a bullpen of historic proportions.

The Indians received Joe Smith (reliever) from NY and 23-year-old second baseman Luis Valbuena from Seattle in exchange for  giving up outfielder Franklin Gutierrez. While Valbuena is rated as a good all-around player, and Smith has two years of Major League service with a respectable career ERA of 3.51, the return the Indians got for Gutierrez is surprisingly underwhelming. Gutierrez, the 25 year old outfielder, had been hailed as a "cant-miss 5 tool player" with the Dodgers before being traded to Cleveland for Milton Bradley.

The Mariners received the largest haul, getting Gutierrez, Chavez, Heilman, Vargas, and the three minor leaguers from the Mets (including Matt Carp, a highly rated prospect) while giving up the aforementioned Putz, Reed, Green, and Valbuena. The Mariners have a LOT of needs as evidenced by their 100+ loss record last season, and several of the players acquired will be plugged into the starting lineup immediately. Obviously giving up an All-Star at any position is difficult for any team, but the trade is a big first step in the rebuilding process that's needed in Seattle.