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 New York Yankees have acquired Jerry Hairston Jr. from the Cincinnati Reds.

The New York Post is reporting the deadline deal that will give the Yankees a versatile utility man that can fill in pretty much anywhere in the field.

Hairston is batting .254 with 8 HR and 27 RBI in just over 300 at bats this season.

No details yet on who the Red will receive in return. More as it's available...

The Detroit Tigers have acquired veteran left-handed starter from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for southpaw Luke French and minor-league pitcher Mauricio Robles.

The Tigers have been looking for another reliable starter to help them hold onto their slim AL Central lead, and Washburn fits the bill perfectly. The 34 year old lefty is 8-6 but has an impressive 2.64 ERA.

The Mariners had been shopping Washburn for several days, most notably to the New York Yankees but the Bombers were unwilling to put together a package the M's deemed suitable.

Even with this trade, Ken Rosenthall is reporting that the Tigers are still looking for offensive help and may not be done trading just yet.

Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman is reporting that the New York Yankees have inquired about Cleveland Indians' ace, Cliff Lee.

While the Yankees already have an impressive 1-2 punch with CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett, the addition of Lee would immediately vault them into being the favorites for the Word Series title. And, as every baseball fan knows, the Yankees can never have too much talent.

The Indians are said to be demanding that either Joba Chamberlain or Phillip Hughes be included in the return for Lee, a price which may prove to be too steep for the Yankees liking. The Bombers have been unwilling to include either pitcher in a trade to date, but Lee may prove to be too valuable for them to resist.

While Roy Halladay is the most talked about pitcher on the trading block this year, Lee is a Cy Young award winner as well and has a club option for next year of only $9 million. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Indians hold on to Lee until after Halladay is either traded or pulled off the block in order to pit as many contending teams as possible in a bidding war against each other.

The Los Angeles Angels seem to be close to landing free agent slugger Bobby Abreu to a one year deal.

Abreu initially sought a three year deal in the neighborhood of $48 million, however as the economic reality of this offseason set in, it became clear that the outfielder would have to settle for something drastically less.

ESPN's Jerry Crasnick reports that Abreu may be willing to accept a one year deal in the neighborhood of $8 million and Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Angles asked for waivers on Nick Green, possibly in preparation of an Abreu deal.

The Angels lineup has been depleted this offseason by the free agent defections of Mark Teixeira and Garret Anderson and Abreu's 20 home runs and 100 RBI's last year with the New York Yankees would be a welcome addition.

The Atlanta Braves had been rumored to be interested in Abreu, but apparently could not meet the player's salary demands, even on a one year deal.

4 sources have reportedly informed Sports Illustrated that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two different steroids in his MVP season of 2003 with the Texas Rangers.

The positive tests were allegedly part of MLB's survey testing which was used to determine if regular random testing would be instituted. However, the federal authorities seized the records as a part of their investigation into BALCO and while the records are still under seal, 4 different sources leaked the information to SI with the condition of anonymity.

While ARod has never tested positive under the leagues random mandatory testing, according to three other MLB players, he was tipped off about a pending test by Gene Orza from the players' union in 2004.

ARod, with 553 career home runs, has long been expected to compete for the all time home run crown and many fans viewed his shot at the record as a chance for a "clean" player to reclaim the title from the "juicer" Barry Bonds. If these alegations are true, however, his record would be just as tainted as Bonds'.

The New York Yankees have finally resigned free agent pitcher Andy Pettitte to a one year deal with a base of $5.5 million and another $6.5 million possible in performance incentives.

Pettitte had long been expected to return to the Yankees for another year but negotiations had dragged on for several weeks and the 36 year old had reportedly contemplated retirement.

The veteran left hander, who went 14-14 last year with a 4.54 ERA,  will finish off an already impressive rotation that includes newly signed CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Chien-Ming Wang, and Jobba Chamberlain. The move also likely eliminates prospects Ian Kennedy and Philip Hughes from contention for the Yanks' rotation, barring some sort of injury.

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.

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.