Update: Ken Rosenthall is reporting that Philadelphia will receive Roy Halladay & $6m from the Blue Jays, Phillipe Aumont, Tyson Gillies, and a 3rd player from the Mariners in exchange for sending Cliff Lee to Seattle. The Blue Jays will receive elite pitching prospect Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, and Travis D'Arnaud from Philadelphia.

The extension being talked about for Halladay to waive his no trade clause is a 3 year deal worth $60 million which would be a great deal for the Phillies and well below what Halladay's free agent value would be.

Roy Halladay may finally be on his way out of Toronto.

Ken Rosenthall is reporting that the Phillies & Blue Jays are working on a three team trade that would send Halladay to the Phillies in exchange for prospects that will be acquired by sending Cliff Lee to a 3rd, as of yet unnamed team.

There's speculation that the Angels are the 3rd team in the deal, attempting to acquire Lee to replace soon to be departing John Lackey.

Update: Sports Illustrated Jon Heyman is reporting that the 3rd team is actually the Seattle Mariners & the deal is close to completion. The Phillies are currently trying to "lock up" Halladay.

Naturally a deal including two Cy Young award winners in the prime of their careers is going to be fairly complicated.

Lee is only under contract for one more year at $9 million and has informed the team that he won't be giving them any type of discount to resign. Halladay, however, reportedly will be willing to sign a contract extension in exchange for waiving his no-trade  clause & would be willing to take less money to play for a contender that trains in Florida.

To add even more fuel to the suddenly blazing hot stove rumor, the Philadelphia Inquirer is currently reporting that Halladay & his agent are in Philadelphia, presumably to work on an extension in advance of announcing a completed trade.

If the Phillies can manage to get Halladay locked up on a multi-year deal, without giving up all of the top prospects that were being discussed at the trade deadline, it would be a master stroke.

As we've seen previously with Halladay trade rumors, nothing is finished until the ink is dry so we'll keep you up to date

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 Washington Nationals have reportedly scratched left fielder Josh Willingham from the lineup.

While a club spokesman is currently saying it's "an injury thing" trade rumors have been swirling around Willingham for several days now.

This time of year, any time a player is scratched from the lineup late like this, it usually suggestes a trade is coming.

The San Francisco Giants have scouted Willingham recently and could certainly use a boost to their lineup, but the Phillies and several other teams have been rumored to have interest in the outfielder who's batting .300 with 16 home runs.

Update III:

Ken Rosenthall of FoxSports is now reporting (and others are confirming) that the deal has been made final and does include Knapp, Carasco, Donald, and Marson. The Indians are also apparently including Ben Francisco in the deal as well, presumably in order to convince Philadelphia to include Knapp in the deal.

Several scouts have called Knapp a "Halladay" clone, and consider his upside better than Drabek's although he will likely take slightly longer to reach the majors.

It's tough not to like this deal for the Phillies as they've acquired a true ace, without giving up Happ, Drabek or Brown.

The big losers in this deal? The Toronto Blue Jays who have just lost all sorts of leverage. Expect the Red Sox to make a hard late push to pry Halladay loose from their division rivals.

Update II:

Gordon Edes and Tim Brown of Yahoo are reporting that the trade is close but not finalized yet. They agree with Ken Rosenthal that Jason Knapp is also included in the deal which would make it a much more believable trade.

Update:

Jeff Blair spoke to an AL scout who was reportedly stunned by the trade report & has a hard time believing the three prospects were enough for the Phils to pry Lee loose.

It certainly would be a major coup for the Phillies to acquire Lee without giving up Happ, Drabek, or Brown although the earlier report by ESPN's Jayson Stark said the Phils insisted it was possible to get a deal down without involving them.

If the deal is legit I would expect to hear confirmation from other sources soon.

The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired Cleveland Indians ace Cliff Lee according to one minor league source.

The Phillies abruptly scratched AAA starter Carlos Carasco and have reportedly packed Carasco with fellow prospects Marson and Donald for the left handed Lee.

ESPN.com reported earlier that an official with the Indians felt that a trade involving Lee was imminent.

If the reports are accurate (and there's no reason at this point to doubt them) this would certainly seem to end the Phillies pursuit of Toronto ace Roy Halladay.

We'll keep you up to date as confirmation and more details roll in.

With negotiations for Roy Halladay seemingly at a stand-still, the Philadelphia Phillies are reportedly targeting Cleveland Indians ace, Cliff Lee.

With the Blue Jay's asking price sky high for Halladay, Lee has emerged as a VERY popular trade target, with everyone from the Rays, to Red Sox, to Rangers, and now the Phillies trying to acquire the left handed ace.

The Indians are obviously looking to capitalize on the high demand and are apparently asking for several prospects in return, however, the Phillies apparently wouldn't have to include top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek.

While not quite as dominant as Halladay this year, Lee has been very effective going 7-9 with a 3.14 ERA and is under contract for year at a price of just $8 million (or roughly half of what Halladay is due).

It certainly would make sense for the Phillies to have a backup plan in case they don't land Halladay and it also gives them a bit more leverage with Toronto. Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi has constantly insisted that the Jays don't have to trade Halladay, but he'd be a fool not to as Halladay's value plumets once the clock strikes midnight this Friday.

I wouldn't be surprised if this report of the Phillies pursuing Lee didn't get the Halladay to Philadelphia talks rolling once more.

Cleveland for their part seems to be playing the situation quite well. They can either wait until Halladay is delt and operate from a position of power holding the only remaining ace available, or they can snatch up one a package of top prospects while Toronto continues to play hardball.

The Philadelphia Phillies have inked veteran righty, Pedro Martinez to a one year deal reportedly worth $1 million with another $1.5 million possible in incentives.

The signing had been rumored to be close for several days as the Phillies appeared to be the only contender interested in Pedro's services. The previous total we'd heard was $4 million which certainly seemed high at the time.

Martinez will start out on the 15 day DL, officially with a mild shoulder strain, and will likely work a couple of rehab starts before starting back in the majors.

Martinez went 5-6 with a 5.61 ERA last year for the Mets and could provide a boost to the back of the Phillies rotation. Having taken the first half off, Martinez should be well rested and energized.

As reported earlier, the signing also won't pull the Phillies out of the running for Roy Halladay, a player many sources see them as the front-runner to land.

According to a report out of the Dominican Republic, the Philadelphia Phillies are close to signing vertern pitcher Pedro Martinez for $4 million.

Pedro had a private workout for the Phils and has been looking for a team for weeks now.

Phillies beat writer, Todd Zolecki reports that GM Ruben Amaro Jr. declined to comment when asked about the report.

If the Phillies are willing to pay Pedro $4 million for the rest of the season I've got a bridge they might be interested in. And, since there has been little interest from other teams and it would seem the Phillies are only bidding against themselves in this situation.

Those two points seem to call the report into question (I don't speak or read Spanish but feel free to evaluate it for yourself) but GM's usually have no problem blasting outlandish or incorrect reports so Amaro's "no comment" would seem to be significant.

Amaro made news earlier in the week by saying the team had flexibility to trade for an ace (read as Roy Halladay) and I certainly don't think with his history of injury & inconsistency that signing Pedro would pull the Phils out of the market for starting pitching.

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.

Pat Burrell is moving from one World Series team, to the other. The Tampa Bay Rays have reportedly signed former Philadelphia Phillies power-hitting outfielder Pat Burrell to a two year deal worth $16 million.

Burrell, never known for his skills with a glove, will serve as an upgrade to the Rays output from their DH slot. Last year the Rays got 24 home runs, 78 RBI, and a .246 average from their DH spot while Burrell hit 33 home runs, had 86 RBI, and a .250 average. Burrell also, and perhaps most importantly for the Rays (who had a collective .712 OPS against lefties), hits well against southpaws, posting an impressive .951 OPS against them last year.

ESPN's Jason Stark expects the Rays' deal with Burrell along with the Cubs signing of Milton Bradley, to prompt the A's to finish their deal-in-the-works with Jason Giambi as well as possibly prompt several other outfielders to sign. As more and more teams ink power hitters, the demand for future hall of famer, Manny Ramirez seems to be dwindling. If the flurry of deals happens as Stark expects, it might leave the Dodgers as Manny's only option. While Manny seemed to enjoy his time in LA, as we all learned in high school when demand drops, so does the price, a prospect Ramirez and his supposed super-agent Scott Boras won't like much.