The Seattle Times' Larry Stone is reporting that the Mariners will trade Carlos Silva to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Milton Bradley.

The Cubs have been unhappy with Bradley's performance after giving him a 3 year, $30 million deal last off-season. However, the enigmatic outfielder could provide the Mariner offense with solid production from the left-field or DH positions.

Pitcher Carlos Silva found himself in a similar position with the Mariners, getting a 4 year, $48 million deal two years ago but putting up an ERA over 6 in '08 and spending most of '09 on the DL.

There's no word whether the Mariners will be sending any money to Chicago to make up the difference in contracts. Silva is still owed $25 million while Bradley is only owed $21 million. Even if the Mariners send $4 million along to even things out, it's tough not to LOVE this deal for the M's.

Combined with the previous additions of Chone Figgins and ace Cliff Lee, the Mariners look to be a drastically improved team adding even more potential firepower in the form of Bradley.

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

As you know, July 31st is known as the trade deadline. But in fact, teams can still acquire players after that, however the players involved in a trade must first pass through waivers.

When players are placed on waivers, any of the 29 other teams can claim him which usually results in the player's current team pulling him back off waivers. In some rare instances, teams will in fact allow players to leave via waivers although the more usual scenario is that teams will work out a trade for that player during the 48 hour window they're given to negotiate.

If a player passes through waivers unclaimed, he can then be traded to any team at any time. However, a player must be on a team's active roster by August 31st in order to be eligible for post-season play.

Now that we've explained the process, who are some of the players we might still see traded this year?

ESPN's Jerry Crasnick gives these starting 9 (which actually includes 14 players)  as the most likely to be dealt:

1. Jon Garland & Doug Davis
2. Heath Bell
3. Lyle Overbay
4. Justin Duchscherer
5. The "Matt Stairs" type which Crasnick says this year includes Nomar Gargciaparra and Kevin Millar
6. The "utility man" category under which Crasnick files David Eckstein, Mark Teahen, and Jamey Carroll.
7. Carl Pavano
8. Reds Relievers of Arthur Rhodes and David Weathers
9. Miguel Batista

Heath Bell would obviously the biggest target on this list and as Crasnick mentions, would probably be claimed. However, even if he's claimed by a team that's not in contention, the Padres may be able to work out a deal.

That being said, I think Rhodes or Weathers are the much more likely releivers to be dealt.

There are also plenty of contending teams that could use a back of the rotation starter like Pavano, Davis, or Garland so I wouldn't be surprised to see their names pop up on several different radars.

We also always seem to hear about one BIG name that passes through waivers making them elligible to be dealt (Manny was put on waivers a couple years back) but deals that big usually happen before August if they're going to happen at all.

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According to Jeff Baker of the Seattle Times. The Red Sox, Mariners, and Padres were discussing a 3 way trade that would send Felix Hernandez to Boston and Adrian Gonzalez to Seattle. At first Boston told Seattle they could pick any of these 5 players:

RHP Clay Buchholz
RHP Daniel Bard
RHP Justin Masterson
LHP Nick Hagadone
RHP Michael Bowden
LHP Felix Doubront
OF Josh Reddick
SS Yamaico Navarro

Seattle turned the offer down and in response, Boston got the Padres involved. The offer that emerged was:

Seattle gets: Adrian Gonzalez and Clay Bucholz along with a couple more Boston specs.

Boston gets: Felix Hernandez

San Diego gets: Brandon Morrow, Phillip Aumont and Carlos Truinful (from Seattle). They would also get a couple of top prospects from the Red Sox.

But the Mariners reportedly rejected this deal as well. My question to you is, would you have done the deal if you were the GM of the Mariners?

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.

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.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have reportedly traded shortstop Jack Wilson and pitcher Ian Snellto the Seattle Mariners.

In return Seattle is sending a package of 5 players, headlined by Seattle's top prospect, firstbaseman Jeff Clement who will immediately join the Pirates major league squad. The other players, "shortstop Ronny Cedeno and right-handed pitchers Aaron Pribanic, Brett Lorin and Nathan Adcock" will all be headed to the minor leagues.

The Pirates had been rumored to be shopping Wilson due to financial reasons and Ian Snell has been about as up and down as a pitcher can get.

A fresh start could turn both Wilson and Snell into productive players for the M's and the Pirates certainly got decent value in retun. You could probably make the argument that the Mariners overpaid a bit, but we probably won't have a final verdict on the trade until we see how the prospects sent to Pittsburgh pan out.

Fanhouse.com writer Ed Price has the scoop on the Seattle Mariners trading shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt to the Kansas City Royals for two pitching prospects, said to be RHP Danny Cortes & LHP Derrick Saito.

Trade rumors had been swirling around Betancourt recently although the presumed buyer had been the Pittsburgh Pirates rather than the Royals.

The Mariners are also said to be shopping both Erik Bedard and Jarrod Washburn although Roy Halladay's availability may be dapening interest on both.

Betancourt, who is still owed $10 million on his contract, became available after Ronny Cedeno filled in admirably during Betancourt's recent trip to the DL.

There had been speculation that the M's would have to eat some of Betancourt's contract in order to trade the short stop but financial details of the deal are not yet known.

The Atlanta Braves are believed to be making a late run at signing free agent Ken Griffey Jr. according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Atlanta has been looking for an outfield bat during the offseason, and Griffey could be a great fit, at least against right handed pitching.

Junior was reportedly close to a deal to return to Seattle where he spent the first 11 years of his career. However, Atlanta is rumored to be Griffey's first choice due to it's proximity to his home in Orlando and his friendship with Bobby Cox.

Should Atlanta sign the future Hall of Famer, he would probably be used in a platoon situation, maximizing his at bats against righties as well as giving the 39 year old veteran plenty of rest. While "the Kid" still has the sweetest swing in baseball, his body has broken down over the years and he's lost significant time to injuries over the past several seasons.

The Chicago Cubs and Seattle Mariners today swapped a couple of player that had yet to play an inning for their new teams. The Cubs have sent Ronny Cedeno and former Oriole pitcher Garrett Olson to the Mariners for former Met pitcher, Aaron Heilman.

The Mariners have added to their haul from the J.J. Putz trade, swapping out Heilman, for 25 year old infielder Ronny Cedeno and 25 year old southpaw starter Garrett Olson.

The Cubs, on the other hand, essentially parlayed Felix Pie and Ronny Cedeno into a 30 year-old right-handed reliever who put up a 5.21 ERA last year, and right handed minor leaguer Henry Williamson.

Granted, Olson had an ERA of 6.65 last year, but I would certainly think that a 25 year old left handed starter would be much more valuable than a 30 year old righty reliever, even with the run and a half difference in their ERAs. Add into the mix a 25 year old infielder who batted .269 last year and it's to see how the Cubs didn't get fleeced in this one.

And, if you'd have told a Cubs fan two years ago that Ronny Cedeno and Felix Pie would bring Heilman and a minor leaguer in return, they'd probably have punched you in the face.