Update: The St. Louis Cardinals have reportedly made Matt Holliday their biggest contract offer in team history, an 8 year deal with an average annual value "around $16 million." That's still well short of the $180 million Boras was seeking, but it sounds like the Cardinals could be close to re-signing their free agent slugger.

Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post Dispatch is reporting "movement" that "most would [classify as] positive" by the St. Louis Cardinals in their negotiations with free agent outfielder Matt Holliday.

The Cardinals reportedly made an initial offer to Holliday late last week before leaving the Winter Meetings. While terms of the offer were not officially disclosed, Strauss reported it was for 8 years at an annual average of $14-16 million.

Any annual value less than $18 million would be less than Holliday rejected to stay with the Colorado Rockies, however, by going 8 years the Cardinals might buy themselves a bit of a discount. Of course Holliday's agent, Scott Boras, was said to be seeking a $180 million deal so the Cards would still likely have to increase their initial offer.

Holliday is also said to be seeking a full no-trade clause and the Cardinals have admitted that they'll need to be "creative" in their attempts to lock up the slugger.

Strauss has indicated it could be a late night of negotiations but we'll keep you posted as this rumor involves the home town Cardinals and hey, I get to be a little bit biased every now and then.

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!

Update IV

ESPN's Buster Olney is on 101ESPN in St. Louis and reports that the A's will include $1.5 million to help off-set the cost of Holliday's contract. There is no word on a Holliday extension with the Cardinals but the deal is still breaking.

Update III

Per ESPN the deal if official and only 4 players are reportedly involved. This is a fantastic trade for the Oakland A's and certainly makes the Cardinals the team to beat in the NL, if only for the rest of this year.

Excuse me as I try to go figure out why the Cardinals just traded two of their best prospects & a 3rd player for a two month rental.

Update II

According to FanHouse's Ed Price sources say the trade is "going down" and is being finalized "as we speak".

Update:

ESPN is reporting that the two teams are "close" to a trade that would send Matt Holliday to St. Louis for outfielder Shane Peterson, pitcher Clayton Mortensen, and top prospect Brett Wallace.

It's tough for me to be objective on this one but that seems like a hell of a price to pay for a rental. As a Cardinal fan I would certainly hope there is more coming back than just Holliday. As an A's fan, I'd try and figure out how to get Cards GM John Mozeliak to sign as quickly as possible.

The St. Louis Cardinals and Oakland A's are reportedly discussing a trade that would send All Star outfielder Matt Holliday to the Cardinals. Oakland is said to be requiring Cardinals top prospect Brett Wallace in the deal and ESPN's Buster Olney says the likelyhood of the deal is at 50/50.

The Cardinals have been searching for a bat to protect the best hitter in the game, Albert Pujols. While Pujols has put up incredible numbers thus far this year, he's also been walked 74 times already. Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa has been vocal in his desire for Holliday, believing him to be the perfect cleanup hitter to bat behind Albert.

Rumors of this deal had been kicked around earlier in the year, but the Cardinals had been reluctant to include Wallace, ranked among the top 25 prospects in the game, for Holliday who will be a free agent at the end of the year and is represented by notorious money chaser Scott Boras.

As a Cardinal fan, I'd certainly  love to have protection in the lineup for Pujols, but I just can't justify trading Wallace for a few months of Holliday. Sure Wallace may not turn out to be a perrenial All Star, but he's our top trading chip right now and has been discussed in our potential pursuit of Roy Halladay. Plus, as we've seen from Colby Rasmus' performance this year, the farm system has gotten much better at producing legitimate Major League tallent.

Update III:

The deal is apparently back on again! St. Louis Post Dispatch's Bernie Miklaz just tweeted that the Cardinals are in fact trading Duncan to the Boston Red Sox for Julio Lugo. The finances of this deal are going to be critical as Lugo is owed a pretty healthy amount of money over the net year and a half.

Miklaz says an announcement from the Cardinals will come soon but I would expect the Red Sox to pick up most if not all of Lugo's contract, as the Sox were apparently prepared to eat his cost this time last week.

Update II:

Chris Duncan has been optioned to the minors rather than traded according to InsideStl.com quoting Cardinals GM John Mozeliak.  The soap opera surrounding the move will likely play out over the next day or two in the St. Louis media. If any of it pertains to trade rumors or trades that have been made, I'll fill you in.

Update:

Cardinals pitcher Kyle Lohse may have unwittingly tipped the Cardinals' hand during his appearance on a St. Louis radio station.

About half way through the interview, Lohse uses the past tense when referring the Duncan.

However, with the Red Sox apparent deal for Adam LaRoche, this deal seems unlikely. The original source is now reporting that due to LaRussa's anger over the possible trade (and again probably due in no small part to the LaRoche trade), the Cardinals will be sending Duncan to the minors instead.

This jives a bit better with John Marecek's report as well and at this point seems the most likely outcome.

More as we have it...

Please let me stress that this is as unconfirmed a rumor as I will ever post here on MLBrumorblog.com.

However, user HardCore Legend on Viva El Birdos is reporting that enbattled Cardinals outfielder Chris Duncan has been traded to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for recently DFA'ed Julio Lugo.

He goes on to say that Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa and pitching coach Dave Duncan were "none to pleased" about the deal and that it may be bigger than just Duncan for Lugo. LaRussa recently criticized St. Louis fans for "unfair treatment" of Duncan, who is hitting a meager .227 on the year.

Again, I feel I must stress that this is an unconfirmed rumor, but Hardcore has a strong reputation on the Cardinal fan site Viva El Birdos. However, it would seem unlikely the the Sawx would trade for both Duncan and LaRoche and the reports of the LaRoche trade are much more substantiated than this rumor.

Cardinals reporter John Maraceck is reporting that the Cardinals may be optioning Duncan to the minors.

In either case, it certainly sounds like there are definitely moves in the works involving the struggling Duncan.

St. Louis Post Dispatch writer Joe Strauss tweets that the St. Louis Cardinals will seek pitching help if 5th starter Todd Wellemeyer doesn't improve soon. He also states the team doesn't believe it has any viable replacements within the organization.

Wellemeyer is 7-7 with a 5.56 ERA. In two of his last three starts Wellemeyer failed to pitch more than 4 innings, surrendering a combined 7 runs.

He was used in relief Sunday prior to the All Star break and only recorded one out while walking two and allowing 3 (unearned) runs to score.

Possible pitchers available include Roy Halladay, Javier Vazquez, Jon Garland, Doug Davis, Gil Meche and possibly even Cliff Lee.

Strauss also said that the Cardinals aren't looking for a slight upgrade, and would need to make a significant improvement to the club in order to make a deal.

The St. Louis Cardinals have reportedly traded outfielder Brian Barton to the Atlanta Braves for right handed reliever Blaine Boyer.

Barton was fairly productive last year for the Cardinals playing largely in a utility role in the outfield. Batting .268 last year and providing speed off the bench, Barton will likely prove useful for the Braves but was part of a glut of outfielders in the Cardinals organization.

Boyer, a 27 year old reliever, had a mediocre year for the Braves last year, turning in a 5.88 ERA over 72 innings. The stat is a bit misleading however, as Boyer had a respectable first half (3.93 ERA) and then exploaded after the All Star break (11.17).

Boyer is off to a rough start this year as well giving up 6 runs on just 1.1 innings pitched, but the Cardinals bullpen is in serious need of some help. If St. Louis pitching coach Dave Duncan can figure out a way to get Boyer back to the pitcher he was in the first half of last year, the Cardinals will have gotten a decent return for Barton who was a rule 5 draftee from the Indians last year.

The AL Champion Tampa Bay Rays have reportedly inked St. Louis Cardinal castoff, Adam Kennedy.

Since the Cardinals released Kennedy last week the Rays would only be responsible for $400,000 of Kennedy's $4 million salary if he makes the opening day roster. However, that's far from a guarantee.

The Rays are pretty much set at 2nd base with Akinori Iwamura, but with only $400k at risk, it's the type of low-risk high-reward move that has been so popular this offseason.

Rays Vice President Andrew Friedman acknowledged as much saying "Right now, he’s on the outside looking in. I think it would take an injury [for him to make it] at this point, but you never know.”

Kennedy, 32, rebounded nicely at the plate last year, batting .280 after a career worst .216 average in 2007.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch is reporting (via twitter) that the Cardinals have reached a one year deal with Ryan Ludwick avoiding arbitration. The deal is said to be slightly above the mid-point between the club's offer of $2.8 million and Ludwick's request of $4.25 which would put the value somewhere around $3.75 million. Considering the outfielder made just $411,000 last year, that's a pretty decent raise.

The Cardinals recently came to a similar deal with Ludwick's fellow arbitration elligible outfielder Rick Ankiel for $2.85 million and have not gone to a hearing since their 1999 case against Darren Oliver.

We'll update this post when the final details of the deal become known.

Update: Goold has the story up over at stltoday.com but the official word on the financial details is still unknown.

Update: Jayson Stark of ESPN says the deal is for $3.7 million with another $100,000 possible if he hits 675 plate appearances.

Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle spoke openly about retirement on the first day of spring training. Despite being only 30 years old, the southpaw told reporters "as I look at it today, I don't think you're going to see me in a baseball uniform for too many more years. I miss my family too much when I'm away."

Now, obviously "too many more years" is rather vague, but keep in mind the pitchers current contract expires after the 2011 season.

Would a healthy 32 year old pitcher walk away from the game? Listening to Buehrle I certainly wouldn't question the possibility. However, a more likely scenario, at least to me, would be Buehrle working out a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals who play just minutes away from his St. Charles, MO home.

And listening to Buehrle's reasoning, it's tough to argue with the man.

"I've already done a lot of things in baseball, including winning a World Series," he said. "I really don't know if I'm going to have enough reasons to keep playing. I really don't know if I'm going to want to play after this contract. Maybe I'll just want a one-year deal."