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The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees are currently competing for the services of Toronto Blue Jay Reliever Scott Downs. According to AOL FanHouses’ Ed Price, both teams have demonstrated “big-time” interest in the soon-to-be free agent Southpaw from their division rival.

According to multiple reports channeled through MLBTradeRumors.com, the Boston Red Sox have joined the New York Yankees in trade discussions for Florida Marlin OF Cody Ross and RP Leo Nunez.

Both players represent affordable fixes for the Red Sox’ myriad bullpen and outfield woes. As is well known, beyond closer Jonathan Papelbon and setup man Daniel Bard, the piecemeal Red Sox bullpen has been horrible, and the outfield has been riddled with injury.

Mike Francesa reports that the Mets will make a trade at the deadline. He said that they will make a "proper trade," and that the Mets have "no financial restrictions."

By proper trade I'm guessing he means that they will do a trade to address their starting pitcher and/or reliever problems.

More sad news arrives for the New York Yankees as fans will never be able to see Jon Weber don the Yankee pinstripes at Yankee Stadium. This comes after the sad news of the passing of George Steinbrenner and Bob Sheppard. 

Weber was at the center of the Yankee Spring Training story-lines as fans were hoping this man's journey have a happy ending. He was arrived to the Yankees camp at 5'10", 190 pounds, and with hopes as high as Mount Everest. He donned the No. 79 for the Yankees, but his odds of even making the team on Opening Day were higher than that. 

For Major League Baseball's General Managers, the trading deadline can be one of the most stressful times of the year. St. Louis's John Mozeliak can breathe a little easier, knowing that he'll have a job for the next three years.

The Cardinals should breathe easier too, knowing that they've retained one of the key pieces in keeping Albert Pujols in a Cardinals uniform, and one of the top front office brains in all of baseball.

Alex Anthopoulos is continuing his revamping of the Toronto Blue Jays by trading star shortstop Alex Gonzalez to the Braves along with Tim Collins and Tyler Pastornicky in exchange for Jo-Jo Reyes and Yunel Escobar.

This is a great deal for the Blue Jays, as they get a player who is steadily improving defensively in Yunel Escobar while is very solid at the plate (somewhat rare for a SS). Anthopoulos thinks he's a great player and took the risk of acquiring him because great players are impossible to acquire if they're playing well (I wonder if Matt Cain is available).

The first significant trade of the season's second half went down today.  The Atlanta Braves sent beleaguered shortstop Yunel Escobar to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for shortstop Alex Gonzalez.

The Braves also received left-hander Jo-Jo Reyes while the Blue Jays received two minor leaguers, shortstop Tyler Pastornicky and pitcher Tim Collins.

It's a sad day for baseball and the Yankees especially as long time owner George Steinbrenner passed away this morning. The historic career of Steinbrenner has been covered throughout the day and he will be honored prior to the first pitch at the All-Star game. The Yankee's players will be wearing a black armband to represent Steinbrenner tonight. 

This will be the place to get your All-Star fix and converse about the game as it happens. I'll be giving updates after every significant moment happens in the game and you can feel free to comment on the game below.

It's hard to sum up the history of arguably the most influential sports figure of the last 50 years, but we'll give it a try.

It's hard to believe that George Steinbrenner once thought he'd be a meek and hands-off owner.

Some would say he was a meddling micromanager that ultimately hurt himself more than he helped.

You can't argue with the results. Steinbrenner returned a once-great franchise to glory and became a billionaire in the process.