MLB Trade Rumors

With only a mere four days away from the July 31st Major League Baseball trade deadline, not only will we see many trade rumors flying around, but we will start to see actual trades being made.

One team that will most certainly make a move, and is in no way a stranger to this time of year, is the Boston Red Sox.

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? Since my last post, I've gone out of town twice, bought a new car, worked nearly every day in between (pulling doubles three days a week), and have begun to prepare for a move to a new apartment.

This has left little time for blogging and little time for the Royals. Under new manager Ned Yost, the Royals are playing roughly .500 ball. This has been more a curse than a blessing, as the perception of success has led to hesitation in getting involved as sellers on the trade market.

In the run-up to baseball's non-waiver trade deadline, the focus is almost exclusively on the game's biggest names. We're fascinated by whispers of negotiations and bidding wars over marquee names and pay little mind to the lower-key players who could play similar roles.

But, as teams are quickly finding out, you've got to have a Plan B.

Two of the market's biggest names, Cliff Lee and Dan Haren, are now off the market.

Fresh off sending Conor Jackson to the Oakland Athletics and Dan Haren to the Los Angeles Angels, the Arizona Diamondbacks are shopping virtually every piece on their Major League roster, including catcher Chris Snyder, who has been on the Boston Red Sox' radar for some time, according to MLB.com's Steve Gilbert and MLBTradeRumors' Ben Nicholson-Smith.

Snyder joins the Colorado Rockies' Chris Iannetta, the Toronto Blue Jays' John Buck, the Los Angeles Dodgers' Russell Martin, and the New York Mets' Rod Barajas as a target of Boston's catching-hungry front office.

The Boston Red Sox tendered a trade offer to the New York Mets that would have sent Boston reliever Ramon Ramirez to the Big Apple in exchange for veteran catcher Rod Barajas. The deal, however, was at least temporarily tabled when Barajas landed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left oblique, according to FOX's Ken Rosenthal and WEEI's Alex Speier.

While the deal may not be entirely dead, the Red Sox aren't likely to pursue another injured catcher with Jason Varitek nursing a broken foot and Victor Martinez having just returned from the disabled list.

Amid intensifying trade negotiations for Florida Marlin Jorge Cantu, the Texas Rangers have reportedly lost interest in Boston third baseman Mike Lowell, according to Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com.

Texas' fluctuating interest in Boston's oft-injured backup third baseman has been well documented, and this writer most recently covered it in another article primarily dealing with Detroit's reported interest in Lowell.

With the deadline quickly approaching, fans are wondering just what their team is going to do. That is, if they haven't made a move already.

There have been two big moves thus far and both have come in the American League's Western Division. The Rangers acquired left-hander Cliff Lee from Seattle and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim acquired Dan Haren from Arizona late Sunday night.

There have been many rumours swirling about the Blue Jays, suggesting who they might be moving before the July 31st trade deadline.  Names like Scott Downs, Jose Bautista, John Buck, and Kevin Gregg are all being mentioned as possible trade chips.  The rumour mill on ESPN even suggests that they might be buyers.  So what are Jays fans supposed to draw from all of this?

Basbeall analyst Ken Rosenthal reported Sunday that the New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals are in talks about trading Oliver Perez to Kansas City.

In return, the Mets would get veteran pitcher Gil Meche, who is currently rehabbing after his injury.

This trade would be dead even if it is made, as both are in their last year in their contracts, with each left with $12 million.

Not only is that situation similar, stats wise, too.

Perez and Meche are both 0-4, and their ERAs are hovering around above 6.

The Los Angeles Angels aren't ready to concede the American League West to the Texas Rangers just yet. 

And Sunday, the organization made an aggressive move to help bolster its chances. 

Los Angeles will send LHP Joe Saunders, LHP Patrick Corbin, RHP Rafael Rodriguez and player to be named later to Arizona in exchange for All-Star RHP Dan Haren. 

According to The Arizona Republic Diamondbacks' beat writer Nick Piecoro, the player to be named later will be LHP Tyler Skaggs (the No. 40 overall pick in the 2009 Amateur Draft).