YFSF

The Evening After: Sox-Orioles Gamer

The deadline has passed. Moves have been made. Games will be played.

Have at it.

Oh, They Play Games Now, Too? Sox-O's Gamer

Victor Martinez and Casey Kotchman (and Justin Masterson and Adam LaRoche) are presumably en route, David Ortiz is still keeping quiet, and J.D. Drew is nursing a strained groin. So the Sox are a team in flux tonight as they visit the Orioles. Here's hoping John Smoltz helps us forget about that guy from Toronto who just lost 40 percent of his value (according to Buster Olney).

As a bonus, we may see the big-league debut of Josh Reddick, the promising outfield prospect from AA, in town to replace LaRoche. 

Comment away!

Take That!

Joel Sherman is reporting that the Yanks have acquired Jerry Hairston. Sometimes it's the small moves that put you over the top. In this case, we're talking a big move. Follow the math. Hairston is blah, whatever. But this means that Cody Ransom is likely heading out. As I so painstakingly taught my fifth grade class this year, if you subtract a negative number, you're actually going in the positive direction. The more negative the number you subtract, the more positive the move! It's a shockingly difficult concept to teach, actually.

Sox Trade For Martinez, Kotchman

USA Today's Bob Nightengale tweets.

HT: MLBTradeRumors

1:02 (my time) -- Ed Price retweets: Source: "Looks good" for Victor Martinez to #RedSox, confirming @BNightengale report

1:07 -- Joel Sherman says the Rays were the only other pursuer and they were out of it days ago.

1:13 -- Rosenthal and Morosi say the Sox are "on the verge," and that it's a "straight up" two-team deal.

1:16 -- Sherman's "gut" says it's Buchholz, and on SOSH, this post, presumably from someone watching NESN:

Gammons sent a text to Merloni saying it is just about done. Buchholz. Ugh.

Ugh, indeed.

 

1:21 -- Heyman confirms. Doesn't know whether Buchholz is included.

 

1:25 -- Those watching ESPN say the network has said no names have been reported yet, seemingly contradicting their own reporter (not that he's much of a reporter anymore, sadly).

 

1:28 -- HALLELUJAH!

The Indians' exact return is not known, but the Red Sox did not include either right-hander Clay Buchholz nor right-hander Daniel Bard in the deal, according to a source.

1:34 -- MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo says Nick Hagadone may be part of the deal.

1:39 -- Mayo says Masterson also included. Did the Sox just get Martinez without giving up Buchholz or Bowden??

1:40 -- Heyman says deal is done, Buchholz not included.

1:47 -- Mayo's got the source here apparently, as he says Sox and Tribe are still looking at names to add to the deal.

1:50 -- Heyman confirms Masterson is included.

1:54 -- Nightengale says the deal is to be announced shortly.

1:56 -- Meanwhile, Mike Silva at NYBaseballDigest says that with the Martinez deal in place, Adam LaRoche is likely headed to the Mets.

1:58 -- Nightengale says deal is done.

1:59 -- Heyman tweets the Sox are now "shopping" LaRoche, and that the Braves are interested.

2:10 -- MLBTradeRumors via Twitter says Verducci on MLB Network named Bryan Price as another piece going to Cleveland.

2:19 -- Ed Price says LaRoche is headed to Atlanta.

2:25 -- NESN reports it's for Casey Kotchman. Surely he's part of another trade, right? Never mind. Upon further review, Kotchman should provide some good late-inning defensive help.

2:41 -- Nightengale: Kotchman is staying put in Boston. They love him off the bench.

With that, I think we can close this round of updates and start a new post for any new trades in the next 18 minutes.

Brevity, the Soul of Deadlines

Jarrod Washburn, reportedly, will not be a Yankee.

Curioser and Curioser

An incredibly frank interview with Bronson Arroyo in this morning's Herald:

Bronson Arroyo, a 2003 Red Sox teammate of Favid Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, said yesterday he would not be shocked to discover his name on the list of 104 major league ballplayers who tested positive in the spring of 2003 for using performance-enhancing drugs.

His reason may shed light on what may have happened to Ortiz in 2003, as well.

Back then, Arroyo said via phone from Cincinnati, he was using both androstenedione, which was not banned until the 2004 season, and amphetamines, which were not banned until 2006.

The only reason Arroyo stopped using andro was because he heard through the grapevine that, because of lax production standards, some andro was laced with known steroids, such as Winstrol. ...

“Before 2004, none of us paid any attention to anything we took,” said the Reds starter. “Now they don’t want us to take anything unless it’s approved. But back then, who knows what was in stuff? The FDA wasn’t regulating stuff, not unless it was killing people or people were dying from it.”

Arroyo, who pitched for the Red Sox from 2003-05, said he began taking andro after 1998, when he finished his Double-A season with the Pirates. He loved the effect.

Two Modest Proposals

To the Blue Jays:

• Jacoby Ellsbury
• Michael Bowden 
• Justin Masterson 
• Nick Hagadone 
• Felix Doubrant 
• Cash 

For Roy Halladay, Alex Rios (and his contract)

To the Padres:

• Clay Buchholz 
• Lars Anderson 
• Ryan Kalish 
• Stolmy Pimentel
• Kyle Weiland
• Cash

For Adrian Gonzalez 

Unintended Guilt?

Nomah chimes in with an odd take on the 103 names:

"It's just this list that was supposed to be anonymous," Garciaparra said. "And if that was a mess and it's not anonymous, then how much can you believe it? It was a joke, if you really know the way we went through it. It was supposed to be anonymous, and now it's not? Then what is and what isn't? It's unfortunate."

The infielder, who spent seven and a half years with the Red Sox between 1996 and 2003, expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the idea that names from the list are slowly but surely being leaked.

Garciaparra cast doubt on the method employed to obtain the 103 names on the list, suggesting that some players opted not to take the test in order to purposely fail the test. The players assumed that doing so would increase the number of positive tests and therefore require PED testing throughout baseball.

"There were literally guys who said, 'I'm not taking it. Go ahead and put me positive because I want the number to be above [the requirement to warrant steroid testing in baseball],' because they wanted steroid testing," he said.

He said that now, those players will look like they tested positive for steroid when, in fact, they essentially lied in order to implement steroid testing where it was needed.

I spent all of ninth grade not doing homework because I wanted my teachers to implement a stricter homework policy. I played Warrant really loud in my room because I wanted everyone outside to hear it so they would spread the word about how awful Warrant was. I stand in the doorway of subway cars because I want to emphasize how dickish a move that is so that others will not follow my lead. I have severe coffee breath because I want others to know that halitosis is a serious problem that affects those close to them.

Who knows? Maybe this is true. And maybe we should move on. The Truth is not coming out anytime soon.

h/t rootbeerfloat for the link

Silly Season

Could the Roy Halladay rumor mill be any more ridiculous?

Here's a summary of the MLBTradeRumors Halladay post dedicated to rumors posted since 5 p.m. (all times Central):

5:38 -- The Jays are not actively talking with anyone. JP Ricciardi says talks are dead.

5:57 -- The Dodgers and Blue Jays have been "negotiating extensively."

6:06 -- The Rangers and Blue Jays have had "significant" communication.

6:40 -- The Dodgers have not been in on Halladay. The Rangers have a legitimate chance.

8:11 -- The Rangers are willing to take on all of Halladay's contract.

8:17 -- "Nothing seems hot" on Halladay front.

8:30 -- Talks between Jays and Rangers are "very serious."

8:38 -- There's nothing to reports of the Rangers pursuing Halladay.

9:23 -- The Jays have had no active talks about Halladay.

9:27 -- Ricciardi says it's looking more and more like Halladay will stay put.

9:59 -- Nolan Ryan says the Rangers are pursuing Halladay (he can't say that, can he?).

10:52 -- The Rangers have asked Toronto to pay a "significant" portion of Halladay's salary.

So the Dodgers and Rangers are in, except the Dodgers are actually out, and so are the Rangers, although they may be in a little bit. If the Rangers are in, they're willing to take on Halladay's salary, as long as Toronto pays a significant chunk of it. 

And the Red Sox? No word since Ed Price tweeted around noon that the Jays wanted the Sox to take on Alex Rios' contract. The Sox apparently are waiting on word from San Diego, where the Padres' front office is discussing trade offers they've received with the club's ownership, and Cleveland, where the price for Victor Martinez seems to be plummeting like a stone.

No "news" is good news, right?

Shake It Up: Yanks-White Sox Gamer

Dance all night, play all day. Late gamer, no score in the third.