We aren’t talking about what waiver deals will occur before the end of the month in this article but instead the deals that took place prior to the non-waiver deadline on July 31st. There were some players traded who everyone expected to be traded and some players traded that came as a shock to a lot of people around baseball. One of those surprise moves included Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Scott Rolen.

Rolen was sent to the Cincinnati Reds by the Jays for Edwin Encarnacion, right handed pitcher Josh Roenicke, and minor league right handed pitcher Zachary Stewart. This deal surprised a lot of people around baseball because of all the Blue Jays players Rolen’s name almost never came up in the rumors leading up to the deadline unlike his former teammate Roy Halladay. Halladay, with all the rumors swirling for three weeks, stayed put at the deadline and will continue to pitch for the Jays until at least the end of the 2009 regular season.

The biggest surprise of the deadline came when the San Diego Padres announced that they traded ace Jake Peavy to the Chicago White Sox for four pitchers. The pitchers headed to the Padres include Clayton Richard, Aaron Poreda, Adam Russell, and Dexter Carter. A deal for Peavy between these two teams was agreed upon in May but Peavy would not waive his no-trade clause. The same four pitchers heading to the Padres were agreed upon by the two teams in the original proposal back in May. Poreda was the White Sox’ top pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft.

Other deals that went down on July 31st prior to the 4pm EST deadline included the following:

• Athletics trade shortstop Orlando Cabrera to the Twins for Tyler Ladendorf.
• Nationals trade reliever Joe Beimel to the Rockies for right handed pitchers Ryan Mattheus and Robinson Fabian.
• Nationals trade first baseman Nick Johnson to the Marlins for left handed pitcher Aaron Thompson.
• Indians trade cathcer Victor Martinez to the Red Sox for right handed pitcher Justin Masterson, right handed pitcher Bryan Price, and left handed pitcher Nick Hagadone.
• The Reds trade third baseman Jerry Hairston Jr. to the Yankees for catcher Chase Weems.
• The Braves traded first baseman Casey Kotchman to the Red Sox for first baseman Adam LaRoche.
• The Dodgers traded right handed pitcher Claudio Vargas to the Milwaukee Brewers for catcher Vinny Rottino.
• The Mariners traded pitcher Jarrod Washburn to the Detroit Tigers for left handed pitcher Lucas French and left handed pitcher Mauricio Robles.

The 2009 MLB trading deadline was one of the busiest in recent years and waiver trades will more than likely be just as busy as non-waiver trades in the coming weeks. Plenty of top prospects were traded on deadline day or prior to the deadline including deals that involved outfielder Matt Holliday, Cliff Lee, Jack Wilson, Freddy Sanchez, George Sherrill, Kevin Hart, Tom Gorzelanny and John Grabow. Some of the top prospects on the move were Brett Wallace, Dexter Carter, Lou Marson, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Knapp, Jason Donald and Jeff Clement.

Hart started and picked up the win on Thursday, 12-3 over the Houston Astros, before getting the news about the trade. Grabow will help take some of the load off of lefty reliever Sean Marshall in the bullpen while Gorzelanny, who was with the Pirates Triple-A affiliate will now be assigned to the Triple-A affiliate of the Cubs for the time being.

The trade deadline is only hours away so stay tuned for more information on every player that has been moved prior to 4pm on Friday afternoon.

The Los Angeles Dodgers made a move today to tighten up their bullpen down the stretch. The Dodgers acquired relief pitcher George Sherrill from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for two minor league prospects. The Dodgers hold a commanding seven game lead in the National League West but knew their bullpen needed to be strengthened up. The Orioles, on the other hand, are eighteen games out of the American League East and decided to part with their closer and pick up some prospects.

George Sherrill has been the Orioles closer since joining the team last season. He has an 0-1 record and has converted 20 saves in 23 chances. He has 55 career saves and was selected to the 2008 American League All Star team. Sherrill will most likely be used in a setup role for closer Jonathon Broxton but can be used in the closer role if needed.

In return for Sherrill, the Orioles are getting third baseman Josh Bell and pitcher Steve Johnson. Bell is batting .296 with 11 home runs and 52 RBI’s in 94 games at the AA level. Johnson, a right-handed pitcher, has a 9-5 record with a 3.61 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 20 games between the A and AA levels this season.

The Dodgers may be making another move before tomorrow’s non-waiver trade deadline. They are still one of the teams rumored to be interested in obtaining Toronto Blue Jays star pitcher Roy Halladay. All eyes will be on the Dodgers and the other teams looking to make moves within the next 24 hours, as one of the most exciting trade seasons comes to a close.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have made another move, after trading shortstop Jack Wilson and pitcher Ian Snell to the Seattle Mariners earlier in the day. This time, the Pirates have traded three-time National League All-Star and 2006 batting champion Freddy Sanchez to the San Francisco Giants for yet another minor league prospect. That prospect is right-hander Tim Alderson.

This move should complete a total makeover for the Pirates, whose focus has been rebuilding their farm system. The Pirates have all but given up on the 2009 season by offloading all of their main talent. They also traded star outfielder Jason Bay to the Boston Red Sox last year at the trade deadline. While this probably won’t sit well with the Pirates fans, if there are even that many left, it sets up a future for the organization. The newest piece to that future is Tim Alderson. Alderson has a 6-1 record with a 3.47 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 13 games at the AA level. The Pirates management is hoping to put together a team for the future to compete in the National League Central Division.

The Giants, on the other hand, have picked up a solid player in Freddy Sanchez. Sanchez is mainly used as a second baseman, but can play the entire infield if needed. He is not a power hitter, hitting only 6 home runs and 34 RBI’s so far this year, but he hits for average and gets on base. He is currently batting .296 with a .334 OBP, which are right around his career numbers of .300 and .306 respectively.

This is yet another move during a busy trade season with the deadline just under 48 hours away. The Pirates have been busy rebuilding and other teams have been able to address their needs by picking up their players. Other teams are also making some key moves, like the Philadelphia Phillies picking up pitcher Cliff Lee from the Cleveland Indians today. All eyes are still on the Roy Halladay front, waiting to see where the star pitcher will end up by the deadline this Friday. You can count the Pirates out, because they would just trade him away like the rest of their talent.

The Cleveland Indians have traded their Cy Young pitcher from the previous year for the second year in a row. The Indians traded left-handed pitcher Cliff Lee and outfielder Ben Francisco to the Philadelphia Phillies for four minor league prospects. Those prospects are right-handed pitchers Jason Knapp and Carlos Carrasco, shortstop Jason Donald and catcher Lou Marson. This trade looks to benefit both teams as both team’s needs were addressed in this blockbuster trade.

The Phillies have been looking for starting pitching as of late, and Cliff Lee should fit into the rotation rather nicely. Cliff Lee was last season’s American League Cy Young award winner. He went 22-3 with 2.54 ERA and 170 strikeouts. He pitched 223.1 innings over 31 games with four complete games, two of which were shut outs. This year, Lee is pitching better than his numbers suggest. He is 7-9 with a 3.14 ERA and 107 strikeouts. His win-loss record could be better, had he been pitching for a better team this season. Lee pitches a lot of innings, helping a bullpen rest, which is crucial down the stretch. Lee will give the Phillies four left-handed pitchers in their starting rotation, along with Cole Hamels, Jamie Moyer and J.A. Happ. Right-hander Joe Blanton rounds out the rotation with right-hander Pedro Martinez due to join the club as soon as next week. It is unknown who will be delegated to the bullpen yet.

The Phillies are also getting outfielder Ben Francisco, giving them a right-handed bat off of the bench and an extra outfielder to give the All-Star trio of Raul Ibanez, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth a break here and there. Francisco is batting .250 with 10 home runs and 33 RBI’s this season.

After turning down an offer to give up three prospects for Toronto Blue Jay ace pitcher Roy Halladay, the Phillies made a move that would give up four prospects. Toronto wanted pitchers Kyle Drabek and J.A. Happ, but the Phillies were not willing to part with both as a package. The package of prospects going to Cleveland includes four players, three of which are almost Major League ready.

Carlos Carrasco, once deemed to be the Phillies star pitcher of the future, may be the highlight of the package. His numbers are down this year with a 6-9 record and a 5.18 ERA in 20 games this season at the AAA level. He was selected to the Futures Game, the minor league All-Star game, in 2006, 2007 and 2008. He is currently Major League Baseball’s 28^th ranked prospect. The other pitcher in this deal is Jason Knapp. Knapp has been pitching at the A level this year. He is 2-7 with an ERA of 4.01 and 111 strikeouts in 85.1 innings pitched over 17 games.

Jason Donald, who recently had knee surgery, is batting .236 with 1 home run and 16 RBI’s in 51 games at the AAA level. He is a young middle infielder that was in an organization with Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins holding down the positions he plays. Lou Marson is batting .294 with 1 home run and 24 RBI’s in 63 games at the AAA level. He appeared in seven games with the Phillies this year and was part of their September call-ups last year.

The Phillies found a front line starting pitcher in Cliff Lee to give them a strong one-two punch with Cole Hamels. The Indians found four prospects, three possibly Major League ready by the end of the season. This has been a very exciting trade season with two days left until the deadline. The biggest question remaining is where, if anywhere, will Roy Halladay end up? It won’t be the Phillies anymore. They picked up a Cy Young caliber pitcher and held on to the prospects that they did not want to part with. This looks like a great move, but only time will tell if it actually is though.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have made yet another move, trading star shortstop Jack Wilson and pitcher Ian Snell to the Seattle Mariners. In return, the Pirates are getting shortstop Ronny Cedeno, minor league catcher and former number one draft pick Jeff Clement and right-handed pitchers Nathan Adcock, Brett Lorin and Aaron Pribanic. The Pirates have been trying to rebuild their farm system after a disappointing first half of the season and have made multiple trades already this season to address that issue.

The four prospects going to the Pittsburgh farm system join eight other prospects already acquired this season. The Pirates also received outfielder Lastings Milledge and pitcher Joel Hanrahan from the Washington Nationals this season. The Pirates came into the 2009 season with hopes of a .500 or better season for the first time since the 1992 season when they won the National League Pennant. Those hopes were erased as management started trading players to build for the future. Outfielder Nate McLouth was traded to the Atlanta Braves, infielder Adam LaRoche was traded to the Boston Red Sox and outfielder Nyjer Morgan was sent to the Washington Nationals. Also, minor league pitcher Romulo Sanchez and outfielder Eric Hinske, brought in this year to help lead a young team, were traded to the Yankees.

Jack Wilson, the latest to get traded from the Pirates this season, was an All-Star and a Silver Slugger in 2004. He is hitting .267 with 4 home runs and 31 RBI’s this season. Ian Snell joins Wilson in this latest trade. Snell has been effective in AAA after a disappointing start to the season. Snell is 2-2 with a .96 ERA and 47 strikeouts in six starts with AAA.

Seattle is parting with shortstop Ronny Cedeno, who has struggled this season. He is hitting .167 with 5 home runs and 17 RBI’s in 59 games. Perhaps a change of scenery will help the struggling shortstop produce. The Mariners are also parting with four prospects; the biggest name being catcher Jeff Clement. Clement has not lived up to the hype since being drafted third overall in 2005. This season, he is hitting .288 with 7 home runs at the AAA level.

These moves come with just two days left until the non-waiver trade deadline. Only time will tell if more moves are forthcoming for either of these two teams.

Gonzalez has been rumored to be headed to the Boston Red Sox over the past couple of days as GM Theo Epstein is looking for another bat to jump start a suddenly dormant offense. The Red Sox are 2.5 games behind the AL East leading Yankees, who are 10-1 since the All-Star break. Gonzalez would provide the Red Sox with a potent bat in the middle of the lineup. He is hitting a weak .249 but he has slugged 26 homeruns and driven in 56 runs in 2009.

Gonzalez has 123 career homeruns and 381 career RBIs, which Boston would love to have him add to those totals while playing at Fenway for the remainder of the season. In 2008, prior to the deadline, the Red Sox traded away slugger Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers in a three team trade for Jason Bay from the Pirates. Bay added a potent bat to the lineup for the Red Sox stretch run and has played an important role in the team’s offense in 2009. Bay has amassed 20 homeruns and 73 RBIs in 2009 for the Sox.

The other Padre possibly on the trading block is closer Heath Bell. There are plenty of teams out there that could always use another arm in the back end of the bullpen and Bell could provide that stable arm for teams in contention. Bell has 24 saves in 25 opportunities and has accumulated a 2.06 ERA. Bell has racked up 46 strikeouts in just over 39 innings pitched. With just one blown save in 2009, Bell could stabilize the back-end of a contender’s bullpen immediately for the stretch run.

Garko was hitting .285 with 11 homeruns and 39 RBIs in 78 games. Garko spent the past five seasons in Cleveland, hitting .283 overall with 53 homeruns and 235 RBIs. Garko will hopefully provide some much needed pop to a lethargic Giants offense that has gotten excellent pitching performances from Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain all season long.

Barnes was 12-3 with a 2.85 ERA at Single-A San Jose with 99 strikeouts in 98 innings. All 18 games he has pitched in have been starts. The Indians will recall third baseman Andy Marte from Triple-A Columbus to replace Garko on the 25-man roster. Marte was hitting .327 with 18 homeruns and 66 RBIs for the Clippers.

Conversations between Toronto and Philadelphia, said to be the front runner for acquiring Halladay, are in a stalemate because the Phillies will not part with top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek. The Blue Jays have repeatedly asked for Drabek along with J.A. Happ and Dominic Brown. The Phillies countered with a package that would include one or more of the following players; Michael Taylor, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald and Lou Marson.

Toronto balked at the counter offer from the Phillies and sources claim that both teams are still in negotiations regarding Halladay but that talks turned nasty at one point over the weekend. The second team said to be in the running for Halladay are the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim but Toronto is said to be asking for three players on the Angels’ 25-man roster in return for Halladay.

Halladay, wherever he lands, will make a major impact on his new team if he is traded at all. Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi claims he really doesn’t think that Halladay will be traded by the time the 4pm Friday deadline arrives because he doesn’t believe that any team will want to part with the prospects they are asking for in return. If Halladay does change teams he will likely end up with the Phillies, Dodgers, or Angels. These three teams seem to be the ones that have the talent it will take to pry the Cy Young Award winner from the only team he has ever played for.

So what happens to the rest of the league if Halladay does not get traded or if the Blue Jays decide to hold onto him even if there is time left prior to the deadline? Many teams could turn to the Cleveland Indians and the Seattle Mariners. The Indians haven’t decided yet if they are willing to trade former Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee or hold onto him. The Mariners also aren’t sure if they are ready to part with Jarrod Washburn prior to the deadline. If teams are looking for a plan B then they could possibly turn their attention towards Lee and/or Washburn.

Other pitching options for teams looking for relievers include Baltimore’s George Sherrill, possibly the Reds’ Arthur Rhodes, the Diamondbacks’ Chad Qualls, the Nationals’ Joe Beimel and the Pirates’ John Grabow and Matt Capps. It is still difficult to determine whether or not there will be a flurry of minor trades by week’s end or if the Holliday to St. Louis trade will be the only blockbuster deal of the 2009 regular season.