At least, that’s what Jon Heyman says. Jason Bay is heading to Boston as part of the deal. More as we know it. The Rays’ inability to seal the Bay deal at the deadline may come back to hurt them after all.

Update: As expected, Ramirez waived his no-trade clause in exchange for the Dodgers’ declining his club options in 2009 and 2010. Those options were worth $20 million each. So Manny figures he can get more on the open market. While we’ve, for kicks, tossed around the idea of Manny’s coming to New York, odds are that another team will sign him to a longer term deal after this season. Scott Boras knows what’s out there and wouldn’t have given up $40 million if he couldn’t land a better deal elsewhere (See: Alex Rodriguez, circa Oct.-Nov. 2007).

Update 2: Good ol’ Kenny R. has more: “Pirates outfielder Jason Bay is headed to the Red Sox. The Pirates will receive Andy LaRoche and right-hander Bryan Morris from the Dodgers and outfielder Brandon Moss and releiver Craig Hansen from the Red Sox.” The Red Sox will also pick up all of the money left on Manny’s contract, and that strikes me as odd. If the Red Sox are willing to pay Manny not to play for them and they’re willing to forego the draft picks this off-season, they must really have wanted to ship Manny out of town this week.

Update on the Yanks: As many of you have noted, the Yanks sent the Former Attorney General to the Washington Nationals in exchange for Jhonny Nunez, a 22-year-old reliever. Chad Jennings breaks it down, and I can’t imagine this trade amounting to much of anything for either team.

Via ESPN:

Many baseball officials think the trade deadline is irrelevant in the talks between the Yankees and Mariners regarding Jarrod Washburn. Since Washburn is owed $10.35 million next season, most officials think he will easily pass through waivers after today’s 4 p.m. ET nonwaiver deadline.

Of course, after the deadline, another team could swoop in and claim Washburn, thereby blocking the Yankees and the Mariners from making a deal. Most analysts don’t see that happening.

Personally, if the Yanks have to acquire Washburn, I’d rather see the teams consummate this trade today before Sidney Ponson gets the ball again. As these talks drag on, I have to wonder if Seattle is close to overplaying its hand here. With each day, Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes or Carl Pavano (HA!) near a return to the Bronx, and the Yanks’ need for Washburn lessens. Now would be a good time for the Mariners to pull the trigger if they want to accomplish anything more than a salary dump.

Update by Joe: No need to create a whole new post for this, but the Rays just got a ton better, acquiring Jason Bay from the Pirates for Reid Brignac and Jeff Niemann. No go. It appears to be bunk.

Jayson Stark adds another name to the available starting pitchers: Kyle Lohse. Could the Yankees, given the death of the Jarrod Washburn proceedings, refocus their attention with just a few hours remaining before the trade deadline? It wouldn’t be easy, but as we’ve seen from Cashman in the past week, he’s open to the right deal.

Problem is, I don’t see this being the right deal for the Yanks. According to Stark, the Cardinals want a bat and a bullpen arm. We just dished one of our bullpen arms, and it’s not like we’ve got an endless supply. You want to have as many options as possible there, in case one of your guys has a bout of ineffectiveness. We’ve yet to see Veras, Edwar, and Robertson sustain quality performances over an entire season, so holding onto guys like Bruney, Cox, Melancon, etc. will be an important insurance policy.

As far as a bat, don’t we need those ourselves? They could try to flip Abreu, I suppose, though I’m sure that’s not even on Cashman’s mind. It would clearly be contingent upon the return of Hideki Matsui, which is looking more and more in doubt as each day passes. Beyond that, there is little we can offer St. Louis in those terms.

Plus, is Lohse worth it in the first place? Ya gotta remember why Minnesota got rid of him. He’s not a power guy, he doesn’t have the best control, and he’s prone to the longball. Or at least he was in the AL. In 2006, when he got booted from the Twins, he held a 7.07 ERA through 63.2 innings, and didn’t even maintain a 2:1 K/BB ratio. He’s been better with St. Louis this year, pitching to a 3.68 ERA and keeping his homers relatively in check. Still, you never know what’s going to happen when he jumps into the pressure cooker that is the AL East.

Stark mentions the White Sox and the Rockies as other suitors. The White Sox, with the acquisition of Griffey, seemingly have a spare bat. But with Scott Linebrink on the shelf, do they have a reliever to spare?

In any case, count me against acquiring Lohse. The price will be too high, as will the risk. No reason to blow prospects or proven guys on a pitcher who might implode in a return to the superior league.

When history — in the form of Monday’s tabloids — comes to judge yesterday’s Yankee acquisition of OF Xavier Nady and LHP Damaso Marte, columnists will be rushing to pass judgment on a trade that changes the look of the 2008 Yankees. But it isn’t that simple; it never really is.

Right away, this trade makes the Yankees better, and on the face of it, they gave up a lot of nothing. Offensively, they now have a bat to sit in for — but not truly replace — Hideki Matsui or Jorge Posada while at the same time they no longer will trot out a lineup with two of Melky Cabrera, Brett Gardner and Justin Christian. On the year, Xavier Nady has been one of the NL’s best hitters. He’s sporting a .330/.383/.535 batting line in 360 plate appearances. Melky wishes he were that good.

But the questions surrounding Nady are all about future production. Is Nady having a break-out season or is he just enjoying a good four months? His career numbers — .281/.337/.456 — don’t suggest that this stretch is anything more than a hot streak, but at age 29, he could be putting it all together. Either way, the Yankees expect him to bat seventh, and he’s bound to fill that spot more than adequately.

On the pitching front, the Yankees landed a set-up man who also happens to be a lefty. This year, Damaso Marte, the one-time Yankee farmhand once traded for Enrique Wilson, has thrown 46.2 innings and has recorded 47 strike outs. He’s allowed 38 hits, 16 walks and just four home runs with an ERA of 3.47. Even though his splits indicate more success against righties, Marte has struck out 22 of the 59 lefties to face him.

With Marte joining the team, the Yanks do have the opportunity to ensure that this trade makes the bullpen worse, albeit only slightly. If they don’t DFA LaTroy Hawkins, by far the worst pitcher in the bullpen, then Marte will push a deserving and effective reliever out of the Bronx. The only way LaTroy stays is if Dan Giese gets sent back to AAA, but I still think Giese should get the call over Hawkins.

That’s the short-term prognosis. These moves help the Yankees shore up their offense and fortify their strong bullpen. But the long-term picture — analyzed here with an assist from Mike — is more complicated, and the trade really hinges on what Jose Tabata does and does not do over the next few seasons.

For starters, George Kontos and Phil Coke are simply throw-ins. Unless the stars align perfectly, Kontos will probably never see the Major Leagues. While Coke — disappointed with the trade — could be a potential fifth starter or long reliever, he is, in the words of Mike, “easily replaceable.” Plus, the Yankees have a surplus of arms, and trades like these are always made from strengths. See ya later, Kontos and Coke.

So the prime pieces are Ross Ohlendorf and Jose Tabata. In a way, they may have sold high on one, low on the other. Now, Ohlendorf we know. He’s got the velocity, but does he have the stuff? In 40 Major League innings this year, Ohlendorf fooled no one. He allowed 50 hits and seven home runs, an exorbitant amount for a supposed sinkerball pitcher. He had a 6.53 ERA with a 1.725 WHIP, and opponents were hitting .299/.374/.473 against him.

While he’s thrown somewhat batter in the Minors of late as the Yanks attempted to convert him back into a starter, his numbers still aren’t very overwhelming. His move back to the rotation, however, carried with it a bit of hype, and the Yanks may actually have sold high on him simply because starters are more valuable than relievers. It’s doubtful, as Mike says, that he’ll ever be more useful than Marte out of the pen, and his ability to succeed as a starter is up in the air. As this was his second trade in about 18 months, he was rather resigned to his fate.

How about Jose Tabata? The once-untouchable Tabata — the Yanks wouldn’t trade him for Bobby Abreu in 2006 — has seen his stock plummet this year. Soon to be 20, Tabata is hitting .248/.320/.310 at AA and has suffered through attitude and injury problems this year. Corner outfielders who can’t hit for power and aren’t overwhelmingly fast don’t survive long in the Majors.

Still, Tabata is one of the youngest players in the Eastern League and has plenty of time left to turn things around. He could be the next Drew Hensen or Eric Duncan or he could be a bona fide Major Leaguer. Time will tell.

So then the question is: Will Jose Tabata ever be better than Xavier Nady? Mike says that odds are against it, but it’s not out of the realm of possibilities. Right now, this trade makes the team better today, and for 2008, it’s a very good trade. The Yanks landed what they needed without giving up too much, if anything at all. While, in five years, we could be singing a different tune, I’d still pull the trigger on this one any day.

Update by Mike (11:55): The trade has been reconfigured: Dan McCutchen & Jeff Karstens are heading to the Steel City instead of Coke & Kontos. The analysis doesn’t change much, except that these two are a level closer to the bigs. Karstens is pretty bad as we all know, and he would have been out of options next year anyway. McCutchen’s pitching well, but a little he’s two months away from his 26th birthday, so he is what he is, a solid back-end/middle relief guy.

I’m not sure what happened, maybe they found something in someone’s medicals?

Another update by Mike (12:10): Pete updated his post to say that the Pirates selected McCutchen & Karstens from a pool of players that also included Coke & Kontos. Makes sense.

Last night, Jarrod Washburn faced the Boston Red Sox. He didn’t beat them, but he kept them in check for 5.2 innings. Today, Washburn finds himself the subject of some Buster Olney-inspired trade rumors. The Seattle lefty, owed $13.6 million before the end of 2009, could be a good fit for the Yankees, and according to the ESPN scribe, a possible trade would involve Kei Igawa, a secondary prospect and large sums of money heading from New York to the northwest. While, according to the Seattle Times, the Yanks — and anyone with any baseball sense — would prefer A.J. Burnett, Washburn wouldn’t be a bad choice. He’s a lefty with success in Yankee Stadium and a 2.65 ERA over his last 51 innings. This is, of course, just a rumor, but it’s an intriguing one nonetheless.

The Yanks have been doing a lot of window shopping lately. They’ve been said to be looking at Damaso Marte, Jason Bay, and Xavier Nady of the Pirates. They’re supposedly keeping up with Freddie Garcia’s rehab assignment. Now we’re hearing, via MLBTR, that the Yankees are interested in A.J. Burnett. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. While the Yanks won’t necessarily make a big move before the deadline, they’re certainly exploring what’s out there.

That the Yankees sent two scouts solely to see Burnett doesn’t mean that they’ll land him. As we’ve discussed before, it’s not likely that J.P. Ricciardi would dish him within the AL East. However, this is a unique case. Burnett can opt out of his five-year, $55 million contract after this season. So Ricciardi, knowing he could lose Burnett at the end of the season anyway, might be willing to send him to whomever bids the highest.

This brings to the forefront a number of problems. If the Yanks trade for Burnett and he smokes the competition in the second half, he’ll opt out and the Yanks will have wound up with a two-month rental. If he sucks it up, not only will the Yanks have paid for a lemon, they’ll be stuck with him for another two years, owing him $24 million. The only way this really works out is if he pitches well and agrees to stay with the team.

Then again, given his injury history, maybe the Yanks would be best served to have him as a two-month rental. We know he has the stuff to succeed. It’s a matter of his ability to stay healthy. And yeah, he’s pitched poorly this year, though he’s done well against the Yanks and the Rays in his past two starts.

Which brings me to another point: Burnett is a Yankee killer. In 53.2 innings career against the Bombers, Burnett has struck out 46 to 19 walks, and has allowed just 17 runs. Since the beginning of the 2006 season, Burnett’s first with the Jays, only Roy Halladay and Scott Kazmir have better numbers against the Bombers (minimum 45 IP). Make the minimum IP 35, and Burnett slides one slot back, to Jarrod Washburn, another guy the Yankees could conceivably target.

No, I don’t think they’ll land Burnett. No, I don’t think it’s worth adding Washburn and his $9 million salary for 2009. But Brian Cashman is certainly peeking into the window. If there’s a deal to be had, it seems the Yanks will be prepared to take it. But I wouldn’t go betting on an acquisition before July 31.

Dan Graziano, reporting on the latest trade deadline rumors, reports that the Yankees are interested in a left-handed reliever, and I have to ask why? The bullpen has been spectacular lately, and with Brian Bruney on the mend, the one remaining spare part — LaTroy Hawkins — should see his time in pinstripes expire. Meanwhile, lefties are hitting .243/.328/.374 against all Yankee pitchers. If a team has relievers who just get outs, a lefty specialist is a waste of a roster spot, and if ain’t broke, there’s no reason to fix it.

Update: After listening to the mixdown through the internal audio player, I changed the levels and uploaded a new version. So if you caught a broken link, it’s back up and running now.

We’re going to try something a bit different over the next few weeks, leading up to the July 31 trading deadline. It’ll be a weekly podcast going over the trade environment at the time. We’ll talk about needs, wants, rumors, and other potential maneuvers.

This week, it’s me going solo, though I’ll be joined by Mike and Ben as time permits. Also, if you’d like to “call in,” so to speak, just hit me with an email and we’ll try to work something out.

Today I talk about — what else — starting pitching, Cleveland’s situation in evaluating a return for C.C. Sabathia, bullpen help, and a defensive first baseman.

If you want to download the podcast, you can right click here and hit “Save As.” Otherwise, it will launch the podcast in a new screen. Otherwise, you can just use the audio player below.

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So Chien-Ming Wang is down for what could be a while, a gigantic blow to the Yankees’ playoff aspirations. When discussing replacements, the first name to pop up is CC Sabathia and rightfully so. He’s young, durable, a Cy Young Award winner, a lefty, and a strikeout machine. The problem is that Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro is going to expect a hefty bounty for his hefty ace, again rightfully so. The initial reaction is one of desperation, the “give them whatever it takes” mentality, but Brian Cashman can’t operate like that for obvious reasons.

So what do the Yankees do? Do they mortgage the farm for CC? Do they go with a patchwork rotation until Ian Kennedy and/or Phil Hughes are back, and hope they pitch up to expectations? Do they hope a kid like Alan Horne or Dan McCutchen step up (neither has been particularly impressive in Triple-A)? Has Dan Giese shown enough to be trusted every 5th day? Whatever solution Cash goes with, he’ll be heavily scrutinized. It’s part of being the Yanks’ GM.

While CC is the most desirable option, the price might not be right. Bill Gates didn’t get rich by bending over backwards for IBM, and the Yankees won’t make the playoffs by overpaying for established players, no matter how great they are. Here’s a handful of players that could be had on the cheap, or at least cheaper than Carsten Charles. Fun starts after the jump.

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Around the trade deadline yesterday, as Scott Proctor packed up his stuff and headed west, everyone assumed Proctor was traded because of his inconsistent pitching. He had after all allowed 20 baserunners in this last 10.1 IP and 40 over his last 28.2 IP. It’s amazing he hadn’t been hit harder.

But what if the Yankees traded Scott Proctor to protect the team from Joe Torre? That’s why Tyler Kepner intimates here:

On July 8, the day before the All-Star Game break, the Yankees led the Angels by 10 runs when Scott Proctor was sent in to pitch the eighth inning. To the Yankees’ decision makers, this was an obvious sign that Manager Joe Torre would probably always favor Proctor over a pitcher just up from the minors, no matter how promising that pitcher seemed.

So when the trading deadline arrived at 4 p.m. yesterday, the Yankees took away Torre’s go-to reliever, shipping Proctor to the Los Angeles Dodgers for the utility infielder Wilson Betemit.

At the time, that was Proctor’s fourth appearance in a span of six days, and it was an unnecessary one for sure.

Now, if what Kepner writes is true - that is, if the Yankee braintrust has figured out that Joe Torre’s bullpen management is actually hurting the arms of the relievers - why is the solution to trade the reliever in question? Wouldn’t a better solution be to root out the problem?

Steve Lombardi today notes that, increasingly, coverage of Joe Torre makes him sound like a lame duck manage. I couldn’t agree more. When your manager is hurting your team, it’s time for him to go.

Author’s Note: I could have sworn another blogger noted this last night, but I couldn’t find that post this morning. If anyone has it, drop me an e-mail, and I’ll add the appropriate hat tip.