MLB Trade Deadline Coverage--The Latest Red Sox Trade Rumors

UPDATE 4:53 p.m. SUNDAY: The Trade Breakdown: BOS Gets Erik Bedard and reliever Joshua Fields from Seattle. SEA Gets Trayvon Robinson from the Dodgers and Chih-Hsien Chang from Boston. LAD gets Tim Federowicz, reliever Juan Rodriguez and starter Stephen Fife from Boston. 

UPDATE 4:06 p.m. SUNDAY: Gordon Edes says Erik Bedard is a Red Sox, and it seems minor league catcher Tim Federowicz was the price. More on this later.

UPDATE 4:00 p.m. SUNDAY: The deadline is now officially over, but things do tend to trickle in for another 30 minutes or so. Still no word yet on if Boston acquired anything other than Mike Aviles this weekend.

UPDATE 3:51 p.m. SUNDAY: Jayson Stark says that Bedard to the Red Sox is still possible -- is that what Boston has been working on this last 90 minutes or so? 

UPDATE 3:25 p.m. SUNDAY: Pure speculation, but the deafening silence coming from Boston and its beat writers at this moment leads one to believe that they are working on something. Thoughts on what? Ludwick to Pittsburgh is close, according to Jon Morosi, and Heath Bell may still be available, though it seems it would cost the team in prospects.

UPDATE 3:00 p.m. SUNDAY: Marc here now to keep with the updates and trades for the last hour and change.

UPDATE 2:43 p.m. SUNDAY: We are closing in on an hour and 15 minutes until the deadline. All quiet on the Red Sox front to this point.

UPDATE 2:32 p.m. SUNDAY: Bell apparently not the guy, it's Mike Adams. The Rangers have acquired Adams, not bell for two prospects per Jim Bowden. Bell still out there. 

UPDATE 2:25 p.m. SUNDAY: According to Rosenthal, the Rangers will acquire Heath Bell from the Padres. No other details at this point.

UPDATE 2:23 p.m. SUNDAY: Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston reports that the Red Sox have had no discussions in recent time with the Cubs about Matt Garza.

UPDATE 2:19 p.m. SUNDAY: Looks like we've heard the last of big-name outfielders being moved. Heyman reports that both Josh Willingham and Coco Crisp will stay in Oakland for now. We heard earlier B.J. Upton is likely to stay put.

UPDATE 2:15 p.m. SUNDAY: Heyman is hearing that a deal that would send Iannetta to the Jays has cooled a little bit.

UPDATE 2:00 p.m. SUNDAY: Exactly 2 hours to go until the 4:00 p.m. deadline. So far, Sox still interested in Bedard and could focus on the relief market. Gonna be a busy two hours.

UPDATE 1:55 p.m. SUNDAY: Joel Sherman reports that the Red Sox had some interest in Mets outfielder Scott Hairston, but the Mets didn't like the players they would receive in return

UPDATE 1:48 p.m. SUNDAY: Heyman reports that the Mariners are still discussing Erik Bedard with the Red Sox and Cardinals, among others.

UPDATE 1:41 p.m. SUNDAY: Alex Speier checks in to say that the Red Sox are not in discussions with the Padres about either Heath Bell or the other San Diego relievers.

UPDATE 1:36 p.m. SUNDAY: Just a few notes around the league. Jon Morosi believes that the Pirates could make a serious run at B.J. Upton with Jason Kubel off the market. Also, the Blue Jays appear to be interested in the Rockies' Chrs Iannetta. He is reportedly not in today's Rockies lineup. Meanwhile, the talks between the Nationals and Twins aren't going to well. 

UPDATE 1:20 p.m. SUNDAY: Will Middlebrooks, a Red Sox top prospect is not in the starting lineup for the Sea Dogs today. He'd played 17 straight games before today. Not really sure what to think about this. Ubaldo is off the board.

UPDATE 1:17 p.m. SUNDAY: Heyman reports that the A's obtained Lars Anderson 2.0 in Brandon Allen in the Ziegler trade. With Allen coming, it appears that we can deem the Rich Harden trade talks as dead.

UPDATE 1:06 p.m. SUNDAY: According to Jon Morosi of Fox Sports, the Red Sox are not among the teams interested in the Astros' Wandy Rodriguez. Morosi also reports a trade of Rodriguez is 50/50.

UPDATE 1:03 p.m. SUNDAY: Tim Brown of Yahoo reports that the Indians are on the verge of acquiring Ryan Ludwick from the San Diego Padres. The deal has not yet been deemed official.

UPDATE 1:02 p.m. SUNDAY: Danny Knobler of CBS Sports has confirms a report that the D'Backs have acquired Brad Ziegler from the Oakland A's. 

UPDATE 1:00 p.m. SUNDAY: Back from a quick lunch break, looks like Heyman is giving credence to the report that the Red Sox are looking into the reliever market. They don't like what they see in the pitcher pool.

UPDATE 12:20 p.m. SUNDAY: According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Red Sox are not enthused by the current starting pitching market. Sherman speculates they could look at the reliever market and just use Alfredo Aceves in the rotation. This would be bad.

UPDATE 12:07 p.m. SUNDAY: According to the folks on MLB Network, the Yankees are in "serious discussions" to acquire Wandy Rodriguez from the Astros.

UPDATE 12:01 p.m. SUNDAY: According to Sean McAdam of CSNNE, there is an outside chance that the Red Sox revive trade talks with the A's about Rich Harden, but it remains unlikely. McAdam believes the Red Sox will instead look at other options and will strike a deal later today for a starter.

UPDATE 11:53 a.m. SUNDAY: There is a lot of uncertainty in the Heath Bell trade rumors. The Rangers, who were the front runners appear to be losing momentum according to Ken Rosenthal. Rosenthal mentions that the Cardinals remain in the mix and that talks are still "fluid". Yankees appear out.

UPDATE 11:47 a.m. SUNDAY: The Rafael Furcal trade to St. Louis is now official, according to Heyman. Furcal is a Cardinal.

UPDATE 11:36 a.m. SUNDAY: According to MLB Network Radio, The Red Sox have resumed discussions with the Chicago Cubs about acquiring starting pitcher Matt Garza. The Red Sox have reportedly been interested in Garza for a while now as talks appear to be back on. 

UPDATE 11:27 a.m. SUNDAY: The Yankees appear to be making a strong push for Wandy Rodriguez of the Astros according to Rosenthal. 

UPDATE 11:06 a.m. SUNDAY: With the Phillies already acquiring Hunter Pence from the Astros and Atlanta's acquisition on Bourn this morning, it appears the Rays will hold onto B.J. Upton according to Heyman. The Nationals remain the only possible destination for Upton at the moment, but they seem close to making a Denard Span for Drew Storen trade with the Twins.

UPDATE 11:00 a.m. SUNDAY: SI's Jon Heyman tells us that the Red Sox are also discussing Bedard with the Mariners. Bedard has been connected to just the Cardinals earlier this morning. Heyman mentions that another team is in the mix. Probably the Yankees.

UPDATE 10:57 a.m SUNDAY: Rosenthal is back with an update on the availability of Astros pitcher Wandy Rodriguez. As of right now, the Astros don't feel inclined to move him unless there are "impact prospects" in the deal. The Astros would also need to pick up a big chunk of 40 million dollars left on his contract. 

UPDATE 10:39 a.m. SUNDAY: Rosenthal checks in again with news that the Cardinals and Mariners are in trade talks involving Erik Bedard. The Cardinals already acquired Edwin Jackson last week, and may want to upgrade their pitching even more. If Bedard goes to the Cardinals, it's one less option for the Red Sox. 

UPDATE 10:10 a.m. SUNDAY: The reliever market is starting to heat up. The Yankees are reportedly in on Padres closer Heath Bell and the Diamondbacks are taking a close look at Grant Balfour of the A's. The Padres have been in serious talks with the Rangers all week, but no deal has been reached. Balfour, meanwhile hasn't come up in trade rumors at all. He could still be dealt though. Back to Bell though--that trade makes no sense if I'm the Yankees.

UPDATE 9:45 a.m. SUNDAY: According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Atlanta Braves have acquired center fielder Michael Bourn from the Houston Astros for four prospects. Makes me wonder, are the Astros in full sell mode? If so, are starters Brett Myers and Wandy Rodriguez available for a team like the Red Sox to take?

9:00 a.m. SUNDAY: If you went to bed last night thinking the Red Sox had acquired Rich Harden from the Oakland A's, you may be a little surprised when we tell you this. The Harden trade to Boston fell through late last night into the early morning hours for undisclosed reasons. Harden would have given the Red Sox a possible boost to their lagging pitching rotation.

Even though they may not have been able to complete the Harden trade, the Red Sox will surely be very active on this July 31, looking at alternative starting pitchers. Erik Bedard of the Mariners remains a very likely possibility for the Red Sox if they choose to believe his last start was just a hoax, and that he'll be okay. Other possible names include Bedard's teammate, Jason Vargas and the Orioles' Jeremy Guthrie. Maybe the Red Sox choose to rekindle talks and execute a trade for Rich Harden.

The Red Sox could also look to target right handed hitting bench bats or left-handed relief pitchers. As of yesterday, the White Sox's Carlos Quentin and Matt Thornton were high on the Red Sox' wish-list. Who knows what will happen today? All we can tell you, is you need to keep it right here at OTM. The rest of the staff and I will keep you up to date on the latest trade rumors.