Ken Davidoff's baseball insider

Clearly, the Red Sox were absolutely determined to rid themselves of Manny. Impressive that they pulled this off.

They fared pretty well without David Otiz for an extended period this year, so you'd figure they'd be OK with Jason Bay replacing Manny in the lineup.

They gave up a lot, but man, this conflict grew ugly quickly.

Meanwhile, huge trade for the Dodgers, who desperately needed a bat. Jim, you get your wish: Joe Torre will get to manage Manny. I envision it going quite well, with a motivated Manny enjoying the more relaxed pace of the West Coast.

And the Pirates stock their cabinet with the four players. Pittsburgh GM Neal Huntington wound up lowering his price considerably on all three of his big chips _ Bay, Damaso Marte and Xavier Nady. But better to do that than hold onto them too long.

So really, very good trade for all three clubs.

Meanwhile, the Yankees made a small deal, giving up Alberto Gonzalez to Washington for Jhonny Nunez.

As for my previous blog post...oy vey. Why did I even bother? Busey, the first commenter, is right. I suck.

(But I'm gonna be right on Farnsworth-for-Pudge).

David Lennon reports on his blog that the Mets are working hard to acquire a reliever before the trade deadline. I think they'll find someone. Luis Ayala, as Jon Heyman reports? That would make sense, although if you look at his numbers, they haven't been very good this year.

Other last-minute predictions:

Jason Bay to Tampa Bay
Raul Ibanez to Toronto
The Red Sox get a reliever, but keep Manny.

Stay tuned...

There's got to be more to this.

The White Sox's Kenny Williams is one of the most bold, creative GMs out there. Is he going to deal Jim Thome somewhere? Is some team actually going to take Paul Konerko off his hands, and then they'll move Thome to first base? They can't possibly play Junior in centerfield.

The two pitchers the Reds reportedly received for Griffey are no great shakes, although you wouldn't expect them to be.

I'll give the edge to the White Sox, just for the shock value, and the anticipation that another move is coming. Meanwhile, I remember attending a Reds news conference in Sarasota in 2000, in which their general manager at the time, Jim Bowden, sat next to Junior and proclaimed, "Baseball is BACK in Cincinnati!" That never happened.

Get your trade deadline questions ready. Ken Davidoff will stop by to answer them in a live chat at 11 a.m.

Just a couple of quick thoughts:

A person in the loop just told me there was "nothing close" on a Manny trade to Florida, but that the Red Sox were still talking and seeing if there was a way to deal the eccentric slugger without sacrificing the season.

I'm betting against a Manny trade. Of course, I also thought the Diamondbacks were getting Mark Teixeira, and that the Yankees were set at catcher...

You know about the LaTroy Hawkins trade, right? An absolute miracle. I agree with Dennis. The Astros stink.

Good night. Thanks to this site for the photo.

Wow, do I not like this trade.

I'm not even sure where to begin, so I'll just enumerate my points, as they come to my head:

1. I understood and supported the idea of shifting Joba Chamberlain from setup man to starting pitcher. Because, obviously, Chamberlain was still going to be on the team, in a more important role.

But to replace Chamberlain, they had managed to take Farnsworth _ who had been a complete waste of space for two years _ and turn him into a dominant setup man. Dominant, with that upper-90s fastball and slider. The credit went to Joe Girardi and Dave Eiland. The blame went to Joe Torre and Ron Guidry for what transpired the prior two seasons.

So now they're going to have to rebuild that eighth-inning bridge again, and as good as Girardi and Eiland have proven themselves to be in this area, they'll have no one with the sort of tools that Farnsworth possessed.

2. Pudge. Maybe he can keep up his recent hot streak (42-for-110 with three doubles and four homers, according to the Yankees' press release on this trade). But the prior three years _ including last year, which was a virtual walk year, since the Tigers had a team option on him _ he has been a below-average offensive player. Look at his walk totals since 2005. Brutal.

Now, is he an offensive upgrade over Jose Molina? Of course. And defensively, he still nails an impressive share of baserunners (18 of 50, as you can see on his baseball-reference.com page). But was he worth giving up Farnsworth? I don't think so.

3. The Dave Dombrowski factor. Here are the three major trades that Cashman has made with Dombrowski, prior to today:

1) February 1, 1999. Mike Lowell to the Marlins for Mark Johnson, Todd Noel and Ed Yarnall.
2) July 5, 2002. Jason Arnold, John-Ford Griffin and Ted Lilly to Oakland; received Jeff Weaver from Detroit, as part of a three-way deal.
3) November 10, 2006: Gary Sheffield to Detroit for Anthony Claggett, Humberto Sanchez and Kevin Whelan.

The first two were horrendous _ and those were Cashman's deals. They weren't pushed ahead by George Steinbrenner, or Tampa people, or anyone else. The last one, well, the Yankees benefited by disposing of Sheff. And the Tigers are worse for having him. So far, the trio of young pitchers the Yankees received hasn't panned out, although, to be fair Sanchez needs another year to be at full strength after his 2007 Tommy John surgery.

So this is a case of buyer beware. Dombrowski and Jim Leyland are as sharp a GM-manager duo as there is in the major leagues. What does it tell you about Pudge that the Tigers were willing to trade him, despite his respectable statistics?

4. Oh, and forget about offering Pudge arbitration and getting draft picks out of it. He's making $13 million this year. If the Yankees offered him arbitration, he'd get a raise from that, whereas he'll absolutely have to take a pay cut when he goes into the open market. So he would accept the arbitration, without question.

From reading your early comments, it sounds like many of us are going to be in disagreement. That's all right. It's all in the spirit of debate.

This is a stunner. More analysis to come shortly.

For the second straight day, Mets scout Russ Bove is at Yankee Stadium. But the Orioles' asking price for closer George Sherrill has been prohibitive.

Meanwhile, a source informs me that at least one Mets scout, and possibly more, attended last night's Mariners-Rangers game in Texas. We know that the Mets like Raul Ibanez.

Given the Mets' desire for a high-end reliever, is there any chance the M's would dangle J.J. Putz? Putz is having a terrible year, including a bad outing last night. He's signed for $5 million next year with an $8.6 million team option (and $1 million buyout) for 2010.

The Rangers, meanwhile, have Marlon Byrd, a serviceable, righty-hitting outfielder who can play all three positions.

Here is my Midweek Insider, which explains how this Manny Meltdown is being received differently than its predecessors.