According to Jon Heyman of SI.com, the Boston Red Sox officially unloaded outfielder Manny Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Pittsburgh’s Jason Bay will head to Boston, while the Pirates will get four minor league prospects in return.

The Red Sox traded Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers late Thursday afternoon, SI.com has learned.
Jason Bay is headed to Boston as part of the deal, SI.com has learned. The Pirates will get four minor leaguers in the three-way trade.

The Red Sox went back-and-forth with the Marlins and Dodgers as the 4 p.m. ET deadline approached. Ramirez said earlier today, as first reported by SI.com, that he would accept a trade to any team.
The announcement will be made in conjunction with a World Baseball Classic announcement at Dodger Stadium shortly.

Interesting. This is a pretty sweet deal for the Dodgers because they get the power-hitting Ramirez and didn’t have to give up Matt Kemp or Andre Ethier (two of their top young talents), as previously rumored. They probably had to part with some of their top minor league talent, but the Dodgers might have just leapfrogged Arizona in the NL West and certainly have enough talent to take on whichever teams emerge from the National League.

As for the Sox, they get a productive outfielder in Bay and get rid of a headache in Ramirez. Bay doesn’t have the pop Manny does, but he’s a solid player and he’s under contract until 2009.

According to MLB.com, the Tampa Bay Rays have acquired Pittsburgh Pirates’ outfielder Jason Bay for minor league prospects Reid Brignac and right-hander Jeff Niemann.

With the three-way deal between the Pirates, Red Sox, and Marlins falling through, an MLB.com source says that the Rays are going to acquire right-handed hitting outfielder Jason Bay for Minor League prospects including shortstop Reid Brignac and right-hander Jeff Niemann. The Rays have not confirmed the deal.

If the reports are true, this is a great deal for the Rays, who land a solid hitter and corner outfielder in Bay, who they would have under contract through 2009. Tampa would be giving up one of the league’s top infield prospects, but at least the Rays are going after it this year.

Update: Check that, Jon Heyman of SI.com is now reporting that Bay is heading to the Red Sox as part of a three-team trade that will send Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers.

ESPN.com (via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) is reporting that the Green Bay Packers might be willing to trade Brett Favre within the NFC North, specifically Minnesota or Chicago.

An NFL source said he understood from the Packers that trading within the NFC North would be a last resort, according to the report. And the Packers are still trying to convince Favre to consider trade possibilities with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets.
But while the Packers continue to try to buy themselves more time to deal, Favre has yet to talk to either team.

And it appeared Thursday that he was preparing to make the roughly 1,000-mile trip north to Green Bay to return to the Packers.

Unless the Packers fleece the Vikings or Bears for multiple high draft picks, teams should never, ever, under any circumstance trade within the division. NEVER…EVER.

You never want to help an opponent get stronger and Favre, at least in theory, would make the Vikings or Bears better. In a 16 game season, wins are invaluable in the NFL, so why help one of your opponents gain an edge? (Again, assuming the Vikings and Bears aren’t offering an unbelievable package for Favre.)

Look, it’s easy to criticize a baseball team for trading away a top veteran or prospect at the deadline in exchange for a package of ranch sunflower seeds and some Big League Chew.

But one thing to remember is that not only is it easy, it’s fun, too.

Below are 10 horrible baseball trades that went down in the past decade. You’ll not only find a few head-scratchiers, but also a couple of what-the-hell-were-they-thinking’s and some you’ve-got-to-be-f’ng-kidding-me’s as well.

And don’t be afraid to point and laugh at the teams that made these following trade blunders.

Listed in chronological order:

July 19, 2000: Texas Rangers trade Esteban Loaiza to the Toronto Blue Jays for Darwin Cubillan and Michael Young.
The Blue Jays essentially made two mistakes regarding Loaiza. The first was trading him for a future stud (Young), while the second was letting Loaiza go a year before he won 21 games for the Chicago White Sox. The Rangers basically got a five-time All-Star and career .300 hitter for a pitcher the Blue Jays eventually got zero use from.

July 26, 2000: Philadelphia Phillies trade Curt Schilling to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Omar Daal, Nelson Figueroa, Travis Lee and Vicente Padilla.
The Phillies handed the Diamondbacks a World Series title in 2001 when they traded Schilling for multiple players at the 2000 deadline. After Schilling was dealt to the desert, he and Randy Johnson formed the best 1-2 punches in all of baseball and all the D-Backs gave up for Shill was a failed prospect (Lee), a journeyman reliever (Daal) and some guy named Nelson Figueroa. Padilla, a 2002 All-Star, was the only one that amounted to anything in Philadelphia, but injuries eventually sidetracked his career.

July 30, 2001: Pittsburgh Pirates trade Jason Schmidt and Jon VanderWal to the San Francisco Giants for Armando Rios and Ryan Vogelsong.
While Giants’ GM Brian Sabean is better known for a 2003 trade blunder (see below), he did fleece the Pirates in 2001. Schmidt became a Cy Young candidate after arriving in San Fran and he helped the G-Men get to the 2002 World Series. The two guys the Pirates got in return for Schmidt weren’t even top prospects at the time and are rumored to be working in the appliance section at Best Buy. (Note: I once worked in the appliance section at Best Buy. There’s nothing wrong with that. Check out Whirlpool’s products – they’re fantastic.)

June 27, 2002: Montreal Expos trade Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee, Brandon Phillips and Lee Stevens to the Cleveland Indians for Bartolo Colon and Tim Drew.
Colon wasn’t bad for the Expos; in fact, he finished with an overall record of 20-8 with a 2.93 ERA in 2002. But it was essentially all for naught as the Expos failed to make the playoffs and Colon bolted via free agency for the White Sox the following year. Oh yeah, they also gave up a five-tool stud in Sizemore and a pitcher in Lee who just started for the AL in the 2008 All-Star Game. Had the Tribe not given up on Phillips so soon, this trade might have looked even worse.

July 29, 2002: Philadelphia Phillies trade Scott Rolen and Doug Nickle to the St. Louis Cardinals for Placido Polanco, Mike Timlin and Bud Smith.
Some don’t blame the Phillies for dealing Rolen at the 2002 deadline because the club was unlikely to be able to re-sign him that offseason. But then again, Philly could have made more of an effort, too. Rolen has been one of the best all-around third basemen in the league and in 2004 he helped the Cards make a World Series appearance thanks to a monster season (.314, 34 HR, 124 RBI). In fairness to the Phils, they landed one of the top prospects in Smith (he became the 18th rookie since 1900 to throw a no-hitter in 2001), but he failed to develop. And Polanco showed some decent pop, but he was eventually traded to the Tigers for Ugueth Urbina. (The same Uguteh Urbina who was arrested by Venezuelan authorities on a charge of attempted murder.)

July 23, 2003: Pittsburgh Pirates trade Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton to the Chicago Cubs for Jose Hernandez, Matt Bruback and Bobby Hill.
Were the Pirates trying to complete one of the worst deals in baseball history when they made this trade? Since the Cubs acquired him, Ramirez has hit over 100 dingers and has averaged over .300 twice. He’s not the greatest defensive third basemen, but he’s given the Cubs’ lineup tons of pop and it’s amazing to think Chicago also got the always-productive Kenny Lofton and cash from this deal. The three prospects the Bucs got in return have done next to nothing in the big leagues.

November 14, 2003: San Francisco Giants trade Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser to the Minnesota Twins for A.J. Pierzynski.
The first thing to note is that this wasn’t a deadline trade. But since it was one of the worst trades in MLB history, I couldn’t leave it off the list. The Giants were dying for a catcher to replace Benito Santiago, so they decided to part with promising reliever Joe Nathan, an improving AAA pitcher in Boof Bonser and a minor league nobody named Francisco Liriano to land former All-Star A.J. Pierzynski. As it turns out, Nathan developed into one of the best closers in the game, Bonser turned out to be a middle of the rotation starter and before he got hurt, Liriano looked like an ace in the making (and still might be). And Pierzynski? He batted just .272, was generally hated in the Giants’ clubhouse and then signed with the Chicago White Sox the following year. But the real crime is how San Francisco GM Brian Sabean still has a job after making a trade like this.

June 24, 2004: Kansas City Royals trade Carlos Beltran to the Houston Astros in a three-team deal, which also sent Octavio Dotel from the Astros to the Oakland A’s, Mike Wood and Mark Teahen from the A’s to the Royals and John Buck from the A’s to the Astros.
Beltran owned the 2004 NLCS after joining the Stros in late June. He tied Barry Bond’s single postseason record with eight home runs and also knocked in 14 RBI, scored 21 runs and also batted .435 to boot. Talk about leading the Astros to the promise land – he essentially carried Houston to a NLCS appearance, even though they eventually lost to the St. Louis Cardinals. To be fair, the Royals weren’t completely bamboozled in the deal. They did get two eventual starters in Teahen and Buck, and it was highly unlikely they were going to re-sign the free-agent-to-be Beltran following the year anyway.

July 30, 2004: The New York Mets trade Scott Kazmir and Joselo Diaz to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for Victor Zambrano and Bartolome Fortunato.
This trade looks worse every year. The Mets were desperately trying to contend for a playoff spot in 2004, so they gave up their top-pitching prospect (Kazmir) for an already injured Zambrano, who went on to start just three games before winding up on the DL. Zambrano also missed the entire 2006 season after suffering a torn flexor tendon in his pitching elbow. Kazmir, meanwhile, continues to develop into one of the league’s best young pitchers and has given Tampa a bona fide ace. Imagine how good the Mets’ starting rotation would be with Johan Santana, Kazmir, John Maine and a healthy Pedro Martinez. (Assuming, of course, that the Mets would have still traded for Santana in 2008 if they had Kazmir on the roster.)

July 31, 2004: New York Yankees trade Jose Contreras to the Chicago White Sox for Esteban Loaiza.
Normally the Yankees are the ones fleecing other teams but in 2004, the fleecers got fleeced themselves. After just 27 starts, the Yankees grew tired of Contreras’s inconsistencies on the mound and sent him and cash to Chicago for Loaiza. The following year, Contreras finished 15-7 with 154 strikeouts and a 3.61 ERA. He was also the Sox’ Game 1 starter when they swept the Houston Astros in the 2005 World Series. As for Loaiza, he was so bad in New York that he was banished to the bullpen for the rest of the 2004 season and eventually signed with the Washington Nationals the following year.

Update: The following corrections have been made: The Houston Astros lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 NLCS, not to the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. And Curt “Shilling” was corrected to Curt “Schilling.” Thank you for those of you who brought the mistakes to our attention.

It was a long, arduous negotiation, but the Bulls finally locked up Luol Deng. I estimated Deng’s value to be $11-$12 million per season, and he ultimately signed for $11.83 million per season.

Given his modest background growing up in the Sudan and Egypt before moving to London, Deng stressed to the Bulls that he was not bluffing when he vowed to play next season on a one-year qualifying offer worth about $4.5 million for the right to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2009.

The Bulls then gradually raised their offer to a higher annual average that Deng turned down in October, when Chicago was limited to offering him a five-year extension and presented the 6-foot-9 forward with a five-year package worth $57.5 million. As ESPN.com reported earlier this month, Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf chose to personally handle the bulk of the negotiations with Deng’s camp as opposed to the standard practice of Paxson serving as lead negotiator.

This negotiation seemed like it had been going on forever, so it’s good to see the Bulls lock up their star. Now they just have to figure out what to do with Ben Gordon.

File this under the bizarre and weird. Beijing officials will conduct examinations on athletes whose sex might be in doubt. And apparently this isn’t a new story either.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) introduced sex testing in 1968 at the Olympic games in Mexico City, after the masculine appearance of some competitors, many pumped up by anabolic steroids, had started to raise questions about the gender of athletes in female events. Unsurprisingly, gender-determination tests were seen as degrading, with female competitors having to submit to humiliating and invasive physical examinations by a series of doctors. Later, the IOC decided to use a supposedly more sophisticated genetic test, based on chromosomes. Women usually have two X chromosomes; men an X and a Y chromosome. So, according to the rules of the test, only those athletes with two X chromosomes could be classed as women. However, many geneticists criticised the tests, saying that sex is not as simple as X and Y chromosomes and is not always simple to ascertain.

Transsexuals, who have had a sex change from male to female, can compete in women’s events in the Olympics, as long they wait two years after the operation.

Do the Olympics always produce these weird stories or is it just me? Obviously if someone was born with both male and female organs and chose what gender they wanted to be (and therefore compete against in the Olympics), that’s one thing. But to change your plumbing in order to compete against a certain gender because you think you have a shot to win a gold medal is just flat out incomprehensible. And not too mention creepy.

Jon Heyman of SI.com is reporting that a three-team blockbuster trade might be brewing involving Boston Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez. The rumored deal would send Ramirez to Florida.

There’s still work to be done in the Red Sox-Marlins part of the megadeal, but one swap that’s on the table would send young outfielder Jeremy Hermida, power-hitting outfield prospect Mike Stanton and hard-throwing young pitcher Ryan Tucker from Florida to Boston for Ramirez. However, the Marlins are said to be trying to keep the highly-regarded Stanton out of the trade. Josh Willingham was discussed as a replacement for Hermida, but it appears Hermida would be the main player going in the first part of a potential deal.

In the most talked-about three-team scenario, Boston would send one or more of those players acquired from Florida to Pittsburgh for star outfielder Jason Bay, who would be a more palatable replacement for Ramirez than either Hermida or Willingham. Other combinations being discussed are believed include reliever John Grabow or perhaps even shortstop Jack Wilson. But Pittsburgh is said to be still trying to enhance its end of things, and Boston could wind up tying to substitute a different third team other than Pittsburgh.

It’s interesting to see the Marlins mixing it up as buyers. Normally at this time of year, they’re selling whatever pieces they have to acquire prospects for down the road. But given that they’re only 1.5 games back in the NL East, it’s nice to see them go for it and try to swing deals to win in the now.

Could you imagine what Manny would do against NL pitching? Scary thought.

According to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com, Cincinnati Reds’ outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. is deciding whether or not to accept a trade to the Chicago White Sox.

The Reds have traded Griffey to the White Sox, pending his approval. Griffey will decide Thursday morning whether he will approve the deal, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. It is not known what the Reds would receive in return.
Griffey, as a player with at least 10 years of major-league service, five with the same club, has the right to block any deal. The White Sox attempted to acquire him from the Reds at the trade deadline in 2005, but the trade reportedly was nixed by Reds ownership for financial reasons.

The White Sox, leading the American League Central by a game and a half, would use Griffey mostly in the outfield, the source said. However, they do not have an obvious spot for him unless they make another deal.

The Sox are set at the corners with Carlos Quentin in left and Jermaine Dye in right. They could play Nick Swisher at first to open center for Griffey, a move that would reduce the playing time of first baseman Paul Konerko and designated hitter Jim Thome. But Griffey has not played center regularly since 2006.

Cincy is Griffey’s hometown but it would be nice to see him play for a contender in the latter part of his career. The White Sox certainly have enough talent to win the AL Central, although the Angels and Red Sox will be incredibly daunting in the postseason.

As a baseball fan, here’s hoping that Griff accepts the deal and we get to see him in the playoffs.

Update: Griffey approves the trade to Chicago.

WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee is reporting that the Packers are willing to bribe Brett Favre to stay retired.

WTMJ-TV Channel 4 in Milwaukee, citing two sources, reported Wednesday that Packers president Mark Murphy at least floated the idea to Favre of paying him a package in the neighborhood of $20 million over 10 years to remain retired. Murphy met most of Wednesday with Favre and his agent, Bus Cook, in Hattiesburg, Miss.

A source subsequently confirmed that the Packers have discussed monetary compensation with Favre and Cook.

Murphy arrived back in Green Bay at approximately 9 p.m. and did not stop to talk to reporters as he was driven from the airport. A few minutes later, the Packers released this statement from Murphy:

“I was in Hattiesburg today and had a nice visit with Brett Favre. We discussed a number of topics not related to football, including Brett’s long-term relationship with the Packers. I consider our conversation to be confidential and am going to be respectful of Brett and his family and keep the details private.”

When asked if the Packers had a specific comment on WTMJ’s report, Murphy’s spokesman, Aaron Popkey, said no further comment would be coming from the Packers this evening.

Obviously, this doesn’t look good for the Packers. It appears to be a desperate attempt to keep the Favre circus from making a stop in Green Bay. Given their obvious (yet bizarre) distaste for bringing Favre back as the starter, coupled with their inability to agree on the appropriate compensation for a potential trade package, the Packers have grossly mishandled the situation.

If this report is true, the leak clearly came from Favre’s camp. I highly doubt that anyone loyal to the Green Bay Packers would reveal that the team president tried to buy off the franchise’s most beloved player (of the modern era, anyway). This news will only serve to poison a difficult situation even further. For that, Favre (or his camp) is to blame.

I still believe that Favre gives the Packers the best chance to win a title this season. Pundits across the country continue to debate about which team is the “best fit” for Favre. They talk about how he should go to a team that would be a contender if only it didn’t have an unsettled quarterback situation. Isn’t the “best fit” the Green Bay Packers?

But if the team is 100% committed to moving on with Aaron Rodgers, then they should trade Favre for whatever they can get, whether it be a second- or a third-round pick.

This ordeal needs to end, and not with a bribe.

I was watching the Best of Mike & Mike in the Morning on good ol’ ESPN2 (the same network that brings us the daily rantings of Skip Bayless), and heard Mike Greenberg say the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard him say. I’m not a regular watcher/listener, but I’m familiar with the guy.

He and Mike Golic were discussing John Lackey’s near no-hitter against Boston, and “Greeny” said that since the Red Sox were going to lose anyway (they were down 6-0, so the chances of a comeback were indeed slim), if he were a Boston player he would root for the no-no because he would want to witness history.

This is the problem with having people who don’t have a competitive sports background commenting on sports. He does a fine job of giving his opinion of an average sports fan, but in a case like this – when he’s saying that the Red Sox players should be rooting for Lackey to complete the no-hitter – he’s spouting utter nonsense.

Anyone who has played sports at a high level – I’m talking about most college programs as well as a few of the more successful high school programs – would cringe at this thought. No one, and I mean no one, who considers themselves a true competitor would want to see a no-hitter thrown against their team. It’s not just a sign of great pitching; it’s a sign of inept hitting. No competitor wants the opposing team to have its way.

To my point, Golic, who had a long NFL career, disagreed with Greenberg’s comments.

My advice for Greeny is to stop trying to put yourself in the shoes of the athletes – just comment on sports from a fan’s perspective.