Click here to review the trades on MLB.com

To recap the deals we missed:

• Red Sox acquired Eric Gagne for LHP Kason Gabbard and Minor League outfielders David Murphy and Engel Beltre.
• Pirates  acquired Matt Morris from the Giants for Rajai Davis and a PTBNL
• Padres get Morgan Ensberg and cash considerations from the Astros for c for cash considerations and a player to be named; whatever that means. The Padres also traded for utility man Rob Mackowiak. In that deal they sent minor league pitcher Jon Link
• Cardinals acquired Joel Pineiro and cash from Boston for a PTBNL
• Phillies acquire reliever Julio Mateo from the Mariners for minor league infielder Jesus Merchan

Some of these deals appear to help some clubs’ shortcomings. Others seemed to be made just so the GM could say a move was made.

The Braves keep on trucking with the trades. Mark Bowman, the Braves beat writer, reports that they acquired Royce Ring from the Padres for Wil Ledezma and Will Startup.

This adds to the Braves acquisitions of Mark Teixeira, Ron Mahay and Octavio Dotel. Over the last couple days, the Braves have traded 6 prospects, one miserable starter and a guy who was designated for assignment. Not a bad exchange is it?

Ring had 17 K’s in 15 innings for San Diego this year with a 3.60 ERA.

The Yankees gained some depth by acquiring Wilson Betemit for Scott Proctor.

A great move for both sides, but the Yankees gain a slight edge if they can pencil Betemit in everyday and he performs well. Proctor adds some stability to the Dodgers bullpen in the event that Saito is injured and Broxton shifts to closer.

The Atlanta Braves finalized another move today by acquiring Octavio Dotel for Kyle Davies.

Davies has a miserable record as a starter, but Kansas City GM Dayton Moore knows Davies from his Atlanta day and perhaps recognises his value. Another bold move by the Braves

I think some baseball writers are looking at Ken Rosenthal in awe. That being said, I think some of them just decided to stir things up with rumors of their own which are not necessarily based on anything they heard; it’s more their way of throwing their hat into the Rumor Ring.

• The God of Trade Rumors, Ken Rosenthal, has his latest rumor roundup.

• Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports has some rumors up. He normally has great articles on baseball and his rumors seem genuine. But what is a genuine rumor? Ah!

• La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune says:

Righthander Carlos Silva had drawn interest recently from Atlanta, Arizona and the Chicago Cubs. There were also some discussions with the Mets, who would have put him in the bullpen. But there might not be that strong a market for him. Silva, a free agent after the season, would like to re-sign with the Twins.

Two items of note. Not really for fans but for Fantasy owners like myself:

• Ken Rosenthal reports that the Phillies acquired Kyle Lohse from the Reds for Class AA LHP Matt Maloney
• Another Rosenthal story say that the Red Sox are still in on Jermaine Dye. Why ? I think they just want to make a trade

Kevin Hench of FOXSports has a good article up about players and their split-stats.

Two names jump out at me: David Ortiz and Tony Pena Jr.

Ortiz is having a horrible year against lefties and Pena has more errors than walks this season. I think the same was true for Angel Berroa, but at least Pena is hitting decently.

I’ll believe it when I see it. Is John Schuerholz showing the other GMs how it’s really supposed to be done? Ken Rosenthal reports that the Braves are in the running for Kansas City closer Octavio Dotel.

Come now. But then again I said that the Braves need to find something to do with Scott Thorman. Thorman has power, but he’ll need d at-bats and that’s a luxury the Braves can’t afford right now.

Rosenthal suggests that the Braves, Indians and Dodgers are in the running for Dotel. Kansas probably doesn’t want to trade with Cleveland because they are in the division. Not that the Royals are going anywhere anytime soon, but you won’t want to help a team in your league reach to the World Series right? And then the Royals GM was a stalwart in the Braves organization.

This is shaping up to be a trade deadline of note!

UPDATE: Where will Scott Thorman fit? He’s out of options, but he’s cheap for a few years. Are the Braves working on another deal? The Braves will probably keep Franco over Thorman because the latter’s trade value is higher for obvious reasons and for the former’s “veteran” presence.

UPDATE: In a related note, the Braves designated Wilfredo Ledezma for assignment. It’s a shame. As odd as it sounds he should have been given a start or two to see how he would cope, because he couldn’t have been pounded more than he was as a reliever.

Ken Rosenthal has the scoop and says that the trade we’ve been all waiting for has been completed. The blockbuster trade includes the Rangers for the second year in a row. Maybe the Rangers GM felt pressured to redeem himself for last year, but in any event he did well to pry Jarrod Saltalamacchia away from the Braves.

The Braves will receive Mark Teixeira and LHP Ron Mahay. The Rangers will receive Saltalamacchia, SS Elvis Andrus and two pitching prospects. EPSN also has the story via Peter Gammons and Jayson Stark

This will definitely affect the Braves payroll but GM John Schuerholz has been mum on payroll issues.

Shame shame shame. Morgan Ensberg was designated for assignment today. It’s really sad. I think Ensberg just needs a change of scenery and maybe he’ll be fine. AP Writer, Chris Duncan has the scoop via Yahoo! Sports. We knew something was going to happen with Ensberg after the Astros acquired Wigginton, but this? I’m sure some team out there would have wanted him for a class-A prospect even.

Ensberg had a career year in 2005 hitting .283 with 36 HRs and 101 RBIs and he  makes $4.35 million this year. To view his Yahoo! Sports stats, click here.