According to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com, the Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Indians have worked out a deal that would send Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco to the Phillies. In return, the Indians will receive Class A right-hander Jason Knapp, Class AAA right-hander Carlos Carrasco, shortstop Jason Donald and catcher Lou Marso.

Now that it appears the Phillies are out of the sweepstakes for Roy Halladay, could the Boston Red Sox become front runners now that they’ve included Clay Buchholz in the deal?

It will be interesting to see what happens as J.P. Riccardi told the New York Post about 15 minutes ago that he expects Halladay to finish his out his contract in Toronto.

“I would have to talk to ownership, but I personally would be less inclined to trade him in the offseason,” Ricciardi said when reached by phone by the Post. “I would think let’s put our best foot forward in 2010. We expect to get our injured pitchers back (such as Shaun Marcum and Jesse Litsch) and let’s try to win.’

“It doesn’t hurt us,” Ricciardi said. “We said the whole way that we would have to be wowed (by a proposal) and we haven’t been wowed. I don’t think this is going to get done (before Friday’s deadline). I have told everyone we would have to be moved, and no one has moved us with an offer. And that is fine. This is not something we have to do.”

Riccardi could be blowing smoke in the public for the Blue Jays fans but you never know. Someone could come in with the right offer and he may change his mind.

Halladay is expected to start for the Blue Jays this afternoon against the Seattle Mariners in Seattle.

After Clay Buchholz gave the Boston Red Sox a serviceable outing last night, the bullpen, which had been perfect since the All-Star break, decided to do a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde impression last night.

While the total blame can’t fall on Jonathan Papelbon and Nick Green, it was Papelbon’s control issues and Green’s throwing errors that allowed the Oakland A’s to come back in the first place. For whatever reason, Papelbon rarely has a 1-2-3 save opportunity any more. It didn’t help he walked the first batter he faced and then it was downhill from there.

What gets me is that when Terry Francona uses Papelbon in a non-save situation to get some work in, Papelbon is usually lights out. Now this is a guy who thrives on a pressure and feeds off of it but this year he’s probably caused more heart attacks in New England than we even know about.

Buchholz, who’s been the subject of trade rumors all week, was just okay. He had a little case of Brad Penny-itis last night with his pitch count but was able to get through 6 innings and kept the Red Sox out front. Unfortunately for him, the bullpen wasn’t cooperative.

The hitting slump for the local nine seems to be a thing of the past as they had 14 hits last night. It’s just too bad the pitching staff combined to give up 21 hits.

With the Yankees losing yesterday, this was a prime opportunity for the Red Sox to get back to within 1.5 games. With a big road trip looming this Friday against the Orioles, Rays and Yanks, this win would have been nice. The upcoming road trip could determine whether the Red Sox contend for the division or play for the wild card.

As we get closer to Friday, expect the trade rumors to heat up. I’ll do my best to pass on what I see but you can always check out MLB Trade Rumors for the latest rumors involving the Red Sox and the 29 other teams.

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UConn Football links

Football Mini-Plans on Sale Now [UConnHuskies.com]

2009 BIG EAST Football Media Day Set For Aug. 4 [BigEast.org]

UConn’s Brown Agrees To Contract With Cards [AP via the Hartford Courant]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

U.S, headed to quarterfinals [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

USA U19 team defeats Japan [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Shooting – the breeze – with Diana Taurasi [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Mailbag Question, 7/28, Donnell Beverly [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

Other UConn related links

Eight Men’s Hockey Players To Join Husky Ranks [UConnHuskies.com]

Men’s Soccer: Sanchez to Compete in Ireland with U.S. U-18 National Team [UConnHuskies.com]

The picture below will pretty much sum up what happened on Tuesday night at Fenway Park. I have no words for I witnessed.

In a very well done ceremony before tonight’s Boston Red Sox vs Oakland A’s game, the Red Sox retired Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Rice’s No. 14.

He joins Bobby Doerr, Joe Cronin, Johnny Pesky, Carl Yastrzemski, Ted Williams and Carlton Fisk on the right-field facade at Fenway Park as Jackie Robinson who had his numbered retired by MLB.

Here is the ceremony for your enjoyment:

[flash http://ianbethune.com/ricenesn.flv w=510 h=287]
video courtesy of NESN

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The offense for the Boston Red Sox broke out of it’s funk last night and Josh Beckett was strong as they took the opener of this 4-game set at Fenway Park. Tonight, they look to make it 2 in-a-row.

The game tonight will start at 7:10 PM EDT and will be televised in the Red Sox television market on NESN. If you live in the A’s television market, you can catch the game on Comcast SportsNet California. And if the television isn’t your cup of tea, you can catch the game on one of the many affiliates of the Red Sox Radio Network.

Be sure to turn into NESN for the pre-game show tonight as at 6:45 PM, the Red Sox will be retiring Jim Rice’s No. 14.

Clay Buchholz makes his third start of the season and second since being recalled when Tim Wakefield went on the 15-day disabled list with a lower back injury. Buchholz is 1-1 with a 3.72 ERA and had Brad Penny-itis last time out with his pitch count. This will be the first career start for Buchholz against the A’s.

Vin Mazzaro makes his 11th start of the season for the A’s since being called up from Triple-A Sacramento on June 2nd. He is 2-7 with a 4.75 ERA and has lost the last 7 games he’s started. He’s never faced the Red Sox in his career.

While I was out today, there was a lot of happenings with the Red Sox.

Mark Kotsay is no longer a member of the Red Sox as he was traded to Chicago White Sox for Brian Anderson. The Red Sox optioned Anderson to Triple-A Pawtucket.

Apparently, Dice-K made some comments to a Japanese newspaper and the Red Sox are none too pleased about this. Be sure to check it all out in the links below.

And as Ken from Fangs Bites said, I probably shouldn’t go out anymore. I always seem to miss the good stuff.

Buchholz brings more maturity, confidence [RedSox.com]

Worlds Apart? Red Sox and Matsuzaka Struggle to Find Middle Ground [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]

Red Sox disappointed with Matsuzaka’s criticism of training program [Extra Bases]

Farrell calls Matsuzaka comments ‘disappointing’ [Extra Bases]

Francona ‘disappointed’ by Matsuzaka’s ‘unfortunate’ comments [Extra Bases]

Red Sox trade for outfielder Brian Anderson [Extra Bases]

Pregame: Red Sox Vs. A’s [Extra Bases]

Sox to retire Rice’s number tonight [Extra Bases]

Farrell: ‘There’s no openness’ [Extra Bases]

Team sources dismiss report that Buchholz, Bowden, Westmoreland were offered for Halladay [Extra Bases]

Transcript: John Farrell discusses Matsuzaka on Dale & Holley [Full Count]

Francona: Sox disappointed in Matsuzaka’s “poor judgment” [Clubhouse Insider]

Rumor Mill: Red Sox Make Offer to Jays for Halladay [Full Count]

Sox Offer for Halladay? [Hit and Run with Dan Roche]

Lots O’ Numbers: Retiring the First Batter is Key [Nuggetpalooza]

Masterson and Bard are untouchables in trade market [Batter-up with Bruno]

And here is how the hitters have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers. No one on the Red Sox has faced Mazzaro and the only player on the A’s to face Buchholz is Orlando Cabrera. He is 2-for-6 lifetime against Buchholz.

With three days until the July 31 MLB trade deadline, there’s been a lot of rumors afloat involving the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Cleveland Indians, and recently the San Diego Padres.

First the buzz was all about 2003 Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay (he finished second in voting in 2008), but general manager J.P. Ricciardi has said he didn’t want to trade him within the American League East.

Next there’s been talk about Boston unleashing a blockbuster trade to acquire both left-handed pitcher Cliff Lee and catcher/first baseman Victor Martinez from the Indians.

Now the rumor mill has headed all of the way out to California involving first baseman Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres.

Trading away Gonzalez would not make Padres fans too happy, since he is the face of the franchise, but at this point, management probably doesn’t care. San Diego is sitting in dead last, 24.5 games behind the Dodgers in the National League West.

This is probably the most far fetched and more likely will not happen.

The blockbuster trade for Lee and Martinez? Say good-bye to the entire Red Sox farm system/emerging stars of Lars Anderson, Michael Bowden, Daniel Bard, Justin Masterson, and Clay Buchholz.

But what about Halladay besides not trading with the East? It’s been reported on The Boston Globe’s Extra Bases Blog that Boston has offered Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden, and Ryan Westmoreland (that’s quite a last name) for the 32-year-old.

Sounds like Boston is still in it.

Bottom line, whatever happens Sox general manager Theo Epstein should not part with Masterson or Bard.

Masterson has also proven himself clutch worthy in the post-season at a very young age and that is hard to find these days. In the American League Division and Championship Series against the Los Angeles Angels and Tampa Bay Rays, Masterson allowed one earned run per series, had nine strikeouts total, and picked up a win. His playoff ERA is 1.86 and he is only 24-years-old.

Bard is a rising star that may be the future closer is Jonathan Papelbon decided to sign somewhere else. The kid can throw heat, clocking triple digits. Can anyone name another Boston pitcher who threw 100 mph?

If Buchholz must be traded, Boston must get Halladay or the Lee/Martinez package in return or it will be a mistake.

Let the buzz continue.

Amanda Bruno is a freelance sportswriter for The Springfield Republican and also writes weekly features for the Plus Papers on Wednesdays. She also writes over at Batter-up with Bruno where she shares her thoughts about the Boston Red Sox and the Boston sports media. You can follow her on Twitter @batterupbruno and can reach Amanda through email at brunosportshawk[at]gmail.com.