Hardball Heaven

Isn't the trading deadline grand? I'd love to see some web traffic numbers in the city of Boston today, as Theo continues his effort to unload Manny Malcontent. The latest rumor du jour - and to be fair, it's become more than a rumor in the last 12 hours - has Manny going to the Florida Marlins, Jeremy Hermida and some other bodies going from the Marlins to the Pirates, and the Sox getting Jason Bay and reliever John Grabow from Pittsburgh. SI's Jon Heyman has been all over the deal, which has taken on different permutations. Some people this morning are saying that the Pirates are still haggling over who they'd receive, and the Sox may also be eyeing Pirates' SS Jack Wilson.

I'm officially in the camp of 'let's get this done now.' As I said yesterday, this team needs an injection of something. They looked horrendous last night in getting swept away by the Angels at Fenway, and it clearly appears to the casual viewer that the Manny circus is taking its toll. We shall see. Either way, it's going to be a very interesting day, and quite possibly an unproductive one - unless your job involves web surfing.