MLB Trade Deadline is upon us........

and JB Sez that the one deal that has to go down before 4:00 p.m. eastern on July 31 is Manny Ramirez being traded to the L.A. Dodgers. Now, before talking about the deal, let me give you a little background on this. Manny Ramirez is not happy. He's pretty outspoken about it. He wants a new contract. He does not like how he is in the final year of an eight year deal with club options for 2009 and 2010. Boston has had not commented on whether or not they will exercise their club option and all indications are they will not. So what does Manny do? Well, Manny goes Manny. He allegedly fakes a knee injury and pulls himself out of the lineup last Friday in the 1-0 loss to the Yankees where Joba Chamberlain and Co. combined for the shutout. Manny returned for the final two games and has been in the lineup for the last two games versus the Angels. Tests down on Manny's knee showed no injuries. So, was that the final straw? If I'm Theo Epstein, I'm making this deal. Manny has publicly commented that he would not mind being traded and I'm sure Red Sox management and some fans are put up with this. Now, can you get equal value for Manny? Probably not, but the one team out there that can provide them the goods is the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The likely scenario if the trade occurs would be Manny going to L.A. for either Outfielders Matt Kemp or Andre Eithier and some prospects. Boston may ask L.A. to throw in a relief pitcher, considering their bullpen is looking gassed at this time of the year. The key factor in all of this is Manny accepting a trade. Would Manny be open to playing for Joe Torre and reuniting with Nomar Garciaparra? In addition, Frank McCourt will have to be open to taking on more salary this year as the deal will likely result in an increase in payroll. Will the biggest trade since Alex Rodriguez went to the Yankees go down? Stay tuned.

I was also going to write tonight that the Anaheim Angels need to trade for Atlanta Braves first baseman Mark Texiera and just this afternoon the deal went down. Texiera was sent to Anaheim for 1B Casey Kotchmann and another prospect. The deal now gives Anaheim the bat they need to contend in the AL Playoffs this year. Anaheim appears to have the AL West all but locked up; however, their lineup was not nearly solid enough to compete in the playoffs.

Want a disgruntled outfielder? Well apparently Jose Guillen wants out of Kansas City. Sources close to the situation indicate that Guillen does not get along with Manager Trey Hillman and wants out. Guillen is in the first year of a three year, $36million deal that he signed in the offseason. I questioned this signing, as Guillen has always been a clubhouse cancer; however, GM Dayton Moore took a flyer on Guillen hoping he could provide a spark to a lineup and clean up his act. The spark has not really been there all year and its clear Guillen has not cleaned up his act. Good luck finding someone to take on Guillen, unless you are willing to eat at least half his contract. The Royals may also trade left handed relief pitcher Ron Mahay who has one year left on a two year, $8 million signed in the fall. Left handed RP's are coveted and the Royals should move Mahay if they feel they can get decent prospects.