Good morning, half your team has been traded

Good morning, campers.

Welcome to the trading deadline, which if the early returns are any indication, will be a pretty busy day.

Last night it was Ivan Rodriguez for Kyle Farnsworth as the Tigers and Yankees swapped players - this is kind of like claiming a fair trade when swapping a $5 bill for a $1 bill because they're both paper currency - but this morning, Ken Griffey Jr. is reportedly ready to switch into South Side pinstripes.

Pending player approval, Griffey would join the Sox and the Reds will be eligible for competition in the Little League World Series.

Here's Frank the Tank's early slant on it from our e-mail exchange this morning:

I’ll need to see who the Sox would be giving up here. Kenny Williams has long had a fascination with Griffey, so it’s not very surprising. Basically, it gives the Sox the option to bench Konerko (who’s batting barely past .200) and put Swisher at 1B while a bit better offensive production in the outfield (presumably center).

Also, I see it as insurance in the event Thome gets hurt again.

Essentially, it’s a higher profile version of the Cubs have done with Jim Edmonds this year.

Good point.

The Manny Ramirez trade is drawing comparisons to the great Nomar Deadline Dump of 2004, with the Red Sox, Pirates and Marlins each throwing a few players back and forth in an attempt to pacify the manchild.

Never a dull moment with that Manny.

Here are the other rumors being floated between ESPN, MLB and a few other Web sites this morning:

* Colorado's Brian Fuentes to a host of teams, including Tampa Bay and St. Louis.

* Greg Maddux to the Padres or Dodgers from the Padres or Dodgers (wherever he's pitching these days - it's hard to keep track.)

* Adam Dunn to the Rays to fill a need for a slugger that isn't Barry Bonds. Because everyone is conspiring against him.

* Jason Bay to follow Xavier Nady out of town, landing in Boston or Tampa Bay if the Dunn deal gets sticky.

* "Wood, Piniella both perplexed by blister" - actual headline by the Daily Herald. Nothing to do with trades, it just is an unfortunate string of nouns and verbs.

* Will Ohman is reportedly desired by most of the AL East - Sawx, Yanks and Rays.

* Finally, the Rangers are shopping their four catchers for pitching help. Good for them.

More if things get shook up this morning and hopefully an evening update after work.

(Image from: Newsday.com)