6:15 p.m. Eastern
-A Lance Berkman deal is completed with the Yankees.
5:45 p.m. Eastern
-A Lance Berkman deal won’t be officially announced until Saturday afternoon.
5:40 p.m. Eastern
-A Lance Berkman to New York trade would give the White Sox more leverage in an Adam Dunn deal.
-Brewers GM Doug Melvin said he’d approach Jim Edmonds before he agreed to any deal involving him.
5:35 p.m. Eastern
-An official announcement of a Lance Berkman trade to the Yankees will likely be made Saturday afternoon. After the deal is completed, the Yankees could have other things cooking, says Bob Klapisch. The Yankees are on a preapproved list of four teams Berkman would accept a deal to.
-It’s very unlikely Cody Ross gets traded tomorrow, but the Braves are the most interested team.
5:30 p.m. Eastern
-The Yankees will likely get Lance Berkman, says Ken Davidoff. He would strictly be a rental player, says Ken Rosenthal.
-The Royals have made no headway on several deals, including for Jose Guillen and Kyle Farnsworth.
-People are denying rumors that said the Dodgers would trade John Ely to the Pirates for Paul Maholm.
5:10 p.m. Eastern
-Ivan Nova and David Adams have been mentioned as possible trade candidates to Houston for Lance Berkman. Berkman: “No matter what happens Houston is my home first and foremost.”
5:05 p.m. Eastern
-Buster Olney says Lance Berkman to New York talks are advancing quickly. Jim Bowden says the Yankees got him, but that seems premature. Alyson Footer says Berkman will waive his no-trade clause provided his option isn’t picked up for next season. He wants to go back to Houston.
5 p.m. Eastern
-A Lance Berkman deal to the Yankees is on the verge of completion, says Joel Sherman though Berkman is in the Astros clubhouse and hasn’t heard anything yet. The Yankees have been given permission by ownership to add a large salary, says Buster Olney.
-As a 10 and 5 player, Christian Guzman has 24 hours to accept or reject his trade to Texas. Washington would chip in $2 million in the deal.
4:50 p.m. Eastern
-Two teams that asked Florida about Cody Ross were told he’s unavailable, says Ken Rosenthal.
-Colorado is willing to trade Joe Beimel or Randy Flores but only for a legit propect.
4:35 p.m. Eastern
-Lance Berkman is out of tonight’s lineup for Houston. Has he been traded?
-Washington will get 25-year-old righty pitcher Ryan Tatusko from Texas for Christian Guzman. Good stats, but really old for AA.
-Cleveland will deal Jake Westbrook for the right price.
4:30 p.m. Eastern
-Cody Ross has been reportedly taken off the table by the Marlins.
4:25 p.m. Eastern
-Corey Hart is no longer on the block, says Tom Haudricourt.
4:20 p.m. Eastern
-Lance Berkman would likely waive his no-trade clause to go to the Yankees, says Joel Sherman.
4:15 p.m. Eastern
-The Rays have been scouting Adam Dunn all week, says Ed Price. Cork Gaines of RaysIndex to SprungOnSports on what the Rays will do before Saturday: “Gut feeling says the Rays will stand pat. I’d give about 5% chance Wade Davis moved.”
4:10 p.m. Eastern
-San Diego looks close to a Paul Maholm trade, according to Tim Brown.
-The Dodgers are still working on Ted Lilly and Paul Maholm.
-Atlanta and two other teams are in on Cody Ross but Florida may not be willing to trade him.
4:05 p.m. Eastern
-The Yankees like Lance Berkman and Ted Lilly if they don’t give up great prospects and they take on the money, says Joel Sherman. He expects the Yanks to make at least a trade or two.
4 p.m. Eastern
-There’s a remote chance the Reds get Ted Lilly. The Cubs probably won’t deal Carlos Zambrano.
-San Diego is making progress in a Paul Maholm trade, but there are conflicting reports.
-A bunch of teams are going after Cody Ross and Colorado will likely keep Aaron Cook. 
3:55 p.m. Eastern
-Lance Berkman is one of many hitters the Yankees are looking at. The relief market is bad right now, according to Jonn Heyman.
3:50 p.m. Eastern
-Washington will keep Adam Dunn and get draft picks for him if they don’t like the return they’d get in a trade. The White Sox remain the most likely destination.
3:45 p.m. Eastern
-The White Sox are going after Adam Dunn, Lance Berkman and a reliever.
-Washington will get two pitching prospects from Texas for Christian Guzman.
3:35 p.m. Eastern
-The Padres are talking with the Pirates about Paul Maholm.
-Boston is trying to deal Mike Lowell.
-Florida is not inclined to move Cody Ross.
3:25 p.m. Eastern
-The Yankees are seriously considering a deal for Lance Berkman.
-Minnesota is chasing Scott Downs.
-Nothing close on Chad Qualls or Octavio Dotel.
3:15 p.m. Eastern
-Texas has acquired Christian Guzman from Washington, no word yet on the return.
-Boston has tried trading for many releivers and were shot down by the Cubs when looking for Sean Marshall.
3:10 p.m. Eastern
-With Nick Johnson likely out for the season, Lance Berkman could be a fit for the Yankees.
3 p.m. Eastern
-Ted Lilly and Jose Bautista are being brought up the most in trade talks, says Joel Sherman.
-Cleveand is getting significant interest in Jake Westbrook and St. Louis could be a fit.
-The White Sox and Tigers have interest in Brad Hawpe.
2:55 p.m. Eastern
-The White Sox are probably going to have to give up Edwin Jackson in an Adam Dunn trade.
-The Dodgers want Ted Lilly but they want the Cubs to pay the rest of his salary.
-There’s a decent chance Lance Berkman gets traded today, with the Yankees and Rays the leading teams. Jon Heyman thinks the Yankees will get someone soon enough but not Dunn.
-Jeff Fletcher wonders if the Astros would really trade Brett Myers after they dealt Roy Oswalt.
-Things are quiet with the Giants today.
2:45 p.m. Eastern
-Baltimore may be done dealing despite Ty Wigginton, Will Ohman and Luke Scott being available.
-Pittsburgh is willing to deal a starting pitcher like Paul Maholm or Zach Duke.
2:40 p.m. Eastern
-Edwin Jackson is in the current package offered for Adam Dunn, so if the White Sox land Dunn, they’ll go after Brett Myers, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
2:25 p.m. Eastern
-The White Sox are trying to acquire Adam Dunn without giving up Edwin Jackson, but that’s who the Nats want.
2 p.m. Eastern
-The White Sox improved their rotation and may have gotten a step closer to getting Adam Dunn after acquiring Edwin Jackson from Arizona for starter Daniel Hudson and minor league lefty David Holmberg. No extension or trade for Dunn yet and the White Sox are focused only on him though a deal seems unlikely. The Yankees are out on Dunn.
-The Mets traded Mike Jacobs to Toronto for a player to be named later.
-The Dodgers are waiting for Ted Lilly’s price to go down and are interested in Paul Maholm and Jason Frasor.
-Teams are interested in Craig Breslow but the A’s are not motivated to move him, says Ken Rosenthal.
-The Yankees could get Lance Berkman under the right circumstances, says Rosenthal.
-San Diego has no interest in Jim Edmonds but does have interest in Rick Ankiel.
11:35 a.m. Eastern
-There’s optimism that a three-way deal between the White Sox, Diamondbacks and Nationals will get done involving Adam Dunn, Edwin Jackson and Daniel Hudson.
-Arizona could move Chad Qualls and Adam LaRoche on Saturday but the team is unsure whether they’ll trade Aaron Heilman.
-It doesn’t look like Octavio Dotel will be dealt.
11:15 a.m. Eastern
-Washington is fielding offers from other teams than the White Sox than Adam Dunn as they try and see if they can do better than Edwin Jackson.
11:05 a.m. Eastern
-Houston is very motivated to move Lance Berkman, but they know he’ll clear waivers in August.
-Does Kenny Williams have something even bigger than Edwin Jackson or Adam Dunn cooking for the White Sox?
11 a.m. Eastern
-It looks like the White Sox are waiting to see if they can get Adam Dunn from Washington in a three-way deal before they pull the trigger on an Edwin Jackson deal for Daniel Hudson and a prospect. Either way it doesn’t look like Hudson will be starting for Chicago Friday night.
10:25 a.m. Eastern
-Club officials tell Ed Price that Arizona is close to sending Edwin Jackson to the White Sox and they’ll attempt to flip him to Washington in an Adam Dunn deal.
9:40 a.m. Eastern
-Peter Gammons speculates that Houston’s trade for Brett Wallace will facilitate a trade of Lance Berkman.
8:55 a.m. Eastern
-Chicago is closing in on a deal for Edwin Jackson to improve their rotation, says Jon Heyman. Daniel Hudson (their top pitching prospect who they’ve soured on) and another pitching prospect would go to Arizona. The White Sox could possibly flip Jackson in an Adam Dunn deal, who the Nationals covet.
-The Dodgers are talking to the Cubs about Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot.
-The Giants are going after Scott Downs.
-The Lance Berkman market is slow for now. The Brewers have pulled Prince Fielder and Corey Hart off the market.
-The Mets are focused on relief help but nothing is developing right now. They didn’t want to trade Ike Davis or Jon Niese in a Roy Oswalt deal or give any money. They also don’t want to deal Jeff Francouer for Jose Guillen because it would ruin the clubhouse.

NEW YORK– By Keldy Ortiz

-Let’s get the day started talking about Thursday’s games, and the big story has to be the Philadelphia Phillies, who in addition to getting their 8th win in a row, added some more depth to the rotation by getting who Mets OF Carlos Beltran calls a “horse” in pitcher Roy Oswalt. For some time now Oswalt has been the center of talks on trade, but no one seem to be willing to handle the baggage that came with him (the baggage being the money left on his current deal). The Phillies, with their latest aquisition, now have to be the front runners to the suddenly fading Atlanta Braves, who face an important series against the Cinncinati Reds this weekend. By the way, has anyone noticed the pitching effort displayed by Jose Contreras? Since July 8, Contreras has only allowed six runs (which really only culminates from two games he has allowed runs). This may not seem like a lot for regular relievers, but when your almost at the end of your career, it means a lot.
-Another team that recently made a splash on the trade front was the San Diego Padres, who added Miguel Tejada to an already stacked up lineup that includes Adrian Gonzalez. Look for them to run away with the NL West.
-Rockies Ubaldo Jimenez has been struggling, we get that! In July alone he has gotten only two wins in just five starts and even with those wins, he has surrendered eight runs. A lot of people said he’s slipping behind Josh Johnson and Adam Wainwright as the NL’s best pitcher. Well guess again! In his last performance, Jimenez allowed one run through seven innings of work. Colorado may be done in the division, but they have a chance in the Wild Card, where they trail  the Giants by just 5.5 games. The Giants, meanwhile, were shutout in a one hitter against Anibal Sanchez and Florida.
-Another team gunning for the Wild Card are the Mets, who just won their first series in over a month by taking two out of three from the Cardinals. In his impressive reamergence, RA Dickey, aka “Tricky Dickey” by newspapers, was nearly perfect allowing only four hits through 8 1/3 shutout innings. And to think on they thought he was injured following last Sunday’s lost to the Dodgers, another disappointing team, though others may disagree with me because of their standing, at least in the Wild Card. FYI, first basemen Ike Davis ranked among the top five in hits, RBIs, and doubles for rookies.
-Of course what better way to end today with the home run watch of one Alex Rodriguez as he continues to swing for 600. Obviously if he would have hit it he would have been the first thing to talk about. Not to mention it would have been all over SportsCenter for like 20 hours straight. The Yankees did, however, come away with the win thanks in part to pitcher Dustin Moseley who went six innings while allowing only one run on four hits. Looks like manager Joe Girardi has found himself another pitcher, at least until Andy Pettitte is off the DL.

-Pretty good day for the Phillies, eh? They got Roy Oswalt and then went out and got a 3-2, 11 inning win over Arizona for their 8th straight win. Kyle Kendrick had his second straight solid start and Wilson Valdez drove in Cody Ransom on understudy day as the Phils drew to within 2.5 games of Atlanta, who fell 5-3 to Washington.
-Tampa Bay won their 6th straight game riding the left arm of David Price, who won his AL leading 14th game by allowing two runs in 6 1/3 innings to beat Detroit 4-2. Price is definitely the frontrunner for the AL Cy Young at this point. Carlos Pena homered and drove in all four runs and went 6-10 with two homers and seven RBIs in their sweep of Detroit, who fell to six games out of first place in the AL Central and are on the verge of becoming irrelevant. Alex Rodriguez didn’t hit home run number 600 but drove in three runs and the Yankees scored seven runs in the 7th inning to get Dustin Moseley his first win 11-4 over Cleveland.
-Freddy Garcia doesn’t make things look pretty, but he keeps his White Sox in games. He ran his record to 10-4 after a six inning, three run quality start in a 9-5 win over Seattle for their 4th straight win to build their lead over idle Minnesota to 1.5 games.
-Unless Texas gets swept by the Angels this weekend, the Rangers have the AL West wrapped up. CJ Wilson got his 10th win and Vlad Guerrero drove in a pair as the Rangers built an 8.5 game lead over Oakland with a 7-4 win.
-Florida’s 5-0 Thursday win over the Giants not only shows the potential Anibal Sanchez has (after his complete game, one-hit shutout) if he stays healthy for the Marlins, but how bad the San Francisco offense is. The Giants need help on offense in some way, shape or form if they want any chance at a playoff spot this year.
-RA Dickey has come through as the Mets’ unsung, unlikely MVP as a 35-year-old journeyman. He shut the Cardinals out over 8 1/3 in a 4-0 win that gave New York their first series victory in over a month. The Mets are still 5.5 games out of the NL Wild Card but Dickey has been an enormous bright spot.
-San Diego can now boast being the only NL team 20 games over .500 after their 3-2 win over the Dodgers won in the 9th on an Oscar Salazar walkoff single. They got solid pitching from their ace Mat Latos and their bullpen was dynamite as usual in four innings of work. Los Angeles is now seven games back of the Friars in the NL West and will look to improve their rotation before the trade deadline.

Weekend Series To Watch
Yankees @ Rays- The best record in baseball and first place in the AL East could be at stake this weekend at the Tropicana Catwalk Circus Tent. Matt Garza pitches on Saturday in his first start since his no-hitter.
Braves @ Reds- The Great American Ballpark will be packed for this battle between NL division leaders. Cincy and Atlanta need to hold off the Cardinals and Phillies and this weekend will shift the momentum in both races.
Dodgers @ Giants- LA is just 3.5 games behind their archrivals for the NL Wild Card with Chad Billingsley facing Barry Zito on Fox Saturday baseball and Clayton Kershaw will battle Matt Cain in a tremendous Sunday Night Baseball pitching matchup.