6:14pm: MASN's Roch Kubatko has more from Orioles president of basball operations Andy MacPhail. Apparently the trade took about four days to complete.
"We know the tool he has," MacPhail said of the newly acquired Gathright. "He's 28 years old and he's got great speed. A career .260 hitter without much power. I think people have a pretty good understanding. But he really creates more of an inventory for us at a position that is still somewhat up in the air."
4:44pm: According to Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald the Orioles will pay the difference between the two players' salaries. Basically the teams are paying the same amount as they would have had they not made the deal.
4:22pm: Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reports that the Orioles will continue to pay part of the $3.3MM Freel will make before the end of the season.
3:38pm: The Orioles have traded Freel to the Cubs for Gathright, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. Gathright has already cleared waivers and will be assigned to Triple-A Norfolk.
12:54pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that the Cubs are talking to the Orioles about a trade for Ryan Freel. As Rosenthal points out, the Cubs have more oufield depth than expected, thanks to Micah Hoffpauir and Kosuke Fukudome. Joey Gathright, who has batted only 14 times this year, is expendable. The Orioles are talking to other clubs about Freel, who has about $3.3MM remaining on this year's contract.
