Month In Review: July 2009

With all of the deals that happened prior to the deadline this year, we're doing a rundown of all the trades that took place, just in case you missed something. We'll keep each bullet minimal. Here we go:

• Technically, it was late June, but it was the first big name we saw move, and got us all thinking trade deadline. The Cardinals acquired Mark DeRosa for Chris Perez and a PTBNL who turned out to be Jess Todd.
• The Cubs acquired Jeff Baker from Colorado for Alberto Alburquerque.
• The Indians acquired Winston Abreu from the Rays for John Meloan.
• The A's acquired Scott Hairston for Ryan Webb, Craig Italiano, and a PTBNL who was revealed to be Sean Gallagher eight days later.
• The Royals acquired Ryan Freel for a PTBNL and cash.
• The White Sox acquired Tony Pena from Arizona in exchange for Brandon Allen.
• The Royals acquired Yuniesky Betancourt from Seattle for Danny Cortes and Derrick Saito. This one shocked a lot of people.
• The Mets and Braves made a one-for-one swap of Ryan Church and Jeff Francoeur.
• Seattle acquired Jack Hannahan for Justin Souza.
• The Brewers acquired Felipe Lopez from the Diamondbacks for Cole Gillespie and Roque Mercedes.
• The Orioles and Padres also made a one-for-one swap of Oscar Salazar and Cla Meredith.
• In yet another one-for-one trade, the Cards sent Chris Duncan to Boston for Julio Lugo, after the Red Sox had DFA'ed Lugo.
• The Red Sox added another left-handed bat when they acquired Adam LaRoche for Hunter Strickland and Argenis Diaz.
• More big names for the Cardinals. They acquired Matt Holliday for Brett Wallace, Shane Peterson, and Clayton Moretnsen.
• The Giants moves started by acquiring Ryan Garko in exchange for Scott Barnes.
• After DFA'ing Mark Kotsay, the Red Sox traded him to the White Sox for Brian Anderson
• The Pirates and Mariners completed a seven-player trade that sent Jack Wilson and Ian Snell for Jeff Clement, Ronny Cedeno, Nathan Adcock, Brett Lorin, and Aaron Pribanic.
• The Reds acquired Wladimir Balentien from Seattle in exchange for reliever Robert Manuel.
• The Yankees acquired Jason Hirsh from the Rockies and released Brett Tomko to make room.
• The Phillies landed a Cy Young winner, but it wasn't Roy Halladay. They got Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco as well for Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, Lou Marson, and Jason Knapp.
• The Giants acquired Freddy Sanchez in exchange for Tim Alderson.
• The Royals acquired Josh Anderson for cash considerations after he was DFA'ed by the Tigers.
• The Dodgers strengthened their bullpen, acquiring George Sherrill for Josh Bell and Steve Johnson.
• The Cubs acquired both Tom Gorzelanny and John Grabow from the Pirates for Kevin Hart and Jose Ascanio.
• The Tigers made a move to try to pull away with the division, acquiring Jarrod Washburn for Luke French and Mauricio Robles.
• The Dodgers and Brewers swapped Vinny Rottino and Claudio Vargas.
• The Red Sox made a big spalsh by acquiring Victor Martinez in exchange for Justin Masterson, Nick Hagadone, and Bryan Price.
• The Blue Jays acquired minor leaguer Sean Smith from the Pirates for future considerations.
• The Yankees added Jerry Hairston Jr. from Cincinatti for minor leaguer Chase Weems.
• Having acquired Victor Martinez, the Red Sox no longer had a place for Adam LaRoche. He was traded to Atlanta after just a few days in Boston for Casey Kotchman.
• The Marlins bolstered their lineup, acquiring Nick Johnson in exchange for Aaron Thompson.
• The Rockies added two pieces to their bullpen, a righty and lefty. They received Rafael Betancourt from Cleveland for Connor Graham, and also acquired Joe Beimel from Washington for Ryan Mattheus and Robinson Fabian.
• The White Sox might've made the surprise deal of the year. They succeeded in their second attempt to acquire Jake Peavy, landing the Padres ace for Aaron Poreda, Clayton Richard, Dexter Carter, and Adam Russell.
• The Reds and Blue Jays exchanged third basemen, with Scott Rolen going to Cincinatti in exchange for Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Roenicke, and Zach Stewart.
• The Twins added some much-needed infield help, getting Orlando Cabrera from the A's for Tyler Ladendorf.

That should cover it; let me know if I missed anything! A lot of action last month, and we look forward to another good one in August!