Floyd on the move again, this time to Boston. Kudos to the Red Sox for getting what they needed instead of a Proven Veteran Starter™ or a Proven Veteran Reliever™. (ESPN.com)

Joe Sheehan on the Floyd trade: "It's a fix, it's the game's administrators stepping in and favoring one team in a pennant race, a team that already owes the central office at least one huge favor in a time when Bud Selig needs as many friends as possible." (Baseball Prospectus)

Chris Kahrl's Transaction Analysis for July 29. "The Phillies deserve a lot of credit for their sad devotion to yesteryear's Phillies. For the sake of old men who in other cities are appropriately limited to gladhanding and speechifying at winter Fanfests, Scott Rolen was hosed. But the truly amazing thing is that, after creating the conditions that would pretty much guarantee that Rolen had no intention of staying, after failing to identify that this was an issue two years ago or even as recently as last fall, the Phillies even managed to screw up trading him." (Baseball Prospectus)

Chris Kahrl's Transaction Analysis for July 28. "Paul Shuey is probably the ultimate expensive pickup for the Dodgers...Shuey has trouble staying healthy for any length of time, and he's also under contract for the next two years, and not cheaply...This one has a good chance of coming back to haunt them, much more than the Tyler Houston trade does." (Baseball Prospectus)

Don Malcolm puts Dick Allen's 1964-72 stats in a "750-run context", and the results are eye-opening. (Big Bad Baseball)

Rolen dealt to St. Louis in deal for Polanco, Smith. (ESPN.com)

Bob Brookover: "The foundation on which the Phillies hoped to rebuild their franchise a half-dozen years ago was removed late yesterday afternoon when general manager Ed Wade granted Scott Rolen's wish and traded the all-star third baseman to the St. Louis Cardinals." (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Alan Schwarz: "Rolen was drafted by the club in 1993, and it signaled new scouting director Mike Arbuckle's fresh way (for the Phillies) of doing business, investing in high-reward prospects to revitalize a sorry player-development system. Rolen quickly became a star and helped break in more than a dozen farmhands season after dreary season. And now that some real talents such as Jimmy Rollins, Pat Burrell and others have come through the system and given the team a brighter future, Rolen is gone, made expendable by the process he once symbolized." (ESPN.com)

Scott: "I've got to say, I'm ecstatic about this deal." (Bleed Cardinal Red)

Jeff Gordon and Dan O'Neill are ecstatic, too. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Chat wrap with Gary Huckabay, from last Wednesday. "You [Rolen] have the potential to be a truly horrific, franchise-killing free agent signing. You've never been quite as good as people seem to think, you're going to ask for some huge amount of years and money, and players with back problems don't exactly have a warm and fuzzy history. If I could sign you to a four year deal with $20 Million total, I'd probably do it, but some club will probably come forward with a 8 year deal worth over $100 Million. You might kick your performance up a level, but I wouldn't bet on it. In short, I hope you end up a Giant." (ESPN.com)

Clutch Hits thread on the Rolen deal. I agree 100% with A.C.: "Seriously, since he wasn't going to re-sign in Philadelphia, and everyone knew it, what more -could- you get? Yeah, I'd love to have Adrian Beltre too, but I'm happy to take my chances with Bud Smith. I'll miss Rolen, but the screw-ups that led to his wanting to go could not be reconciled. I fault Wade/Green/ownership for the problems that led the Phils to -have- to trade him, but not for the trade itself." (Baseball Primer)

OK, on to other things, before this blog turns into scottrolen.blogspot.com...

Chris Karhl's Transaction Analysis for July 26-27. "The Braves are so far ahead of the rest of baseball in terms of their bullpen's performance that they could probably make do with six randomly selected living relatives of Albania's King Zog the Only for a week without having to sweat whether or not they're going to finish the season with the game's leading pen." (Baseball Prospectus)

Allen Barra: "Major League Baseball has asked me to pick my 30 most memorable moments. I decided to hell with the 'Major League Baseball' part. I'm going to pick my 30 most memorable baseball moments, period." Here are the first 10. (Salon)

Baker's Dozen: The Week in Preview. "I made some rather ambitious noises about the Padres at the beginning of the season. I didn't do it in print or on the air, thank goodness, but to friends and acquaintances. They have been bought off with the necessary hush money and are now sworn not to divulge what I predicted in the specific." (ESPN.com)

Joe Sheehan: "It's frustrating to read a Phil Rogers, or a Hal Bodley, or a Dave Kindred and know that their message of jealousy and their counter-factual argumentation reaches so many people and drives so much of the discussion. The cacophony of pro-establishment media drowns out reasoned voices, ones that acknowledge the complexity of the issues and the forces involved. It's hard for a Doug Pappas or an Allan Barra to reach enough people to counteract that." (Baseball Prospectus)

Gary Huckabay: "OK, I can understand a GM's perspective when the team's chances for the season are completely shot, and the goals change from 'winning the division with our young power arms' to 'Please, God, we can't finish behind the Royals!'...But Ray Durham for Jon Adkins?" (Baseball Prospectus)

Joe Sheehan: "Is there any general manager who has done less with more than Kenny Williams has done in the last 20 months? He inherited a division winner with a low payroll, a core of good young players and a farm system bursting at the seams with talent. Under his watch, the team has shed talent like my wife's cat Ashley sheds hair, while adding payroll and bad players like an Angelos on speed." (Baseball Prospectus)

Chris Kahrl's Transaction Analysis for July 22-25. "The wrinkle to this no-brainer is what the A's will do with Durham now that they have him. Stuck in his now-traditional role as the second-best second baseman in his league (now behind Alfonso Soriano after being parked behind Roberto Alomar for his entire career), Durham is being seen as a solution to the problem in center field." (Baseball Prospectus)

Chris Kahrl's Transaction Analysis for July 15-21. "They're still in the high grass, but the Astros are starting to show some teeth, if only because the Cardinals and Reds have managed to bring the pack back to them as much as the Astros have mounted a big push." (Baseball Prospectus)

Rob Neyer picks the single greatest defensive player at each position. (ESPN.com)

Rob Neyer: "I'm not sure what's more amazing ... that the Twins have a 13-game lead after being left for dead just last winter, or that the Twins have a 13-game lead despite getting only five victories from Joe Mays and Brad Radke, who combined for 32 victories in 2001." (ESPN.com)

Angels return to first in pitching duel against M's. Hey, it's Enrico Palazzo! (ESPN.com)

A's: Ray Durham acquired from White Sox. All they could get was minor league pitcher Jon Adkins? And the White Sox had to give up cash, too?? Does Billy Beane go into other GMs' offices and wave his watch in front of their faces? You are getting very sleepy... (Yahoo!)

In Defense of Incompetence. John Bonnes responds to Gary Huckabay's How to Easily Save $160 Million column. (Twins Takes)

Jay Jaffe on Ted Lilly and Jeff Weaver. (Futility Infielder)

Joe Sheehan: "[W]hy pitchers insist on throwing first-pitch strikes to Alfonso Soriano boggles the mind. I'm not saying he won't adjust, or that he's not having a great season. I'm saying that he seems to have proven he can hit the 0-0 fastball, and that it might be time to update the scouting reports and try something else." (Baseball Prospectus)

Boston 22, Tampa Bay 4. Nomar Garciaparra had a great 29th birthday (3 HR, 8 RBI). (ESPN.com)

Rogers says no to Reds. He's chosen to stay with the last-place Rangers instead. (ESPN.com)

Reds pick up Moehler in five-player deal. ESPN calls this Plan B, but it's really C. Rogers was Plan B, and Chuck Finley was Plan A. (ESPN.com)

Peter Gammons on the trade market, and why the Finley-to-Cincinnati trade fell through. (ESPN.com)

Mets begin critical 13-game homestand with victory. Mar-co! Mar-co! Mar-co! (ESPN.com)

Renteria's 9th-inning double gives Cards win over Giants. Ed-gar! Ed-gar! Ed-gar! (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Players' union has not set strike date. Or-za! Or-za! Or-za! (ESPN.com)

Sunday Special: Pepper and Fidel. Martin met Castro in 1959 when he was managing in the International League. (Martin, not Castro. Castro was doing other stuff in 1959.) (Yahoo!)

Phil Rogers on Frank Thomas's deteriorating relationship with the White Sox. (ESPN.com)

Joe Sheehan on Frank Thomas's Hall of Fame qualifications. (ESPN.com)

Baker's Dozen: The Week in Preview. "Never trust the White Sox when they're supposed to do something good. They never get it right. What they will do, though, is fall off everybody's radar and then roar back to grab the division title next year." (ESPN.com)

Chris Dankberg on the Padres: "A team on the verge of contending came into the season with a plan. Early injuries to several key players likely ended any realistic chance the Padres had at competing for the NL West title. Now, the organization appears to be in full panic mode." (Baseball Prospectus)

The Week in Quotes from Baseball Prospectus. Cubs manager Bruce Kimm: "I don't want Bill Mueller taking pitches to try to draw a walk so Sammy Sosa can drive him in." Yeah, that would suck.

Red Sox struggle in ninth, hand Yankees crucial win. Ah, the old Back-to-Back Intentional Walks to Load the Bases in the Bottom of the Ninth of a Tie Game strategy. Works every time. (ESPN.com)

Angels within one game of first-place M's. They just finished a three-game sweep of the Mariners in Anaheim. Jarrod Washburn is 12-2. The Angels now lead the AL Wild Card standings by 1/2 game over Boston and 1 game over Oakland. (ESPN.com)

Jonah Keri: "Barry Bonds, Greatest Living Hitter. Get used to it." (ESPN.com)

Chris Kahrl's Transaction Analysis for June 25 - July 14. "One thing that's becoming very clear this season is that Billy Beane has a bad side. If you put yourself on it, you don't need to worry about being in the cold for long; you're a perishable good, and Beane keeps a tidy fridge." (Baseball Prospectus)

Dave Pease: "We'd be happy to run a pro-owner piece that meets our standards for publication. We've done it before. If you have an article that makes a case for the owners' proposals, send it to us at submission@baseballprospectus.com and we'll take a look at it." (Baseball Prospectus)

Derek Zumsteg: "Baseball doesn't need to borrow much from other sports (oh, the good announcer/bad announcer from wrestling, sure), but it should steal the 'cheer clubs' from European soccer and quick." (Baseball Prospectus)

This time Hunter uses his bat for payback. No, he didn't throw it; he hit a homer with it. Twins 8, Indians 6. The Twins now lead the AL Central by 11 games. (ESPN.com)

Good new weblog: Only Baseball Matters.

Greg Connors: "While no [sports] blogging luminaries have emerged since Simmons and Merron followed the money to ESPN, there are some Webmasters out there making the effort and building a following. Some are very narrow in their focus, and others seem to be on hiatus for the summer, with no new postings since June." Who, me? It was just a vacation. (Buffalo News)

6-4-3: How to Easily Save $160 Million. Excellent article by Gary Huckabay. (Baseball Prospectus)

Derek Zumsteg: "I may be the only person in America cheering for a long, protracted labor battle that brings baseball to its knees." (Baseball Prospectus)

Joe Sheehan: "All-Star managers have to disabuse themselves of the idea that everyone, especially pitchers, must appear...I would encourage managers to make sure a representative from every team is used, while allowing the sixth Yankee or fifth Brave to be held in reserve." (Baseball Prospectus)

Rob Neyer: "I pity you poor Easterner and Midwesterners because all of the best baseball is out here, in the American and National Leagues West." (ESPN.com)