A league source has informed me that the Rays attention is now on Cleveland Indians cornerman Casey Blake due in part to the high price for Xavier Nady. I'm not sure if a deal is close or even imminent between the Rays and Indians, but Blake is a 34 -- soon to be 35 -- year old free agent following this season with a .279 GPA and an OPS+ of 118 that would place him behind only Eric Hinske and Evan Longoria. In some ways Blake is essentially a right-handed Hinske, although he's likely a slightly better fielder.

Here's what I had to say about Blake last week:

Casey Blake Corner Fielder Cleveland: signed through 2008 at 6.1 million.
What would a trade post be without a little speculation? Try this for instance, why did Andrew Friedman pick the Cleveland series to watch the team live for a few games? Maybe it's a pure coincidence, but with some murmurs last weekend about the Rays being interested in Blake the Indians definitely obliged by placing him in the middle of the order and at first three of the games with a cameo at third. Blake isn't really what the Rays are looking for - considering he's essentially a right handed Eric Hinske - but if he's used as purely as Jonny Gomes replacement he's not bad; he sees over four pitches per plate appearance and has a decent grasp on the zone. He's only worth a win a season, which is reasonable considering his price shouldn't be too great, and he's a type B free agent, meaning the Rays would get a first round supplemental pick if they decide to let him walk which they probably should, considering Blake turns 35 in late August.

And for a cheap price too:

Arizona acquired right-hander Jon Rauch from the Nationals on Tuesday in exchange for second baseman Emilio Bonifacio.

Bonifacio was 6th (5th when Carlos Gonzalez get traded) on BA's D-Backs prospects list, but he's a glovely, speedy, iffy batting second baseman. Rauch had to be of interest to each of the ALE contenders, and yet this was the best the Nationals could do? I know they need bats, which is why I don't how this is the best they could do. It's not like Rauch was about to become a FA either, he has a nice deal through 2010.

Which makes me raise the question: who are the Rays looking at that allowed Rauch to go for a speedy, glovely, iffy batting second baseman?

Of the names thrown out there we have Casey Blake and Matt Murton looking like the cheapest of options -- neither of whom I'd mind, although Murton for age/contractual purposes would be my choice. Nady, Holliday, and Bay are all seemingly on the other end of ransoms.

Reliever wise you have Fuentes, Marte, and Mahay who the Rays have reported interest in. Apparently Mahay isn't going anywhere along with the rest of the Royals if you believe what Dayton Moore said last week, but we'll see how much that talk sticks as the deadline approachs.

I guess Jim Bowden couldn't allow Ed Wade to top him in the huh factor today as this trade just went down:

Arizona acquired right-hander Jon Rauch from the Nationals on Tuesday in exchange for second baseman Emilio Bonifacio.

Wait. What? Rauch is a 29 year old with a really good contract in place through 2010 and excellent peripherals this season. Bonifacio is a 23 year old second baseman with wheels and leather but little pop although his IsoD have hovered around .050 the past three seasons.

Dealing Rauch isn't the big issue here, but dealing him for an incomplete second baseman and only an incomplete second baseman is. I just can't imagine this being the Nationals best offer, not when teams like the Red Sox, Rays, and Yankees are searching for bullpen fixes.

That's right, the Houston Astros, who are ten games removed from a playoff spot have acquired a veteran free-agent-to-be starting pitcher. I suppose this is Ed Wade's idea of answering back to C.C. Sabathia and Rich Harden. Cute, if not effective.  The price is a AAA pitcher by the name of Chad Reineke, more on him in a bit. First let's see what Paul DePodesta said about Wolf not too long ago:

Randy Wolf - Randy has a limited no-trade provision in his contract, so there are a number of designated teams to which Randy does not have to accept an assignment. Randy is another guy who is on the collective radar of the buyers at this point and for good reason. After having a shoulder cleanup in the middle of last season, Randy has had a very good year to date. His average fastball velocity is the highest it has been in any of the past six years (which is the timeframe of the data set) and his strikeout rate is as high as it has been since 2001. His ERA currently stands at 4.38, though almost a full run of that is due to two starts in Colorado and Chicago during which he gave up 14 runs in eight innings. His collective line of 109 innings, 109 hits, 42 walks, and 100 k's is one of the better lines you'll find during this deadline, but his line of 101 innings, 95 hits, 33 walks, and 94 k's (3.48 ERA) without those two starts is even more indicative of the pitcher he has been. In fact, his 12 quality starts ranks 7th in the NL behind Haren, Lincecum, Hudson, Santana, Webb, and Volquez.

As Derek Carty noted at THT DePodesta did a brilliant job of "dumbing down" his analysis to fit the mindset of the less statistically potent general managers. Whether this actually worked or not is irrelevant, but the fact that it was Ed Wade who pulled the trigger is deliciously comedic. I'll choose to give Wade the benefit of the doubt for now and move on to actually analyzing the trade.

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