The Lightning reached the Eastern Conference finals last season behind Dwayne Roloson, acquired on Jan . 1from the Islanders for the low cost of a minor prospect.
The Red Sox sent Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto to the Dodgers for James Loney and minor league prospects.
They were reluctant to trade him to the Oakland Athletics for minor league prospects.
Posada has thrown the ball during extended spring training sessions with minor league prospects.
Phillips made several proposals to Phillies General Manager Ed Wade; some included major leaguers, but most included minor league prospects.
And although the formulas are typically used to evaluate minor league prospects, they are equally reliable when applied in reverse.
And the Yankees would not have had to trade all of their minor league prospects to get Sosa and Gonzalez.
The Boston Red Sox acquired the All-Star pitcher Andrew Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney from the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday in exchange for outfielder Josh Reddick and two minor league prospects.
The Mets asked one of their top minor league prospects, Matt Harvey, to tag along on an hourlong bus ride to pitch Sunday against the Washington Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg.
"They don't really have anyone who is close," said Jim Callis, who tracks minor league prospects closely as executive editor of Baseball America.
The Mets, as every pain-stricken fan knows, traded the dependably deficient veterans Roberto Alomar, Armando Benitez and Jeromy Burnitz in return for little-known players, mostly minor league prospects.
