Trade season not over yet

The trading season reached its zenith a couple of weeks ago, but talks are still brewing, especially among the American League contenders.

Last week, San Diego Padres outfielder Brian Giles rejected a trade to the Boston Red Sox even though he had cleared waivers. And with a season-ending injury to starting pitcher Jose Contreras, the Chicago White Sox suddenly have a need for a starting pitcher. Ian Kennedy is showing he's not ready for the pennant race for the New York Yankees. And Tim Wakefield is headed for the DL for the Boston Red Sox, creating a need for last year's champs.

The Cleveland Indians have a guy in mind in veteran soft-tosser Paul Byrd, who threw a complete game in a victory on Saturday and has won four starts in a row with a 1.24 ERA in that span. He beat the Yankees in the postseason last year.

The Seattle Mariners also have a potential solution in Jarrod Washburn, who was rumored to be headed to the Yankees a few weeks ago in a deal that fell through. But Washburn is making a lot more money than most teams will want to pay for a stop-gap solution.

Trades must be made by Aug. 31 for a player to be eligible for the postseason on their new team, but players also must clear waivers to be dealt in August. How that works: Teams can place a player on waivers to gauge interest in a trade, but can pull a player back at any point. So it adds another layer of cat-and-mouse among contending teams.

Byrd has cleared waivers, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com.