According to a report in the Boston Herald, the Red Sox made "a big play" in an effort to acquire Blue Jays shortstop Marco Scutaro prior to the July 31 deadline for making trades that did not require waivers. But, according to the report (which cited a major-league source), the Jays decided to keep their team relatively intact and pulled Scutaro off the market once they determined that they would not trade Roy Halladay.

Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein revealed on Friday afternoon that the newly signed Paul Byrd is roughly three weeks away from potentially pitching in Boston. Byrd been throwing and working out all season expecting a big league call in June or July, but had stopped throwing two weeks prior to inking a minor league deal with Boston. The 38-year-old Byrd promptly resumed his throwing regimen and tossed a pair of innings against a college baseball team before reporting to Fort Myers on Friday for team-supervised workouts. The three week timetable for Byrd also coincides with the Sept. 1 date that Major League rosters expand beyond 25 players. "He reported to Fort Myers (on Friday) and threw," said Epstein. "He's got some work to do to get into game condition and to get his arm into shape. He's probably about three weeks away from being able to help."