Friday Findings: To watch for this weekend

Not much new news that wasn't available last night, so here's what I'm going to be watching for today and this weekend.

• Will Brett Favre accept the Packers' blood money to stay retired.

• How will Manny respond as a Dodger. Will he play harder? And will hustle nazi Larry Bowa get on his case if he doesn't run out ground balls?

• How will the Brewers respond after being swept by the Cubs in four games in Milwaukee?

• How will the Yankees' pitching staff respond to a new catcher in Pudge Rodriguez? A lot of pitchers just get comfortable throwing to certain guys. Maybe this trade will end up unhinging some of the progress the staff has made over recent weeks.

• And in just a weird Washington headline, an alt-rock drummer got busted for growing weed in the weeds by a turtle. You have to read it to appreciate it.

Here are the links to the FCNP version of Splinters and "Press Pass."

Manny Moved; Nats Trade for Depth

Manny Ramirez has been banished across the county by the Boston Red Sox. How bad did the Red Sox want to get rid of this guy? They dealt two prospects, and $7 million along with Manny and only got Jason Bay in return with the Pirates involved as the trade's third team.

Bay's a great ballplayer, don't get me wrong, but he's not Manny Ramirez ... more or less two prospects, $7 million and Manny Ramirez. Who wins? It's addition by subtraction for the Red Sox, but it feels like very costly subtraction. The Pirates on the other hand got four top prospects (two from the Sox, two from the Dodgers) and can now safely continue their quest for eternal mediocrity.

And it just wouldn't be a trade deadline without Trader Jim Bowden getting in on the action. The Nats sent Jhonny Nunez to the Yankees for the "Attorney General" Alberto Gonzalez, who projects to be a fine defensive shortstop in the bigs. Nunez has been sharp in a relief role with AA Harrisburg, but otherwise has a combined record of 2-8 with an ERA of 4.85 in stops at Potomac and Harrisburg. The Yanks must see something in him, just not sure what. It should be pointed out though that former Rays castoff Edwar Ramirez is one of the Yanks' top arms out of the bullpen and has a "no-hitter" through the month of July.

What the Yankees liked about Edwar when they acquired him was his high strikeout to walk ratio. Nunez's numbers in that category? 82 Ks to 21 BBs in Class A Potomac.

Updating a previous trade because I happened to be browsing minor league stats today: Washington's Emilio Bonifacio is hitting .464 in seven games with the AAA Columbus Clippers. And for all the talk that the Nats didn't get enough for Jon Rauch, Bonifacio may be the best haul any team received in return for a middle reliever ... that is, since hardly any bullpen types switched sides near the deadline.

Overdue Picking: Trades, Purdy and Judas Priest

Apologies to those that visited the site the past few days only to discover no new info. I've been busy settling into New York and a new job, but now I think we're ready to resume our schedule of regular updates.

The big news in baseball this time of year is on the trade front and there is no shortage of headlines this year. Mark Texeira to the Angels. Pudge Rodriguez to the Yankees. Manny Ramirez to the Marlins ... wait ... what???

Okay, so the last deal hasn't gone down yet, but there is a rumor the enigmatic left fielder will be dealt to the Marlins for some of their young talent like Jeremy Hermida and/or Josh Willingham. The Sox may then spin those players off to Pittsburgh for Jason Bay. If the Marlins make this trade I think they're nuts. Renting Manny (there's no way a franchise paying its entire roster $22 million coughs up $20 million for a lone player) isn't worth two valuable building blocks. If they are serious about investing in the team and finally ending their eternal rebuilding process, then it becomes a very interesting development.

With Manny in the lineup, the Fish would then sport a top of the order that looks something like this: Hanley Ramirez, Jorge Cantu, Manny Ramirez, Dan Uggla, Mike Jacobs. I can't even count up how many home runs that is.

And if that deal falls through, Manny has another proposal for the Sox ... trade me for Favre.

***

Spent Tuesday night on a concert cruise around Manhattan listening to Joe Purdy and The Beautiful Girls. Purdy, as usual, was wonderful, performing a solo acoustic set of "Goldfish," "You Can Tell Georgia," "Brooklyn I'm Calling," "I Love the Rain the Most," and a few more tunes I hadn't heard before giving way to the headliners.

Got a chance to speak with him before the show and learned it may be a little while before the next album, Last Clock on the Wall, comes out. He just moved back to Arkansas and is taking time to help his family build a boat and fence. When he's done with the manual labor, he'll deal with the record. In the meantime, listen to plenty of existing tunes at his website.

He also told a group of fans, including my girlfriend, that I was an amazing writer. When one of the best songwriters I've heard calls me a great writer, let me tell ya, it does wonders for the ego. Thanks for the compliment, Joe.

***

Spoke with KK Downing of legendary metal gods/band Judas Priest about the band's new album, Nostradamus and the perils of leather pants. You can read about the album and the tour in the Falls Church News-Press when "Press Pass" goes live on the website later today. In the meantime, you can enjoy this bit about the band's run in with PETA over their wearing leather on stage:

Mike Hume: You guys had a run in with PETA about wearing leather on stage. What's your current stance in regard to their request?

KK Downing: They'll be very pleased to know it's all synthetic. In the early days, we did actually go to people in London and have stuff made of genuine leather. We found it really didn't wear very well. It used to stink and when you washed it, it would shrink. So we found this guy, Ray Brown, in Los Angeles who told us he had this great stuff, looks like leather, feels like leather, but you can wash it and it won't shrink. So that's hopefully put that one to bed.