Door For Trades Closed

July 31 -- The early bird catches the worm — and the best players — must have been the proverb the Chicago Cubs kept in mind while bustling to meet today’s trade deadline.

One was a deal for Montreal outfielder Rondell White in exchange for southpaw Scott Downs. They also sent outfielder Henry Rodriguez to the Florida Marlins in exchange for two minor league prospects.

“I’ve known from the get-go that they were trying to trade me,” White said Sunday of the Expos. The New York Yankees, Seattle, Atlanta and Milwaukee had been interested in White, but may have backed off because of his injury-plagued career.

The White trade is the fourth made by Andy MacPhail since he took over for Ed Lynch as general manager earlier this month. In an effort to revamp the organization, the Cubs have been very vocal with trading several players, including famed slugger, Sammy Sosa, after he was reported to be having difficulties with manager Don Baylor.

It was later reported the dispute was settled, and he no longer planned on leaving Chicago.

In addition to those two confirmed trades, the Cubs eyeballed right-hander Pedro Astacio from the Colorado Rockies, but they were slammed with competition from the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees.

Cards, O’s Also Busy

Although the Cubs were busy, St. Louis and Baltimore also worked right up to the deadline in an effort to revamp their lineups.

The Baltimore Orioles have traded outfielder B.J. Surhoffto the Atlanta Braves for pitcher Luis Rivera, outfielder TrenidadHubbard and catcher Fernando Lunar.

The St. Louis Cardinals, expressing concerns over Mark McGuire’s health, acquired first baseman Will Clark from Baltimore right. They also obtained getting catcher Carlos Hernandez for reliever Heathcliff Slocumb.

“We had three primary concerns to address before the tradingdeadline,” St. Louis general manager Walt Jocketty said. “We feel with today’s addition of Hernandez, we have accomplished what we set out to do — improve the bullpen and add a quality catcher.”