Trade

WASHINGTON - As Ruben Amaro Jr. and various members of his front office emerged from a tunnel at Nationals Park early Tuesday evening, you half-expected them to recoil in pain at the sudden burst of sunlight. The group had spent much of the previous 3 days hunkered down at the team hotel, laying the groundwork for one of the more dramatic afternoons in recent club history. By the time the annual non-waiver trade deadline arrived, the Phillies had parted ways with two-thirds of their outfield, exchanging Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino for a well-regarded prospect, a young major league reliever, and a part-time major league outfielder, along with a couple of minor league projects.

BOSTON - The Los Angeles Dodgers are stocking up for the stretch run with some new, expensive players who couldn't help the Boston Red Sox make it to the postseason this year or last. The Dodgers officially acquired first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, pitcher Josh Beckett, and injured outfielder Carl Crawford from Boston on Saturday, hoping to boost their playoff hopes by taking on the underperforming and high-priced stars who failed to thrive in a fractious Red Sox clubhouse. Boston also sent infielder Nick Punto and about $11 million in cash to Los Angeles in the nine-player trade that was the biggest in Dodgers history.

When will the idiots who write your editorials come to realize that our government and our politicians in Washington are there for one purpose and that is to serve the constituents with laws that will benefit their constituents and protect their way of life. Call it protectionism, trade legislation, or whatever; this is what these people were elected to do. They are not elected to protect the Japanese, the Koreans, the French or the Germans, as has been happening during the last 10 years.

Cincinnati's Barry Larkin met with general manager Jim Bowden for about two hours yesterday to consider the shortstop's request for a trade. Afterward, Larkin reiterated his desire to play for a contender, but Bowden said any trade was a "dead issue" right now. Larkin asked for a trade about two weeks ago because the Reds are rebuilding, according to Bowden. The Reds talked to four clubs but could not make a deal, he said. Montreal placed pitcher Mike Maddux on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained tendon in his right elbow.

Florida Marlins pitcher Alex Fernandez hopes to return from off-season shoulder surgery by the summer, but it may just be a showcase for a trade. A memo from team president Don Smiley said the Marlins would try to trade Fernandez, Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla and Charles Johnson to trim the payroll from $33 million to $16 million next year. Fernandez is in the second year of a five-year contract that guarantees him $7 million a season. Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra missed Boston's game against Kansas City with a strained right shoulder.

Flyers general manager Bob Clarke said there was "no chance" he would trade for Florida Panthers goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck. "He hasn't exactly done a lot for them this season, has he?" Clarke asked yesterday. The Panthers, 18-36-12, are winless in their last 12 games. Vanbiesbrouck, who stoned the Flyers in the 1996 playoffs, has a 2.89 goals-against and a .898 save percentage. Of course, given Clarke's record on being truthful with reporters, the Beezer is probably lugging his equipment through Philadelphia International Airport as you read this.

The Soul acquired wide receiver Chris Horn from the Arizona Rattlers yesterday in a trade for defensive lineman Jonathon Engram. Horn, 30, played in the preseason for the NFL's Carolina Panthers but was released before the start of the season. The 5-foot-11, 195-pounder also played for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2003 and '04. A former star at Rocky Mountain College, Horn played two seasons with the Rattlers starting in 2001. In 28 games, he caught 134 passes for 1,675 yards and 37 touchdowns.

Dallas Mavericks forward Roy Tarpley said he is prepared to accept his one- game suspension, amid reports trade talks were under way before his Tuesday night shouting matches with coach Dick Motta. "I'm going to try not to overreact and to take my medicine like a man," Tarpley said yesterday from his home minutes after owner Don Carter telephoned him with news of the suspension. "If they think this is what's best, I'll live with it. I still don't think I did anything wrong, but I have to deal with it. " Meanwhile, Tarpley's agent, George Andrews, said he is preparing to file a grievance with the NBA Players Association.

The David Justice era is over for the New York Mets, who traded him just one week after acquiring him. Justice was dealt to the Oakland Athletics yesterday for reliever Mark Guthrie and minor-league pitcher Tyler Yates, a move that could lead to the Mets entering more serious talks with free agent Juan Gonzalez. Indians. Cleveland reached a preliminary agreement with free-agent infielder Ricky Gutierrez, two sources familiar with the negotiations said. The signing is expected to be announced Monday.

The Miami Dolphins canceled a trade for Chicago running back Rashaan Salaam two days after announcing it. Miami said Salaam failed to pass the Dolphins' physical. "After looking at Rashaan Salaam, we felt he was not 100 percent at this time. For that reason we decided not to carry out the trade. He remains the property of the Chicago Bears," Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson said. "They felt he was 90 percent. He'll be in this evening or tomorrow and we'll go from there," Bears personnel director Mark Hatley said.

Not everything Ruben Amaro Jr. has done as Phillies general manager has gone wrong. It just seems that way these days. In the beginning, Amaro's moves were mostly good. His first transaction after replacing Pat Gillick was to acquire John Mayberry Jr. from Texas for Greg Golson, an exchange of two underachieving former first-round draft picks. By no means was it a blockbuster deal, but Amaro at least got an extra outfielder who is still with the team while the Rangers took on a draft bust who is long gone.

One of the big goals of President Obama's trip to Europe may be in jeopardy, with French objections threatening to hold up the launch of negotiations on a U.S.-European Union free-trade pact. The proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership has raised expectations of boosting growth and jobs by eliminating tariffs and other barriers. It would create a market with common standards and regulations across countries that account for nearly half the global economy. And it would be a sharp departure from years of squabbling over such matters as agriculture, food safety, climate-change legislation, financial deregulation, and intellectual-property enforcement.

HERE'S A SNAPSHOT of the makeup of the building-trades union members in Philadelphia at the end of 2007: 99 percent male, 74 percent white and 70 percent living in the suburbs. Not exactly a diverse workforce. City Council and Mayor Nutter certainly didn't think so. "Economic apartheid," the mayor called it. In a get-tough mood, Council passed resolutions requiring 50 percent of the workers on the soon-to-rise $760 million expansion of the Pennsylvania Convention Center be minorities and women.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Swedish Princess Madeleine fell in love in the Big Apple. Now she has said "yes" to New York banker Christopher O'Neill in a lavish and emotional wedding ceremony in Stockholm. Madeleine, 30, was wearing a stunning silk organza dress with a lace top and 13-foot trail, designed by Valentino Garavani, when she tied the knot with British-American O'Neill on Saturday. In addition to celebrities and New York socialites, the guests included the United Kingdom's earl and countess of Wessex, Prince Edward and Sophie; Princess Takamado of Japan; and princes and princesses from Norway, Denmark, Greece, Luxembourg, and Monaco.

FORMER Lenny Dykstra business manager, Dan Herman , has filed a complaint against former Fox 29 weatherman John Bolaris , after a text-message battle between the two resulted in Herman going to the Pennsylvania State Police. The dispute began when Herman, the owner of Chinga Chang Records, pitched a documentary called "Race in the Ring," about the 1982 fight between boxers Larry Holmes and Gerry Cooney . On June 28, 2012, Herman says he entered into a contract with Bolaris to narrate the documentary, in exchange for a one-fifth ownership of the film.

Baseball trade-deadline talk is like Christmas decorations at the mall. It starts earlier every year, and that is not a good thing. Already, there is buzz about whether the sub-.500 Phillies will trade Cliff Lee in an effort to begin rebuilding a championship team. In Dallas, the talk-radio topic last week (in between jabs at Jerry Jones) was whether the first-place Rangers should bring Lee back. In Boston, the Globe's Sunday notes column led with an item about Lee's being the No. 1 name in the trade market, based on an informal poll of dozens of baseball people.

Neil Jacob lives on the edge. And, yes, he occasionally cuts himself. The people who seek him out for help, or who happen across his stand at weekend farmers markets, often assume that his breed and his craft died out about the time of the Great Depression. Jacob is living proof otherwise - a traveling knife sharpener, a man who turns dull into pointed and whose growing market extends across the Pennsylvania suburbs, south into Philadelphia, and as far north as Hoboken and Brooklyn.

Gov. Corbett and senior agricultural officials from Chile gathered at Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in South Philadelphia on Tuesday to mark what they say is a growing Chilean and South American fruit trade to Philadelphia. On a pier behind them, the Bahia Castillo, a refrigerated cargo ship, was unloading fresh Chilean fruit. About 10,000 pounds of the grapes, kiwis, apples, and pears were donated to Philabundance, the hunger relief group, which took the fruit by truck to area food pantries.

A day before facing the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Union traded midfielder-defender Gabriel Farfan on Tuesday to Chivas USA for allocation money and a 2014 Major League Soccer SuperDraft first-round pick. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Farfan had started three games and appeared in six this season. He played the entire game at outside back in Saturday's 1-0 victory over the host Chicago Fire, filling in for Sheanon Williams, who missed the game due to suspension. The twin brother of Union midfielder Michael Farfan, the 24-year-old signed with the club in 2011 and appeared in 51 games, making 43 starts in three seasons, scoring one goal and adding three assists.

NEW YORK - The World Trade Center's rebirth has long revolved around creating a centerpiece of unsparing symbolism: a skyscraper 1,776 feet tall, its height an homage and a bold statement about looking forward. The new 1 World Trade Center reached that height with the lowering of a silvery spire from a crane on Friday, officially taking its place as a signature of the city's skyline and, with some argument, the nation's tallest tower. After years of waiting for and watching the building's rise, the moment resonated for many, from workers who looked on from the building's roof to visitors on the ground.