The New York Yankees made another big catch by adding Ivan Rodriguez. Hours later, Boston was still deciding what to do with Manny Ramirez.

One thing is sure: Baseball’s trade deadline has provided plenty to chew on this year.

Jumping at the chance to upgrade behind the plate following Jorge Posada’s injury, the Yankees acquired Rodriguez from Detroit on Wednesday for hard-throwing reliever Kyle Farnsworth in a surprising deal that addressed obvious needs for both playoff contenders.

“You talk about a Hall of Fame catcher coming in here,” New York manager Joe Girardi said following his team’s 13-3 victory over visiting Baltimore. “He’s the complete package. He can do everything.”

Everyone was wondering what the Red Sox would do with the disgruntled Ramirez before today’s non-waiver trade deadline at 10 a.m. PDT.

Several reports Wednesday night said they were discussing a three-team trade that would send Ramirez to Florida, with outfielder Jason Bay going from Pittsburgh to Boston. But Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria denied a deal was in place.

“There’s no news, nothing to talk about,” Loria said early today.

Before that, Ramirez expressed his displeasure with the Red Sox in an interview with ESPNdeportes.com. The 2004 World Series MVP is in the final guaranteed year of his $160 million, eight-year contract with Boston. The Red Sox have options for each of the next two seasons at $20 million.

“The Red Sox don’t deserve a player like me,” he said. “During my years here I’ve seen how they have mistreated other great players when they didn’t want them to try to turn the fans against them.”

Meanwhile, Boston played poorly in its latest loss to the surging Los Angeles Angels.

Garret Anderson went 4-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs, Joe Saunders earned his 14th win and the AL West leaders won 9-2 to complete their second three-game sweep of the Red Sox in two weeks.

Boston committed four errors and showed little spark during its fifth loss in six games.

“There wasn’t a whole lot of pleasure watching that game,” manager Terry Francona said.

One slugger who did get traded recently, first baseman Mark Teixeira, went 0-for-4 in his debut with Los Angeles after being obtained from Atlanta on Tuesday.

Saunders (14-5) allowed two runs in six innings to beat Josh Beckett (9-8).

While the Angels improved baseball’s best record to 67-40 with their 12th win in 14 games, the second-place Red Sox dropped three games behind Tampa Bay in the AL East. The Yankees trail the Rays by four.

The Angels finished 8-1 against Boston this season, winning the final eight meetings. They were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Red Sox in 2004 and 2007, and Boston went on to win the World Series both times.

“They cracked the door open a little bit for us tonight defensively and we took advantage of it,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “That’s a tough club over there and we might not have caught them at their best right now.”



The Yankees expect Rodriguez to join the team today, when they start a four-game series with the Angels. New York avoided a three-game sweep against the Orioles, getting two homers from Bobby Abreu and another by Alex Rodriguez to back Joba Chamberlain (4-3).



At Toronto, Carlos Pena homered and Edwin Jackson (7-7) won consecutive starts for the first time since April. Troy Percival got his 23rd save.



At Minneapolis, Carlos Quentin had a homer and four RBIs to back Gavin Floyd (11-6), who allowed one run in 7 2-3 innings. Alexei Ramirez added a three-run shot for Chicago, which stretched its AL Central lead over Minnesota to 11⁄2 games.



At Cleveland, Kelly Shoppach tied a major league record with five extra-base hits, including a game-tying homer in the ninth, but it came in a losing effort.

Shoppach had two homers, three doubles and three RBIs, becoming the eighth player to get five extra-base hits in a game. Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers last accomplished the feat with four homers and a double on May 23, 2002.

Shoppach struck out against Casey Fossum with the bases loaded and no outs in the 12th, however.

Ben Francisco had four hits, including two homers for the Indians, and Grady Sizemore hit a three-run shot, his 26th. The Tigers fell behind 8-1, but rallied against starter Cliff Lee, who was trying to become the first 15-game winner in the majors.



At Oakland, Calif., Jose Guillen drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the 10th and Kansas City completed its first three-game sweep in Oakland in 20 years.

The Royals last swept the A’s in a series in 1999 in Kansas City, but had not done so in Oakland since June 1988. The A’s fell to 2-10 since the All-Star break, the worst record in the majors, and fell under .500 (53-54) for the first time since April 6. Joakim Soria earned his 30th save.



At Arlington, Texas, Josh Hamilton hit his team-leading 25th homer and collected his major league-best 104th RBI for the Rangers. C.J. Wilson got three outs for his 24th save.