Just because it is after July 31st does not mean that trades are prevented from going down. The Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta Braves are showing that by pulling off a deal that will send Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee to Atlanta.
It is a significant move for the Braves who lost Chipper Jones for the season due to an ACL injury and are without a corner infielder.
The deal is not yet finalized, but expectations are that the trade will be finalized over the next 24 hours. When completed, it will be a stroke of intelligent baseball by the Braves, who need a bat for the stretch run while the Cubs begin the process of taking apart a team with highly paid veterans.