"Manny Ramirez to the Phillies? Don't count on it.

But with the clock ticking to Thursday's 4 p.m. nonwaiver trade deadline, general manager Pat Gillick reiterated Monday that he's still hopeful of acquiring a left-handed reliever to give lone lefty J.C. Romero "some breathing room" in the Phillies bullpen.

"Hopefully, we can do that," Gillick said. "All I can say is we're talking, and as long as we continue to talk, there's always a possibility something will transpire."

And there's also a possibility something may happen after Thursday.

If the Phillies are unable to work a deal for Colorado's Brian Fuentes, Kansas City's Ron Mahay, Pittsburgh's John Grabow, Baltimore's George Sherrill or another reliever before Thursday, there's a chance that several pitchers will clear waivers and be available via trade in August.

In 2006, the Phillies made two trades after July 31, acquiring pitcher Jamie Moyer on Aug. 19 and outfielder Jeff Conine on Aug. 27.

After weeks of dangling Fuentes as trade bait, the Rockies, suddenly just six games out of first place in the weak National League West, appear more likely to retain their closer, even though he will become a free agent after the season.

The Orioles reportedly would like to acquire a shortstop for Sherrill and have their eye on Phillies prospect Jason Donald, who was batting .308 with 14 homers and 54 RBIs at Class AA Reading before joining the U.S. Olympic team this week.

Other lefty relievers who could be available include Oakland's Alan Embree and Seattle's Arthur Rhodes, who pitched for the Phillies in 2006."