Cliff Pennington was obviously happy to be back in the Oakland clubhouse this afternoon as he reacquainted himself with some of the guys on the team. He’s starting at shortstop for tonight’s game, and, according to general manager Billy Beane, will be given a “big trial run” at the position.

That isn’t exactly was Bobby Crosby wanted to hear. He was hoping to become a regular at shortstop again after Orlando Cabrera was shipped to the Twins Friday morning.

“I thought it (might mean more playing time at shortstop), but I think it’s a joke that I’m not in there tonight,” Crosby said. “I’ve done everything to prepare, constantly taking ground balls at short and I’ve been ready to play if this time came. And now I’m not in there, so who knows what to expect.

“Not one bit am I pleased. Not one bit.”

A’s manager Bob Geren said he will utilize Crosby the same way he has for the first four months of the season — at first, third and short. Crosby has 37 at-bats in July and is having his best month of the season at the plate, hitting .324 (12-for-37) with six runs and five RBI.

Crosby’s stance hasn’t changed since Spring Training when the A’s first signed Cabrera. He still sees himself as an everyday shortstop in the big leagues. He said he’s talked to Geren about his situation a few times but that it hasn’t made a big difference.

“With Cabrera getting traded, I thought that would move me back to shortstop,” Crosby said. ”But obviously that’s not the case, so by no means am I at all pleased.”

We also chatted with Jason Giambi, who said he’s feeling great and ready to play once he comes off the DL on Tuesday. How that affects Tommy Everidge’s or eventually Daric Barton’s playing time (once he comes off the DL) remains to be seen.

Hairston (left quad) did a workout Friday and Geren hopes to have him back in the lineup Saturday, but he didn’t have an update on how the workout went.

The lineups:

A’s — Kennedy 3B, Davis CF, Suzuki C, Cust DH, Sweeney RF, Everidge 1B, Patterson LF, Ellis 2B, Pennington SS, Braden P.

Jays — Scutaro SS, Hill 2B, Lind DH, Millar 1B, Wells CF, Rios RF, Bautista LF, Barajas C, McDonald 3B, Richmond P.

The A’s have dealt SS Orlando Cabrera to the Minnesota Twins for Single-A shortstop Tyler Ladendorf. A deal between the two teams had been rumored for some time, with talks heating up last night and finally coming to fruition this morning.

Ladendorf is 21, 6-0 and 185 pounds. He was hitting .233 in 15 games with the Beloit Snappers of the Midwest League with 4 RBI. He was drafted by the Twins in the second round (60th overall) of the 2008 first-year player draft. He attended Howard College.

Cabrera had a tough start to the 2009 season at the plate and in the field, but he became one of the A’s most reliable hitters in July. He signed a one-year deal with the A’s during spring training and had expressed interest in coming back to the team in 2010. But I’m sure he’s happy to be going to a playoff contender.

Still a couple hours left before the non-waiver trade deadline.

It was pouring when I got to Fenway Park about an hour ago, but the sun is out now and it’s looking like this game will start on time. … The Temptations were blasting in the A’s clubhouse this morning — not the usual pregame tunes. I’ll say this: Nomar Garciaparra has seen some Motown clips in his time, judging by the dance moves he was busting out.

No Scott Hairston in the lineup for the third straight day. He says his quad has been slow to recover, but he’s hopeful for tomorrow’s night game in Oakland. Eric Patterson sits today also, with Boston throwing lefty Jon Lester. Ryan Sweeney starts in left field for a change, with Rajai Davis in center and Jack Cust in right.

With the trade deadline just more than 24 hours away, shortstop Orlando Cabrera looked pretty loose this morning, joking around w/his teammates. Manager Bob Geren mentioned how veteran players don’t let trade rumors rattle them this time of year. I’d say Cabrera falls into that category …

The lineups
A’s
Kennedy 2B
Cabrera SS
Garciaparra DH
Cust RF
Everidge 1B
Crosby 3B
Davis CF
Sweeney LF
Powell C

Gonzalez LHP

Sox
Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Youkilis 1B
Bay LF
Ortiz DH
Lowell 3B
Drew RF
Varitek C
Green SS

Lester LHP

All’s quiet on the A’s front as game time approaches. We may not get this one in without an interruption, as there’s a forecast of possible thunderstorms tonight. It’s very overcast and a little warm — feels like a storm is coming, for what that’s worth.

Scott Hairston (left quad) is out of the lineup for the second straight day, but Bob Geren said he could be used in an emergency. The hope is Hairston can play in tomorrow’s series-closing matinee.

The lineups:
A’s
Kennedy 3B
Cabrera SS
Suzuki C
Cust DH
Sweeney RF
Everidge 1B
Ellis 2B
Davis CF
Patterson LF

Anderson LHP

Sox
Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Youkilis 3B
Bay LF
Lowell DH
Baldelli RF
LaRoche 1B
Varitek C
Lowrie SS

Penny RHP

With the A’s preparing to retire Rickey Henderson’s No. 24 on Aug. 1, the Red Sox will honor their own 2009 Hall of Fame inductee tonight. Jim Rice’s No. 14 will be retired in a pregame ceremony. Nice work by the Sox’s groundskeeping crew, as there’s a big “14″ cut into the grass in left field, where Rice played for Boston.

As for A’s news, Daric Barton was placed on the DL as expected with a strained left hamstring, and first baseman Tommy Everidge was promoted from Triple-A Sacramento for his major league debut. He’s starting at first. A press release lists Everidge at 6-feet, 275 pounds. For you NFL fans, think of Craig “Ironhead” Heyward, the old Saints fullback. Now you’ve got your visual … This dude looks like he’s got some power.

And talk about paying your dues: Everidge is 26, and in his sixth year with the organization after being drafted in 2004. He’s never even been invited to major league spring training, and he’s only been inside a handful of major league parks as a fan. He’s a pretty soft-spoken guy, and is extremely grateful to be getting his chance. A Sonoma native, he grew up a Giants fan and loved Will Clark.

The A’s announced today that right-hander Sean Gallagher, as expected, was sent to San Diego as the third player to complete the Scott Hairston trade. Yes, it was just a year ago that Gallagher was obtained by Oakland as the centerpiece of the Rich Harden trade. Obviously he didn’t pan out like they hoped. Eric Patterson and minor league catcher Josh Donaldson are the only players remaining of the four the A’s received from the Cubs in that deal (outfielder Matt Murton was traded in the offseason for infielder Corey Wimberly).

My question for you readers: Do you still think the Harden deal can work out as a good one for the A’s??? Consider this as you ponder: A scout told me, at the time of the Dan Haren trade, that if two of the six players the A’s got from the Diamondbacks for Haren turned into impact players, the trade could be considered a success. The A’s got four players for Harden and Chad Gaudin, and unless Patterson blossoms at age 26, Donaldson is the last hope for that deal to produce an impact player. So how do you evaluate that trade a year later?

I was just watching Bobby Crosby take grounders at shortstop, and can’t help thinking if he’ll be playing his old position on a regular basis again. That might be the case if Orlando Cabrera gets traded before Friday’s deadline.

Scott Hairston’s left quad is still hurting, so he’s out of the lineup. Ryan Sweeney is in center, with Patterson playing left and Jack Cust in right. Bob Geren said he likes having Sweeney’s stronger arm in center because there’s so much room to cover out there at Fenway.

Enough of my rambling, here’s the rest of the lineups:

A’s
Kennedy 3B
Cabrera SS
Garciaparra DH
Cust RF
Suzuki C
Sweeney CF
Everidge 1B
Ellis 2B
Patterson LF

Mazzaro RHP

Sox
Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Youkilis 1B
Ortiz DH
Bay LF
Drew RF
Lowell 3B
Kottaras C
Green SS

Buchholz RHP

Deja vu, Fenway Park-style. The A’s are back in Boston less than three weeks after completing their last series here. You know about the trade rumors involving the A’s. The Red Sox are rumored to be considering Padres slugger Adrian Gonzalez. They haven’t hit particularly well this month, and it’s all they can do to keep up with the Yankees right now.

It’s looking like Daric Barton might become the 13th A’s player to hit the DL. He said today his strained left hamstring isn’t feeling any better, and Bob Geren acknowledged Barton could be DL-bound. Triple-A Sacramento was still playing a doubleheader when Geren talked to us, and he said he hoped to chat with Rivercats manager Tony DeFrancesco about call-up possibilities. First baseman Tommy Everidge looks like a very strong candidate to me. This guy has been raking all season for Sacramento, and he’s currently on an 11-game hitting streak in which he’s batting .511. This is assuming Geren wants a first baseman, and he didn’t say that was set in stone. There may be more to report on this after the game …

Justin Duchscherer threw two perfect innings for Single-A Stockton yesterday, which surely didn’t discourage any teams looking to trade for him. His next outing is Friday for Sacramento. He’ll go 60 pitches and increase to 80 next time, so the A’s are definitely preparing him to start, although Geren repeated the team is keeping all options open with how Duke will be used.

Tonight’s lineups:

A’s
Kennedy 3B
Cabrera SS
Hairston LF
Cust DH
Suzuki C
Sweeney RF
Ellis 2B
Crosby 1B
Patterson CF

Cahill RHP

Sox
Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Youkilis 3B
Ortiz DH
Bay LF
Drew RF
LaRoche 1B
Varitek C
Lowrie SS

Beckett RHP

Today’s lineups, on a warm and semi-muggy day at Yankee Stadium:

A’s
Kennedy 3B
Cabrera SS
Hairston LF
Cust DH
Suzuki C
Sweeney RF
Barton 1B
Ellis 2B
Patterson CF

Braden LHP

YankeesJeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Posada C
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
M. Cabrera CF
Ransom 3B

Mitre RHP

Quick post here with first pitch less than an hour away … Piecing together today’s lineup was tricky for Bob Geren because he wasn’t sure about Landon Powell’s availability to play catcher. Powell walked by Geren as Geren was chatting w/reporters and indicated his left hamstring felt good enough to go, so he starts behind the plate today. Geren really wanted to give Kurt Suzuki the day off with a day game after a night game. …

I’m surprised Eric Patterson isn’t back in center field today, even though he struggled last night at the plate. Rajai Davis gets the start in center. Geren wanted to get a right-handed bat in center with lefty Andy Pettitte on the mound for the Yanks. But if Patterson was playing so well at Triple-A, I’d keep him in the lineup regularly for the first few games he’s up here to see if he can keep some momentum going. Geren pointed out that the A’s will see lefties frequently in the near future. “(Patterson) will play against lefties,” he said.

Here’s the full lineups on a pleasant afternoon at Yankee Stadium. We’re lucking out w/the lack of humidity …

A’s
Kennedy 3B
Cabrera SS
Hairston LF
Garciaparra DH
Cust RF
Davis CF
Crosby 1B
Ellis 2B
Powell C

Gonzalez LHP

Yanks
Jeter DH
Gardner CF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
M. Cabrera LF
Ransom SS
Molina C

Pettitte LHP

Take a look at today’s post-Matt Holliday lineup, and I’d say it gives you a window into the A’s thinking for the rest of this season. Eric Patterson was called up, and he’s starting in center field. He’ll be seeing lots of time there, according to Bob Geren. The A’s definitely see this guy as an outfielder — long term — rather than an infielder.

Scott Hairston is starting in left w/Ryan Sweeney in right. Hmmm … looks like a potential starting 2010 outfield to me — if Patterson blossoms. Still not sold on this guy? I’m not either based on what I’ve seen in the bigs so far. But he’s tearing it up at Triple-A, and the A’s seem determined to give him a long look to see what he’s got. Where does this leave Travis Buck? Great question … Geren said Rajai Davis would keep drawing some starts against left-handed pitchers.

–Head out to San Jose Municipal Stadium on Sunday and you’ll get to see Justin Duchscherer pitch against the San Jose Giants. He’s scheduled to make his first rehab appearance that day for Single-A Stockton. Don’t show up late. He’ll probably start, and probably throw just two innings. The A’s will build his pitch count up gradually. As always, plans are subject to change. But Geren was more definitive about this plan than he was yesterday.

Tonight’s lineups:
A’s
Kennedy 3B
Cabrera SS
Hairston LF
Cust DH
Suzuki C
Sweeney RF
Barton 1B
Ellis 2B
Patterson CF

Anderson LHP

Yanks
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Posada C
Matsui DH
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
M. Cabrera CF

Chamberlain RHP

The A’s sent out a release making the Matt Holliday trade official — he goes to St. Louis in exchange for third baseman Brett Wallace, right-hander Clay Mortensen and outfielder Shane Peterson. Wallace and Mortensen will report to Triple-A Sacramento, Peterson goes to Double-A Midland.

The team also recalled utility man Eric Patterson from Sacramento to take Holliday’s spot on the 25-man roster.