Summertime, and the tradin' is easy.

Or at least the talk of trades.

Trot Nixon entered the clubhouse yesterday afternoon and without slowing his stride, casually mentioned to two reporters that he had just been traded for Barry Bonds.

Minutes later, a question about Mark Loretta's absence from the lineup -- he was merely being given the night off -- prompted manager Terry Francona to volunteer that he had assured the second baseman that the lineup card in no way foreshadowed a trade.

Rumors and speculation were everywhere at Fenway last night. Honest-to-goodness deals, however, were nowhere to be found.

A rundown of what the Red Sox were and were not involved with:

Coco Crisp. Publicly, the Red Sox tried to assure everyone, the center fielder included, that they weren't shopping him. But the fact remains that, according to several industry sources, the Sox did propose a Crisp-for-Mark Buehrle deal, which the Chicago White Sox rejected.

Disappointed with the play of rookie Brian Anderson, the White Sox are in the market for a replacement. What's more, the White Sox are willing to deal pitching. They're not, however, willing to trade Buehrle, even though it's the worst-kept secret in the game that Buehrle will sign with his hometown St. Louis Cardinals when he reaches free agency after the 2007 season.

The White Sox have talked about moving Freddy Garcia, but don't want to trade Buehrle, who has averaged more than 16 wins and more than 230 innings over the last five seasons.

Roger Clemens. Clemens, of course, is the name that won't go away. Friends of the Rocket insist he's sorry that he chose the Astros over the Red Sox.

After finally getting some run support yesterday, the bullpen blew Clemens' lead, leaving him with a 2-4 record. The Astros, meanwhile, are seven games under .500 and six games out of the wild-card race.

Clemens would love to be dealt to the Red Sox, but doesn't want to antagonize his hometown by asking for a trade. Similarly, owner Drayon McLane, having won the furious bidding war for Clemens two months ago, doesn't want to alienate Astros fans by dealing Clemens.

If Clemens could make a trade seem like the Astros' idea, he'd be all for it. And if the Astros got cover from Clemens and could say that a deal was made at Clemens' request, they'd make it.

But since neither side is going to accommodate the other, Clemens is stuck.

San Diego Padres. Talk of a Mike Lowell-for-Jake Peavy deal was shot down last week, but the two teams continue to scout one another. Ted Simmons, a special assistant to GM Kevin Towers, was at Fenway yesterday, watching the Sox. It's no secret that the Sox value reliever Scott Linebrink, while the Padres continue to hunt for a third baseman, of which the Sox have two: Lowell and Kevin Youkilis.

Lowell, who is due another $9 million next season, is too expensive for the Padres, but Youkilis isn't. But if the Sox dealt Youkilis, who would play first base the rest of the way?

Julio Lugo. The Sox had talked about a trade for Lugo last December to replace Edgar Renteria, but when that fell apart, the Sox reversed field and shipped Renteria to Atlanta for Andy Marte, whom they later dealt for Crisp while signing Alex Gonzalez to play short.

Lugo is a free agent this winter and will once more attract the Sox interest. They've talked to Tampa about him this month, with an eye toward the bigger picture. If the Sox dealt Loretta -- the Cardinals had interest before they obtained Ronnie Belliard from Cleveland yesterday -- they could install Lugo at second for the rest of the year, then attempt to re-sign him as their shortstop this winter.

Left-handed relievers. Philadelphia has two it would move -- Arthur Rhodes and former Sox pitcher Rheal Cormier -- but the Red Sox' interest in either is minimal.

Bobby Abreu. Before Abreu (and teammate Cory Lidle) landed with the Yankees, the Sox mostly were playing defense, attempting to keep him from their archrivals, or at the very least, drive up the price.

``He's an impact player,'' said Francona, who managed Abreu for three seasons in Philadlephia. ``My hope is he stinks. My concern is he goes (to New York) and might become one of the best players in baseball because he has that ability.''

When Nixon left in the third inning due to an upper arm strain, the Red Sox may have wishing that they had pursued Abreu more aggressively.

smcadam@projo.com / (401) 277-7340