The PawSox’ Brandon Moss was almost the last to hear that he had been traded as part of the Manny Ramirez deal.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

PAWTUCKET — Brandon Moss was one of the last players on the Pawtucket Red Sox to find out that he had been traded yesterday. Even his wife knew about it before he did.

Moss was dealt to Pittsburgh, part of a six-player, three-team trade highlighted by Manny Ramirez’s going to the Dodgers and Jason Bay’s coming to Boston. It is an emotional day for a player any time he’s traded, but it was even more so for Moss because of the way it happened.

Moss was not into the deadline watch. He did not expect to be involved in it.

“I had no clue. I honestly didn’t think I was going to be traded,” the 24-year-old outfielder said. “It was weird. It was five o’clock (about 4:50 actually, 50 minutes after the trade deadline when he found out about it).”

Moss had finished his batting practice and was in the outfield shagging flies when manager Ron Johnson called him in. By that time, a number of his teammates already knew about the deal.

David Pauley, George Kottaras, Edgar Martinez and Michael Bowden were watching the big TV in the PawSox clubhouse. It was on at 4 p.m., when the trade deadline passed, and it stayed on. Reports started filtering in about a half-hour after the deadline that a trade had been made, after all. Minutes later, it was reported that Moss was part of it.

Kottaras came out, saw Dan Hoard, one of the team’s broadcasters, and told him about the reports. Moss was still in the outfield. It seemed strange.

While that was happening, manager Ron Johnson was on the phone. He had been told my Mike Hazen, Boston’s director of player development, to take his cell phone on the field with him. When it rang, Johnson went into the dugout. When he emerged, he pointed to Moss and asked him to come in.

The other Pawtucket players saw what was happening. They knew immediately that it involved a trade. Some of the players applauded Moss and yelled, “Way to go Mossy,” as he headed in.

Moss followed Johnson into the manager’s office, where he spoke by phone with Boston general manager Theo Epstein. When he came out, he grabbed his own cell, said, “Oh wow,” as he saw a rapidly growing number of messages, then went back into the dugout to call his wife, Allison.

“She already knew,” Moss said later. “I don’t know how all these people knew, but I guess news travels fast.”

“I’m excited. I don’t know where I’m going (to Pittsburgh or Indianapolis, the Pirates’ Triple-A team),” he said. “It’s definitely a good opportunity. I’m just going to try to do the best I can and treat it the same way I would here.”

The situation was similar to last season when David Murphy was dealt to Texas at the deadline along with Kason Gabbard for Eric Gagne.

“The only difference is that we were in Columbus and it was before batting practice,” Johnson said.

Moss hopes to take advantage of the trade the same way Murphy did.

“Except he kind of had an inkling he was going to be traded,” Moss said. “He talked to this agent the night before and got a he kind of got an idea he might be traded.”

Murphy got a chance to play in the big leagues because of the deal.

“He’s produced. That’s what I hope to do, the same exact thing,” said Moss, who is rated ahead of Murphy at this same stage by many scouts.

As he digested the news, Moss became more and more upbeat.

“It’s great news,” he said. “Obviously, I love this organization. It’s the only one I’ve known. I’ve basically grown up in it. I’ve been here for six years, since I was 18 years old. But at the same time, I see how it is up there (in the big leagues). Maybe it’s an opportunity to get a little more time than I would have here. I think it all worked out.”

“We’ll be rooting for him because he’ll be in the National League,” Johnson said.

pkenyon@projo.com