Winter Meetings: Open Rumor Thread

... but ascribed the eventual cause differently.

He has ready access to plenty of Mickey in Anaheim.

I'd imagine we'd only trade Swisher if we were trading Haren/Blanton and got several good OF in return, thus pushing Swisher (or Buck) out of the mix.

of prospects?

but who knows.

be volatile, and talented.

this point and time would be.  He seems to be the odd man out.

to ask for, and I think Cleveland is giving up a lot for Jason Bay.  I don't like him that much, plus you have the NL/AL switch struggle year.

4:25, from Keith Law • The Rays have traded Elijah Dukes to the Nationals for a player to be named.

3:09 p.m., from Steve Phillips
• There are rumblings that the Pirates could trade left fielder Jason Bay to the Indians for catcher Kelly Shoppach and left-hander Cliff Lee.

didn't make it in Baseball, he could just wear his stunna glasses at night.

If it's a rumor, who's the source?

I would seriously consider trading Blanton for Jones straight up.  And if "Marrow" means Brandon Morrow, those are some pretty good throw-ins (though I'm not sure what we'd do with Clement besides flip him to someone else).

The problem with trading with Baltimore is that Angelos -- yes, I'm blaming the owner in this case, not whatever poor guy has to be his GM -- grossly overrates proven veterans and grossly underrates unproven prospects.  That's why it's a fool's game to try to get Bedard or Tejada out of the O's.

If we're going to trade with the Orioles, we should forget about those guys and concentrate on trying to unload Kotsay on them.

Jeff says he'd be interested in trading the Jones-Morrow-Clement package for Haren (but not for Santana or Bedard).

Anyone else on board for this?  I think it's a win-win.  I really really want Adam Jones. He's a stud and he's a perfect fit for our team's needs.

Shit. If Bavasi is really offering that for Bedard, let's call up Flanagan and tell him to pull the trigger then flip the whole package to us. That way he gets Haren for Bedard. He's gotta like that, right? Heck, I'll throw in Kotsay, too.

look like a potential bargain - I thought the A's might take a shot at Wolf as the "guy who could make Blanton tradeable and still try to contend in 2008," but I guess Wolf's name wasn't enough to intrigue Lew & Co.

Urban wants us to go after Alberto Gonzalez, because we need another no-hit, good fielding short stop, since Bobby Crosby, Donnie Murphy and Gregorio Petit arn't enough, right? Gonzalez's line @ AAA was .247/.300/.362/.662...

But if we're looking @ the Yankees, a report earlier said we'd ask for Hughes & Champerlan, so I doubt the Yankees will like that if they can't get Santana for a cheaper price.

I never thought to include Chris Young as a potential target in my last diary. At first glance he shouldn't be available but Upton can play CF, in fact Arizona might prefer to have him in CF because of his offensive potential. They have other options for RF.

Blanton for Young sounds like the beginnings of a solid package. I'd still want to see a SP in the mix, maybe Scherzer would be available in this discussion.

You're probably just on the verge of being sick.

Kemp was reportedly the centerpiece around a [i]Miguel Cabrera[/i] package, and Kershaw has been reportedly off limits in all negotiations so far.

We could maybe get Kemp and LaRoche in a deal for Haren, and maybe LaRoche and Hu in a deal for Blanton, but any more than 2 of those four would almost certainly never happen, and Kershaw just isn't happening, period. I don't think the Dodgers even made him available for Santana.

the frontrunners. So I have to say that I am not surprised.

Not sure how it will affect what is offered for Haren/Blanton.

It could either set the bar, or potentially force teams hands if they feel they have to acquire one of them and give in.

there will be extreme pressure on the Yankees to respond.

But that sounds like bs. The Yankees package already offered is way better than that; I think the Twins are just talking that up to get some leverage.