Gather the wood. . .time to fire up the Stove!!

[Guest abogdan]

I don't get that Dodgers/A's deal at all, unless they were really that desparate to get rid of Bradley. WFAN was reporting it incorrectly all day yesterday, as Bradley for Perez/prospect, they probably couldn't believe it either.

The biggest surprise is how much money the A's are taking on this offseason. $7 million for Loaiza, at least $5 million for Bradley in arbitration, and rumored to be going after one of Piazza/Thomas.

[smg58]

The latest report says they're signing Thomas. Apparently the league as a whole is doing very well right now, which makes what Loria has done with the Marlins that much harder to defend.

[Guest GYC]

If you don't want to read RUMORS with unnamed sources, don't read the following:

]11:08 AM EST- Buzz: Mets, Marlins, Rays 3-Way for RHP Baez posted by Matthew Cerrone �our buddy, jake, at draysbay.com, an excellent tampa bay devil rays blog, e-mailed to tell me that a rumor has been floating around on the local tampa sports radio station about a deal in the works between the mets, rays and marlins in which the mets would land RHP Danys Baez, the rays would get LHP Scott Olsen and SS Kaz Matsui, and the marlins would get OF Joey Gathright, among other swaps� �how awkward would it be if the mets were to send RHP Victor Zambrano back to tampa bay� �the thing is, something seems off with this deal�it doesn�t shake out right� �either way, from what i can gather, there is definitely a new buzz coming from shea about baez�the mets want him badly�it sounds like the team is concerned about LHP Billy Wagner�s durability�so, the thinking seems to be, that having baez and RHP Aaron Heilman, together, as set-up men would help ease the load on wagner� �now, if the mets can some how get matsui to tampa bay, even with a suit-case full of money, i�d be impressed�and if baez comes in return, with heilman staying, i�d be even more impressed� Subsequently, in the St. Petersberg Times, Marc Topkin writes that �the Devil Rays have held advanced talks with the Marlins, Dodgers and an unidentified team and could be on the verge of a trade,� for Gathright� No place in Topkin�s report does he mention the Mets, however�.

http://www.metsblog.com/blog/_archives/2005/12/14/1449426.html

[Vic Sage]

i wouldn't mind having Baez, and I certainly wouldn't miss Matsui, but its just absurd to think such a 1-sided deal could ever happen.

[Elster88]

I think I'll put out a press release:

An unnamed CPF insider stated that it was "absurd" to believe that a one sided trade such as the proposed three way deal between the Mets, Marlins, and Devil Rays would happen.

Which is more believable? This or the article two posts above? Common sense tends to trump unnamed sources.

[Valadius]

Bill Mueller has signed with the Dodgers.

[Guest abogdan]

Kaz Matsui for Danys Baez? That's a WATP if I've ever heard one.

[Valadius]

Danny Graves has signed with Cleveland, as has Steve Karsay.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Murray Chass throws a high hard one:

]Keep It Real If Manny Ramirez indeed has changed his mind about wanting to be traded by the Red Sox, he will pull the plug on a journalistic cottage industry that has mushroomed the past couple of months, with its operators breathlessly playing general manager and relentlessly creating multiple-team trades that have strayed far beyond the imaginations of actual general managers. That's probably why general managers are general managers, and reporters are reporters.

[Guest Mark Healey]

Johnny Dickshot wrote: Murray Chass throws a high hard one: ]Keep It Real If Manny Ramirez indeed has changed his mind about wanting to be traded by the Red Sox, he will pull the plug on a journalistic cottage industry that has mushroomed the past couple of months, with its operators breathlessly playing general manager and relentlessly creating multiple-team trades that have strayed far beyond the imaginations of actual general managers. That's probably why general managers are general managers, and reporters are reporters.

Murray is apparently still sorer about that line drive I hit off his knee in the NY Press League a couple of summers ago...

:-)