Tuesday, July 29, 2008

48 Hours Left

With the trade deadline looming, there are several players available for trade who looked a lot more likely to be moved a week ago than they do today. Lets take a look:
-The Rockies are 6 games back in the weak NL west and have been playing great since the All-Star break. It seemed like they were prepared to let Brian Fuentes and Matt Holliday go in favor of acquiring a few prospects for the future. GM Dan O'Dowd said in the last couple days that it was "unlikely" that Fuentes would go.
-While Manny Ramirez and the Red Sox would be mutually happy to cut ties, it will not be an easy deal to pull off so quickly. He is a very expensive player to move and does not appear to have many suitors. The Dodgers and Mets have shown interest, so far.
-Jarrod Washburn going to the Yankees no longer looks imminent. While the Yankees were willing to take on his $14 million salary if they could throw Kei Igawa in the deal, the Mariners insisted that the Yanks include a prospect. That may be more that the Yankes are willing to pay.
-O's closer George Sherrill may also stay where he is due to an exhorbitant asking price. It was reported that the Cards were interested but they have just decided to put Jason Isringhausen back in the closer role, indicating a cooling of their interest.
-Mets manager Jerry Manuel announced yesterday that Fernando Tatis is his new starting left fielder, signaling the Mariners that they have backed off in their interest in Raul Ibanez.
-Blue Jays AJ Burnett also appears less likely to be traded than he was a week ago because GM Ricciardi says so but also maybe because he has an opt-out clause and a no-trade clause for 15 teams in his contract and no one wants to deal with that.

Forty-eight hours is an eternity going into the trade deadline and anything could still happen. It's not always easy to see through all the smoke being blown by all the GMs.

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