SPORTSCRACK

HOT STOVE TALK
So how about that big Johan Santana trade? Oh yeah, it never happened. But don't get discouraged Red Sox and Yankees fans, I'm sure Bud Selig is working some back door plan in which you give up a couple of A level prospects for the game's best pitcher. It always seems to work out just fine for those teams and not the Twins. Actually from what I have heard from numerous sources is the Twins want two of these three in Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester, and Clay Buchholz. The Red Sox and GM Theo Epstein are not budging and are willing to only give up one of those guys plus some other bits and pieces. The Red Sox are in an ideal position given they have a lot young premiere talent coming up through their system and already have a major league roster full of World Series winning depth. They don't have to make the trade for Santana but you know who would love to make the deal: the Yankees.

The Twins want at least two of the three of Ian Kennedy, Joba Chamberlain,
and Phil Hughes from the Yankees. The Yankees and Hank Steinbrenner have made it clear they are not trading Chamberlain. I know Joba was lights out last season but I think he is a flash in the pan. With Santana you know what you are getting and it just happens to be the best lefty in the game. I think if you are the Yankees you have to make this trade. There are no guarantees with prospects and as good as Chamberlain and Hughes could become in the future there is also a good chance they could flame out and have arm problems. Getting a guy like Santana makes them contenders with the Red Sox today. And if it takes a throw in like CF Melky Cabrera to get it done then I think they should do it.

The Orioles have already unloaded Miguel Tejada to the Astros for 5 players headlined by OF Luke Scott and SP Troy Patton. In my opinion it was an excellent trade for both teams. The Astros get an All-Star Shortstop who is just as good as Derek Jeter in my opinion if not better. Putting him in a lineup with Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee should be instant offense. Of course there are the steroid/B-12 issues but Tejada can still play the game when he is healthy.

The O's needed to unload Tejada in order to revamp a poorly run franchise which has been run into the ground by owner and douchebag extraordinaire Peter Angelos. Angelos has apparently waken up and realized the O's needed to be run by someone with some competence and without interference from himself. Enter Andy MacPhail. MacPhail started by taking the best player in the draft this past season in Georgia Tech catcher Matt Wieters. Wieters is a Scott Boras client and was deemed a hard signing for whomever drafted him. MacPhail knew he had to get him signed and more importantly knew the Baltimore faithful would lose all trust in him to get the ship turned around if he didn't. Fortunately for myself and many other Oriole fans they got a deal done at the last second. Let's just say if they didn't get him signed I would have been the first person to put flaming dog pooh in front of Angelos and MacPhail's house. I'm serious by the way. MacPhail next mission is to trade #1 ace Erik Bedard and All-Star secondbaseman Brian Roberts.

Bedard is a rare jewel in terms of trade bait. Unlike Santana, Bedard is locked up for another two years before he hits free agency. He is just now entering the prime of his career and is a top 5 starting pitcher in the game. Oh yeah, he is also a lefty who averages more than a strikeout per inning. You put Bedard on a playoff contending team and it will all of a sudden make them a serious World Series contender in my opinion.

Here are some of the rumors and/or near deals for Bedard so far:

LA Dodgers trade Matt Kemp, Jonathan Broxton, and another high end minor league player possibly two of them amongst Andy LaRoche, Clayton Kershaw, Andre Ethier, and Tony Abreau among others. Unfortunately for myself the Dodgers recently signed Japanese import Hiroki Kuroda to a silly contract in tune of 3 years at 35 million. I was hoping the O's would be able to poach Kemp and Kershaw from the Dodgers because I think both are going to be big stars and would fill seats for years to come in Camden Yards. So in other words I want to give a giant FU to Dodgers GM Ned Colletti for making it not happen. You could have made this Oriole fan sleep better at night. Instead now I must constantly drink and play with myself till I run out of the energy to think of ways to improve the O's, but that is neither here or there.

The Seattle Mariners have entered discussions supposedly offering some combination of Adam Jones, Jeff Clement, Wladimir Balentien, Brandon Morrow, and George Sherrill. Jones has future star written all over him and I believe Clement could be a really good catcher but is currently blocked by Kenji Johjima at the big league level. But of course the O's already have a good catcher in Ramon Hernandez who will be keeping the seat warm till Wieters is ready which could be as soon as September. Unless somehow the O's flipped Clement there really is no reason to make this trade with the Mariners. The O's need a shortstop to fill Tejada's spot and Luis Hernandez doesn't fit the suit in terms of hitting. Don't get me wrong though, if the Mariners offer up all those guys I would be willing to do the trade and through in a relief pitcher along with Bedard to make sure they are happy. But I don't see it happening especially if the M's sign Carlos Silva to the reported 4 year/44 million dollar deal in discussion. The Mariners are idiots if they give Silva that contract and decide to pass on a Bedard.

So that leaves the Cincinnati Reds who have made it known that OF Jay Bruce is off limits. Bruce is the #1 ranked minor leaguer and has star written all over him. I would love to see Bruce in the same outfield as current star Nick Markakis. In fact I would love it so much that I would be willing to trade Bedard straight up for Bruce. I know the O's would want more but there is no reason to get greedy. Bruce is the real deal. The Reds are trying to dump Homer Bailey, Joey Votto, and another lesser known minor leaguer for Bedard. I like Votto and think he could be a good everyday player at 1b but I'm starting to think Bailey is garbage. The Reds want to unload him and that tells me he isn't what everyone thinks he is which is a potential ace in the making. If the Reds want to offer up Bailey, Votto, and say Josh Hamilton I might do the deal. Hamilton is a wild card and we all know how prevalent heroin is around Baltimore. Yes it could be tempting. Just cough up Bruce and I'm good.

Other silent suitors for Bedard include the Braves(I don't want to hear it Braves fans, Glavine is shit!), Red Sox, Yankees, White Sox, and Angels. If the Red Sox want to offer up Ellsbury and Buchholz I would personally blow Epstein and make sure he was satisfied till no end. But that or a potential Yankees trade will never happen because they are in the AL East.