Trade Deadline Musings

I never thought it would be so tough to keep up with the trade rumors being three hours behind, but here I am, currently in Spokane, Washington, trying to sort though all the noise that's centered around Washington, DC's baseball team.

That's right, the Nats are the epicenter of MLB's trade deadline.

There have been a couple of pieces already moved:  All-Star closer Matt Capps to Minnesota and most-tenured Nat Cristian Guzman to Texas.  But the big domino yet to fall is the biggest bat floating on the trade market, that of 1B Adam Dunn.

Dunn's name has been mentioned in connection with a half-dozen teams by dozens of national writers.  If you're on twitter, every couple of minutes a new update from Buster Olney, or Jon Heyman, or practically anyone says "Dunn to White Sox" or "Dunn out with White Sox" or "Mystery team possible for Dunn."

Etc., etc., etc.

The most prominent rumor involved Dunn to the White Sox and Arizona's Edwin Jackson coming back to the Nats.  That was squashed (?) yesterday when Jackson ended up with the White Sox and the Nats purportedly then losing interest in the rhight-hander.  According to twitter reports, Chicago GM Kenny Williams was none too happy with his counterpart in D.C. as the interest for bouncing Jackson was lost.

A deal isn't a deal until it's a deal, Kenny.

For now, Dunn prepares himself to toinght's game with the Phillies.  But will he play in it?

Tampa Bay is supposedly hot on Dunn, and they have plenty of Major League ready talent, especially starting pitchers.  Matt Garza, Wade Davis, Jeff Niemann, and Jeremy Hellickson have all been supposedly tied to Dunn at some point this trade season.  The Rays might feel the need to make a move since the Yankees were busy yesterday, acquiring Lance Berkman from the Astros.

Other teams that have reportedly kicked the tires on Dunn include San Francisco (another team with lots of pitching), the Yankees themselves, and this morning, reports of a "mystery" team (hmm, if the Yankees and Rays are in on it, can the Red Sox be far behind?)

It's a big decision for GM Mike Rizzo, to be sure.  40-homer guys don't grow on trees.  But if Rizzo doesn't trade Dunn, it pretty much means he's gotta re-sign him, and Rizzo then needs to determine if Dunn will retain his value for the length of any contract he'd offer.  But that discussion is for another day.

For today is trade deadline, where anything is possible.