Rumors

The St. Louis Cardinals are having internal discussions about trading pitcher Rich Hill to the Philadelphia Phillies for Roy Halladay, according to sportswriter extraordinaire, Evan Bruschini .

High-ranking members of the Cardinals’ front office told Bruschini that the team is putting together an offer centering around lefty Hill and right-handed Halladay, but are first making sure that such a deal would truly improve the team.

News broke on Sunday that the Phillies organization has discussed the idea of trying to use slugger Ryan Howard to pry Albert Pujols from the Cardinals.

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro flatly denied the rumors, saying, "I don't know who you're talking to, but that's a lie."

Amaro may be denying it, but the idea makes a lot more sense than you would think.

What I’m Reading

• Just imagine a Mauer-less Twinky-Town. Through means of a trade, no less. My head hurts already.

• So Jose Reyes’ thyroid is due to keep him out anywhere from two weeks to two months. Great diagnosis, Doc.

What I’m Reading

• Uh-oh. Looks like “Broken” Brandon Webb might be starting the year on the DL. Yes, even after spending the past year on the DL.

• And how about Joe Nathan? Might be too early to tell, but this isn’t a good sign for the hopeful Twins.

What would it take to pry Albert Pujols away from the St. Louis Cardinals?

Cardinals fans, put away your pitchforks and disband the angry mob. I am not in any way suggesting that Pujols, could, would, or should be traded. Such a deal would be monumentally stupid for St. Louis; in addition to being the team's best player since Stan Musial, Pujols is a fan favorite and a hometown hero.

But if the circumstances suddenly shifted? What if Pujols went on a Milton Bradley-esque rant about his hatred for the city of St.

What I’m Reading

• The Braves’ 20-year old monster prospect Jason Heyward is already turning heads in camp . The feeling around Kissimmee is that he’ll continue this trend all the way into the regular season. The major league regular season.

Music and baseball go together like Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan.

The nature of the game (frequent breaks in the action) means the fans have to be kept happy somehow; playing background music is a great way to increase fans' patience.

But it goes deeper than that.

With school closed for the holidays and family outings hampered by obstructive mounds of snow, winter break is the perfect time to break out some board games.

From the classic chess and backgammon to newfangled Blokus and Scene It?, board games are great was for families to spend time together without having to resort to meaningful conversation.

Ironically, this time of year isn't a break for the people who play baseball, a professional game.

Some teams are trying to better themselves before the 2010 season, while others are trying to deal with the expensive mistakes they made last season.

ESPN.com's Jayson Stark is reporting (hat tip to MLB Trade Rumors) that, at the winter meetings earlier this month, the New York Mets were involved in a four-team trade proposal with the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Angels.

Had the deal of went through, here is how things would have panned out:

There’s a reason why Derek Jeter is still in pinstripes.

Sure, he’s good, but the Yankees could do better. Alex Rodriguez could be moved back to shortstop. The Yankees could have signed Chone Figgins to man third base, for example, or pushed Mark Teixeira back to the hot corner.

It’s the same reason why the Mariners used a roster spot on an aged Ken Griffey, Jr. last year, and why the Rangers parted with a solid prospect in exchange for 28 games of wrinkled Ivan Rodriguez.

It’s called nostalgia.