Rumors

There are many different reasons for why teams trade their popular players.

Sometimes it’s as simple as having too many good options for too few spots on the team, as was the case when the Phillies traded Jim Thome to make way for Ryan Howard in 2005.

Baseball's hot stove has been on full blast putting Milton Bradley trade rumors into motion.

Late Tuesday rumors of a "mystery" suitor came to light that could join the favorite Tampa Bay Rays, this according to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat and Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. So far, we know the Royals, Rangers, Blue Jays, and Mariners have pretty much ruled themselves out of the race.

So far this offseason, no team has been the subject of more attention than the Boston Red Sox.

Will they re-sign Bay or go after Holliday? Was signing Scutaro inevitable or should Dustin Pedroia have been pushed to shortstop? Will Adrian Gonzalez, Miguel Cabrera, or Roy Halladay be playing at Fenway on Opening Day 2010?

These questions have been posed and answered by countless analysts, writers, and idiots with keyboards since the Red Sox’s season ended two months ago.

There are some things in life we know to be true.

The sun rises in the East. Politicians are crooks. Family Guy will never be funnier than The Simpsons was at its peak.

And the Boston Red Sox will sign Marco Scutaro.

With Alex Gonzalez headed for Toronto and J.J. Hardy already traded, we’re told that Scutaro, by far the best shortstop in this year’s free agent class, is as good as signed.

Clay Buchholz is the pride and joy of the Boston Red Sox’s farm system.

With a minor league record of 31-14 with a 2.42 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP, and a 4.05 K/BB ratio, it was clear that Buchholz was destined for glory even before he hurled a no-hitter in his second career Major League start.

The Red Sox think very highly of him—so highly, in fact, that GM Theo Epstein lost out on chances to acquire Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, and Adrian Gonzalez because of his unwillingness to part with Buchholz.

The Cleveland Indians have begun talks with the Chicago Cubs about reacquiring Milton Bradley, according to Haul Poynes of the Dain Plealer.

The Indians were forced to deal Bradley before the 2004 season after a publicized altercation with then-manager and notable clubhouse cancer, Eric Wedge.

I read a rumor last night that inspired me.

It set my mind in motion, and I came up with an idea so easy and exciting that I had trouble falling asleep.

Everyone knows that Omar Vizquel is one of the greatest defensive shortstops in the history of Major League Baseball.

We all know the story of the 1951 New York Giants.

They mounted a historical comeback on the Brooklyn Dodgers and finally won the pennant on the final day of the season behind Bobby Thompson’s “Shot Heard ‘Round the World.”

But, as it would be discovered later on, they did it with the help of a camera mounted in centerfield.

Now let’s flash forward to 2007.

Any Cleveland fan with a decent short-term memory knows that, for the past several seasons, the Tribe has experienced consistent inconsistency at third base.

Since Travis Fryman hung up his cap, the Indians have had a revolving door at the hot corner. The Indians have had four different Opening Day third basemen in the last seven seasons, none of them for more than two years in a row.

According to a recent article on MLBTradeRumors.com (seen here), the Red Sox had offered six of their best young pitchers (Justin Masterson, Felix Doubront, Nick Hagadone, Clay Buchholz, Daniel Bard, and Michael Bowden) to the Toronto Blue Jays for their ace, Roy Halladay, before the trade deadline of July 31.

This deal seems incredibly un-Theo Epstein-like. Since arriving in Boston in 2003, Epstein has repeatedly preached prospect development.