the guy behind mlbtraderumors.com wrote me last night. he's hearing that the cards have something large in the works -- so big that "jocketty issued a memo saying that any disclosure means termination." he wanted to know: you got wind of any big signing or trade? a theory at least?
i wrote back that jock's front office never leaks unless he wants it to, and the rumor mill rarely picks up his moves in advance. that said, if jock felt compelled to reinforce his standing policy with a memo specifically threatening to fire a leaker, it would seem to indicate a pretty earth-shattering move. mlbtrade's source hadn't seen the memo personally, but was told of it by a front-office employee -- so we're chasing shadows to some extent. but it takes an object to cast a shadow, no? there might be something to this.
i would add that mlbtraderumors.com has done pretty well for itself this month. the site was the 1st to call the nady-for-cameron deal, 2 days or so before any mainstream media caught wind. it reported that wagner would sign with the mets (getting a guaranteed 4th year) a week ahead of the fact -- and before the ryan signing in toronto, which accelerated the action. it correctly called howry's signing with the cubs, again in advance of official reports. he even was the 1st to report the cardinals' pursuit of octavio dotel -- i read it there (and you read it here) two days before the post-dispatch confirmed it. so if he's received this information, there may well be some substance behind it. maybe not, but maybe.
mlbtrade asked me for theories, so i wrote:
if it's a big trade, there was one wild theory mentioned 2-3 weeks ago that i thought actually made some sense to me: edmonds to the yankees for robinson cano and chien-ming wang. i was intrigued by the idea because it would make the cards young and cheap; they could plow the savings into signing giles (replacing edmonds' production) and freeing up marquis to be dealt for another outfielder. edmonds is in his walk year, and i don't think the cards want to re-sign him after 2006; now would be the time to trade him, while his value's still high. i wrote a post about it.
the source of this rumor was bernie miklasz himself; he started his own thread about it at the pressbox with a caveat like, "this crazy idea is making the rounds, i don't put much stock in it but take it for what it's worth." this would certainly be earth-shaking enough to require utter leak-proofness in the stl front office . . . .
other ideas that might fit the "big move" description:
- they've figured out a way to get bobby abreu --- and don't ask me how, it would make my brain hurt too much
- they're getting griffey from the reds for jason marquis
- the opposite of sending edmonds to ny --- they're signing bernie williams to a one-year deal at a discount
anybody else have any ideas? if so post `em here. if i hear anything else i'll put it up; please do the same.