I’ve been to Nashville. Nice town. I hope the GMs currently meeting there** are enjoying the various honky tonks and watering holes. But in between all the fun live music and delightfully fried foods, I hope they are talking serious, blockbuster trades. I am so over the A-Rod thing. The free agent crop this year is just not where the action is. Plus, there are a couple of other interesting tidbits floating around the GM Meetings:

1. This year, the 30 general managers decided to try something so obvious they couldn’t believe they didn’t think of it sooner. At the behest of Red Sox GM Theo Epstein and Marlins President Larry Beinfest, all 30 GMs got together for an informal meeting at which each GM explained, in two minutes or less, what his acquisition goals were and what kind of deals he was willing to entertain. Under the old system, scouts and other emissaries would be dispatched by one club to sound out the other 29 clubs in turn, like royal pages in some 17th century court. And like some 17th century royal court, rumors and gossip abounded while real information was scarce.

2. In another great leap forward, GMs have voted 25-5 for umpires to use instant replay to determine debatable fair-or-foul judgments and home run calls. As has been widely reported, it would work more like the NHL’s system, where a neutral third party reviews the play in a booth upstairs, than the NFL’s system of formal challenges that then get reviewed by the referees themselves. In the past, Commissioner Bud Selig has said he doesn’t like using instant replay in part “because of all the delays.” He’s even talked about speeding up the games by limiting the number of times the batter can step out of the batters’ box and cutting down on catcher’s trips to the mound. That is bad news for fans, who might have been hoping Quixotically for shorter commercial breaks instead.

3 . Here’s some fun trade speculation—the Rangers are looking for a centerfielder (again) to fill in for the two-to-three years it will take their best outfield prospects to mature. One option they’ve discussed is Coco Crisp. The Boston Globe reports that the Red Sox expressed interest in one of the Rangers’ catchers, either Gerald Laird or (ha ha) Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Laird-for-Coco wouldn’t be a good move for Boston. Laird hit in the low .200s with 9 homers in 120 games last season. It should be noted, however, that Laird led the league in throwing out would-be base-stealers; if he can catch a knuckler, the Sox might be interested in him to catch Tim Wakefield (though they tried this experiment before, and ended up paying an extremely high price to bring back Doug Mirabelli when it faltered). I think Salty-for-Coco is just wishful thinking on the part of the Globe, unless the Red Sox were willing to throw some cash or some prospects (or both) at Texas. After all, he’s a burly, young, switch-hitting catcher (not unlike Jason Varitek 12 years ago) and those don’t come cheap (unless the other GM is an idiot and you’re offering the great Heathcliff Slocumb). What would the Red Sox do with Salty? He’s not known for his defensive prowess behind the plate, which is an issue because the back-up catcher in Beantown pretty much has to catch Wake’s flutterball. It’s possible that the Red Sox are looking ahead to the days when Varitek becomes their bench coach (oh please, let it come to pass!) but right now, Saltalamacchia doesn’t fit any needs the Red Sox have….OR DOES HE? One of the rumors going around is that if the Red Sox can’t re-sign Mike Lowell, they’ll move Gold Glove-winning first baseman Kevin Youkilis to third (his former position) and get themselves a new first baseman. And Saltalamacchia has some experience at first. And before you go jumping on me that Coco is too old or too expensive to be the centerpiece of such a deal, I remind you that he’s only 28 and he only makes $4 million. Plus, he’s got great speed. The only downside here is that he’s coming off of a couple poor offensive years with the Red Sox (which, in turn, could actually make him cheaper to sign for the Rangers, if they’re willing to take a chance on him returning to his respectable career average of .280).

4. The Yankees are talking trades as well, and also looking to move one of their outfielders. They’ve talked about shopping Johnny Damon, though that is looking unlikely at this moment, and there have been murmurs about moving Hideki Matsui, though he has a no-trade clause and could be hard to unload. And, as far as I can tell, no possible takers for either of those has been mentioned. One problem for the Yanks seems to be that they’ve got too many DH-types—including a ravaged-by-years-of-steroid-use Jason Giambi, whose “skills” at first base we last saw harming his team in the playoffs.

5. At the new “straight from the horse’s mouth” GM roundtable discussed above, Indians GM Mark Shapiro said he wasn’t shopping anyone, but no one was off-limits if the right offer came along. He’s said to be preparing a contract extension for C.C. Sabathia. But given what C.C. is likely to cost, he might be tempted to move the Cy Young favorite now and just rake in his winnings. Who would possible takers be? Why, pretty much every team out there with something—-anything—to offer. I can’t think of a GM who wouldn’t empty his cupboard and open his wallet at the chance to get Sabathia.

**I am an ass. The GM meetings are being held in Orlando, where I have also been and where, unless you are seven years old and meeting Mickey Mouse in his dressing room, it sort of sucks. The Winter Meetings (held in December) are in Nashville. Thanks to reader Melissa for pointing this out.

Numerous sources are reporting that the Red Sox are in serious discussions to trade for Rockies’ firstbaseman Todd Helton.  Most versions have Helton headed to Fenway in exchange for Mike Lowell, Julian Tavarez, and a pair of prospects.  The prospects are still being wrangled over, but according to ESPN’s version, the Rockies are demanding relievers Craig Hansen and Manny Delcarmen, with the Red Sox holding out for a better deal in which they won’t give up as much.

My first reaction was that this would be a great deal for the Red Sox. Lowell and Tavares would not be missed much, and even if the Sox had to give up Hansen and Delcarmen, they would be giving up two pitchers who have yet to show much at the major league level, if they ever will, and they would be getting one of the best-hitting first baseman around.

Although Helton is due to earn $16.6 million this year and almost $90 million total for the remaining six years on his contract, the Red Sox have clearly demonstrated this offseason that money is no object for them, and besides, the Rockies are proposing to pick up nearly half of the remaining tab.

But then I had a look at Helton’s actual numbers in recent years, instead just going off his reputation.

Helton has clearly been in decline over the last several seasons.  From his best year in 2000 when he batted .372, smashed 42 homers, and OPS’d 1.161, he has fallen to .302, 15 homers, and an .880 OPS.  Now those certainly aren’t horrible numbers, but is that really that much better than what Mike Lowell would provide?

Plus there is always the issue of Coors Field.  While it is true that hitters have historically not had as big falloffs when they leave Coors as pitchers do when they come to Coors, like all Rockies players Helton’s home-road splits are ridiculous: last season he batted .338 and had a .445 OPB in Denver, compared to only .266 and .360 on the road. While it is true that Fenway is generally a hitter’s park, it is a much better hitter’s park for righthanded hitters, as opposed to lefties like Helton, and which split is Helton more likely to approximate at sea level? 

What is clear is that this would be a great trade for the Rockies.  Even if they had to pick up a significant share of Helton’s salary for the next six years, they would still be clearing tens of millions of dollars from their payroll.  Plus they would be picking up a small motorboat-load of useful players, without making their lineup significantly worse.  After all, Lowell’s numbers can be expected to increase at Coors.

So I was driving home last night, through the rain, from my Aunt’s house in the Baltimore suburbs to my parents’ house in the Philadelphia suburbs, listening to Arizona Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin give an interview on sattelite radio.

Melvin was all, “We’ve got a lot of young, exciting players. I think the next few years are going to be really exciting, with a lot of young guys coming up.” Etc, etc.

Then a news report comes on. The Diamondbacks are trying to trade a package of three players (two of whom are believed to be prospects) for Randy Johnson.

Now, if you’re a young team, the quickest way to get old fast is to trade for Randy Johnson. He’s the oldest player in the world. Okay, technically Julio Franco is the oldest player in the world. But Franco is a kid in a 50 year-old’s body. Johnson has been an old man in a kid’s body since the day he joined the league. Except now he’s an old man in a decaying 43 year-old body.

I just can’t imagine wanting Randy Johnson on my team right now. Sure, he’s going to win his 300th game this year. And that will be special. And it would be great if he could do it in Arizona, a team where he spent some of his best seasons.

But Johnson will cost a lot of money. He’s due $16 million this season, and the Yankees reportedly don’t want to pay any of it. Plus, there’s no reason to think that Johnson will be any better this year than he was last year. And he wasn’t very good last year.

The best part of the Johnson to Arizona rumor is this tidbit from the ESPN.com report:

In need of starting pitching — and a marquee name that will draw more fans — the Diamondbacks have offered a package of at least three players, including a major-leaguer. They would also want a 72-hour window to negotiate an extension with Johnson, who is owed $16 million in the final year of his contract.

An extension? He’s 43! He’s coming off back surgery!

Even more amazing, the Padres are reportedly also trying to land Johnson and are dangling coveted reliever Scott Linebrink (is there a trade rumor that doesn’t involve Linebrink?).

I just don’t know how you do it. I don’t know how you, as a GM, convince yourself that trading for a 43 year-old pitcher who’s coming off a mediocre season and subsequent back surgery is a good idea, especially when that pitcher makes $16 million a season. I know he was good in the past, but the past is the past. Welcome to 2007.

Now that most of the free agents have been signed, it’s time for teams with missing pieces to start making trades. All indications are that it will be a busy trade season, as many teams are still looking to add players. And it looks like three teams are getting ready to kick things off with a bang.

From the New York Times:

The Yankees are in discussions with the Atlanta Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates about a three-way deal that would send outfielder Melky Cabrera to the Braves from the Yankees, reliever Mike Gonzalez to the Yankees from the Pirates, and first baseman Adam LaRoche to the Pirates from the Braves, according to a baseball official.

What a fun trade! Three-ways are always exciting. And this one promises to make everyone happy. Everyone except Adam LaRoche, that is. Nobody wants to play for the Pirates.

Speaking of LaRoche, he is suddenly a hot commodity. How did that happen? As recently as last June, he was one of the more mediocre first basemen in memory. Then he got benched for a lazy play, which inspired him to start taking his Attention Deficit Disorder meds. The rest is history. LaRoche was LaStudly in the second half of last season. And now he’s in demand.

It’s hard to imagine the Yanks are trading away Melky. He’s young, talented and cheap. But they’re getting a good bullpen arm in return, somebody who can setup or who can fill in when the aging Mariano Rivera inevitably gets hurt.

What trades will follow this one? The Phils still need to unload John Lieber. The Dodgers are still looking to move a pitcher and a prospect in favor of a big bat. The Red Sox still could trade Manny. Stay tuned.

All right St. Louis Cardinals, you had your 15 minutes. Now move over. It’s time for baseball’s second season to start.

I’m talking about the offseason. Free agency. Trades. Teams go from pretenders to contenders in the blink of an eye. It’s all just so exciting!

Now, to kick-off the offseason, let’s take a look at a few signings and trades that just might happen (but, you know, probably won’t):

1. Alfonso Soriano signs a contract with the Angels. The Phillies, White Sox and Cubs are all rumored to be interested in Soriano. But, at the end of the day, you’ve got to think the speedy leftfielder will end up in Los Angeles, which is a big market team with money to spend and the potential to win now. The Angels need protection for Vlad Guerero in their lineup. Soriano will provide that protection.

2. Pat Burrell to the Orioles. The Phillies seem desperate to unload Burrell. Desperate even enough to eat a big part of his contract, which is exactly what it will take. The Orioles could use Burrell at DH. (NOTE: Burrell has a no-trade clause, so that could be an issue).

3. Gary Sheffield to the Phillies. The Phils send the Yankees a couple prospects (maybe the same guys they got for Bobby Abreu) and Sheffield takes Burrell’s spot in leftfield and offers Ryan Howard some protection in the Phils lineup.

4. Manny Ramirez to Cleveland. Ramirez ends his career where he started it. The Indians get a guy who can help put them over the top. The Red Sox get Andy Marte and a pitching prospect.

5. Jason Schmidt to the Mets. Everyone always talks about Barry Zito signing in New York, but Schmidt is a more dominant pitcher when he’s healthy. And he’s the type of pitcher that, because he can bring some heat, will have more playoff success.

6. A-Rod stays in New York. He’s not going anywhere, so get over it.

Just goes to show that as the trade deadline approaches, baseball’s rumor mill is churning out more half-truths than a high school bathroom. Eric Wilbur, at Boston.com, picks out one he thinks is especially nutso: Sox 3B Mike Lowell for the Padres’ struggling pitching stud Jake Peavy.

Buster Olney of ESPN.com is reporting that the Padres, after releasing Vinny Castilla earlier this week, are desperate for help at third, and have inquired the Red Sox about Lowell. That much, at least, sounds legit, as is the matter of the pitching-deficient Red Sox asking for some in return. And then, somehow, it all spirals out of control, with the Red Sox getting one of the National League’s best young pitchers in exchange for a third baseman on the other side of 30.

No word yet on where Vinny Castilla will be sitting in the cafeteria, but I hear he’s thinking of just bringing his tray up to the third floor bathroom, where he won’t have to make awkward eye contact with anyone.

Here’s a juicy rumor. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Yankees are considering sending A-Rod and Melky Cabrera to the Phillies for Bobby Abreu, Pat Burrell, David Bell and Tom Gordon.

Only one problem: A-Rod has a no trade clause and says he’s not interested in going to Philly.

“It doesn’t make any difference,” Rodriguez said of the rumor. “I would veto it.”

Like Abreu, Rodriguez has a no-trade clause in his contract that he would have to waive if he was to be moved.

Needless to say, the fantasy league-like rumor is getting lots of airtime on sports-talk radio and will be a hot topic when the Phillies play the Braves tonight at Citizens Bank Park.

Imagine, though, an infield of A-Rod at third, Rollins at short, Chase Utley at second and Ryan Howard at first.

The question is, why would the Yankees do it?

If you’re a Philly fan, obviously this is an exciting rumor. But the longer I think about it, the more I think Philly fans would absolutely eat A-Rod alive. He just doesn’t have the grit to survive in the city of brotherly love. He’s too pretty. He’s too expensive. I think fans would be excited at first, but it is a relationship that would sour quickly. And A-Rod sounds like he thinks so, too.

1. The Baltimore Sun’s Dan Connolly and Jeff Zrebiec are reporting the Baltimore Orioles have discussed sending SP Rodrigo Lopez to the Philadelphia Phillies for either OF Bobby Abreu or OF Pat Burrell. According to several industry sources, the Phillies would be willing to accept Lopez and perhaps another player, likely a mid-level prospect, if the Orioles were to pay a significant portion of one of the outstanding contracts.

Wow, it’s come to this. The Phillies are willing to practically give Burrell and Abreu away to whomever will pay their contracts. Burrell, by the way, is a guy who hit 32 homers and 117 RBIs last year and is on pace for similarly gaudy numbers this year. And Abreu, for all the crap that he takes about his defense, has a cannon arm, won a gold glove last year, and is second in the league in on-base percentage. Lopez, meanwhile, is 30 yrs. old, is 6-10 this year with a 6.44 ERA and has never won more than 15 games.

2. Nationals scouts have been keeping an eye on Mariners rookie outfielder Adam Jones, just recalled from Tacoma. Jones hit .277 with 14 homers and 55 RBI in the minors and is considered the Mariners’ center fielder of the future. The Mariners, who now find themselves inexplicably in the playoff hunt, are one of several teams interested in trading for Alfonso Soriano. And Jones could be the price they pay.

3. Jose Guillen may have just taken himself off the trade market. Guillen left Tuesday’s game against the Marlins with right elbow soreness. He made a throw in the first inning that skied toward third base. “It burned like it was on fire,” he said. He will have an MRI exam on Wednesday.

4. Fox Sports is reporting that the Yankees are interested in either Bobby Abreu or Reggie Sanders to help out their ailing outfield. But Newsday is reporting that Steinbrenner prefers Soriano.

The Washington Nationals are looking more and more like they will trade Alfonso Soriano sometime before the trade deadline. From Today’s Wapo:

Nationals scouting director Dana Brown and player personnel director Bob Boone have both seen New York Yankees Class AA affiliate Trenton over the past two weeks, an indication of the Nationals’ hope that the Yankees might eventually be willing to deal hard-throwing right-hander Philip Hughes as the July 31 trade deadline approaches. Hughes, the youngest player in the Class AA Eastern League at 20, is 4-3 with a 3.18 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 62 1/3 innings, and some Nationals executives believe he’s no worse than a No. 3 starter in the majors, “and he could be a [No.] 1,” one executive said.

Not every player can handle the stress of playing in New York, but Soriano thrived in pinstripes, hitting .290, 38 HRs and 91 RBIs in 2003, the last last of his five seasons in the big apple. Of course, this time around, Soriano would be playing the outfield instead of manning second base. And if you’re a Yankees fan who believes that defense wins championships, the idea of Soriano chasing fly balls in left probably makes you a little nervous. Then again, the Yanks won with Soriano dropping balls at second, so logic would suggest that they can win with him dropping them in left, too.

The Washington Post is reporting that the Baltimore Orioles may be interested in trading Miguel Tejada if the team doesn’t improve it’s standing in the AL East in the next few weeks (it won’t).

BALTIMORE, June 22 — Though it was reported in several Los Angeles area newspapers that the Angels could have an interest in Baltimore Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada, the two teams have not had any talks recently, according to an Orioles source. That may change, however, if the Orioles continue to slide in the standings.

The source did not deny the team would listen to offers for the superstar shortstop if Baltimore plays poorly in the weeks leading up to the July 31 trade deadline.

If the Orioles put Tejada on the trading block, there likely would be no shortage of suitors. The Angels, who have been looking for a power bat, seem like a perfect fit since they have a surplus of young talent in their minor league system. The Tigers or White Sox could also be possibilities.

Tejada, who entered Thursday’s game hitting .321 with 16 home runs, is not expected to come cheap. . . .

The Angels have got to be the scariest last place team in baseball. Can you picture them in 2007 with Tejada and Vladimir Guerero knocking in runs, Chone Figgins setting the table, Colon and Jered Weaver leading the rotation and K-Rod closing out games? They’d have some big-time names and be a real threat to make a worst-to-first run.
On the other hand, if the White Sox or Tigers end up with Tejada, they’d be pretty good RIGHT NOW.