Jayson Stark leads his latest column for ESPN with a debate with colleague Buster Olney about realignment possibilities. He notes that his sources say there's no chance divisions are dissolved and baseball becomes two 15-team leagues. On to Stark's other rumblings…
- An NL executive who spoke with Cubs GM Jim Hendry says there's no likely scenario where Ryan Dempster is traded. Earlier today, there were indications the Yankees at least have an eye on Dempster, who has full no-trade rights and a $14MM player option for 2012.
- Padres reliever Mike Adams also is likely to stay put, as the Padres are only interested in trading impending free agents Heath Bell and Chad Qualls.
- Jose Reyes might not be Brian Sabean's type of player, says one baseball man who speaks with the Giants' GM regularly. Still, Stark's source wondered if the liberation of winning last year's World Series might compel Sabean to take more chances. Of course, the Mets are looking like potential buyers right now.
- The Braves are "aggressively positioning themselves to deal for an outfield bat as soon as they can find a team ready to open its sell-off shop for business," writes Stark, and they've already checked in on Josh Willingham and Hunter Pence. We outlined potentially available power bats earlier this month.
