As the rumors heat up about possible Dontrelle Willis trades, Buster Olney had an informative blog post today. Here’s an excerpt of Olney quoting a team exec:
"When they traded Beckett, they basically contacted every team and then took offers. They haven’t said anything about those guys being available, and it would make sense that if they wanted to move them, they would tell everybody, because there would be a lot of interest."
I find it interesting that every team was given the opportunity to make an offer for Beckett. I wonder how common this practice is? Olney finishes by saying:
"Though neither Willis nor Cabrera is believed to be on the market now, the executives also have little doubt that both will be elsewhere before Opening Day next season."
It seems that the several GMs Ken Rosenthal spoke to are not any of the same people Olney spoke to. You’ll recall that Rosenthal’s sources said it’s "practically a given that the Marlins will trade Willis before July 31st."
I’ll side with Olney – I think Willis stays put this summer.
Who’s the favorite in the Willis derby, whether it’s this summer or this winter? I lean towards the Red Sox, but the Yankees need him even more. The Sox definitely have more young talent to offer, however. A couple of dark horses are the two Texas teams. But really, there are probably 15 teams that could be in the running.
