Offseason In Review

I started off with the good stuff from November, and now it’s only fair that I run through some of my missteps.

A lot of rumors that find their way onto the site come from other sources, which I’ve always been quick to credit.  With one of my early email tips, though, I didn’t give the rumor a reality check or delve deep enough to figure out its source.

I used the unfortunate headline "Cubs To Trade Todd Walker For Aaron Heilman" on November 14th.  It’s not wise to be so decisive when headlining a trade rumor, that’s for sure.  What’s more, the deal seems way lopsided knowing what we know now.  At the time, though, there was an impression that the Mets had soured on Heilman and were eager to deal him.  After a lot of flak, I figured out that this rumor originated on WFAN.  This one should’ve never made the site.

I had another post that month called "Mark Buehrle To The Cardinals," another poor headline choice.  I did begin that one by nothing that it was pure speculation, but the title implies otherwise.  For what it’s worth, I still think Buehrle will find his way to St. Louis within the next couple of years.

On November 23rd, I misquoted/misinterpreted a couple of sources and labeled the Juan Pierre to the Cubs trade as complete.  It wasn’t, and Cubs fans weren’t shy letting about reminding me until the deal actually did get done in December.  The silver lining buried in the gaffe is that I was able to get some fairly accurate info from Bruce Levine about the minor leaguers involved.

On November 29th, I busted out a Brad Wilkerson for Ronny Cedeno rumor.  It had a crazy-sounding story attached to it involving Barry Larkin’s cousin.  Although much scoffing and name-calling ensued, I still think these talks were legit.  In my opinion, it would’ve been fair value and helpful to both teams.  What’s more, a young shortstop prospect like Cedeno would’ve been a better bounty for Wilkerson than Alfonso Soriano.  Maybe one of these days I can get a hold of someone and find out if there was anything to this rumor.

Cubs fans had a pissed off vibe in general in November, as the Cubs flirted with Milton Bradley and Kevin Mench trades but ultimately signed John Mabry and a couple of relievers.

Back in November, I realized my love of the Hot Stove League was spilling over too much onto RotoAuthority.  I still wanted to talk a lot of fantasy baseball, but I crave real baseball too.  I started up MLBTradeRumors, and it quickly dwarfed RotoAuthority in popularity.  It’s been a mix of aggregating known sources plus whatever info I managed to gather.  Let’s take a look back at November at some of the highlights in my first month.  Don’t worry, I’ll discuss the worst of it in a separate post.

Highlights:

Back on November 13th, I got my first one right.  I reported the Cameron for Nady swap as close to a done deal, and it probably put this site on the map.  Rosenthal backed it up two days later, and the deal was done on the 16th.

On the 17th of November, I got word from an interesting source that the Mets, Indians, and Cardinals had contacted Octavio Dotel’s agent.  The Cards’ interest was confirmed in the Post-Dispatch on the 19th.  I can’t recall whether the other two teams’ interest was confirmed in the major media.  A month later, my source told me that Dotel’s preference was the Yankees, and he signed with them later that day.

My source confirmed that the Giants offered Matt Morris a three-year deal on November 20th.  Morris sat on that one for a while, and received a lowball offer from the Cards on December 10th.  The next day, Morris inked the Giants contract.

On November 21st, my Mets source told me that the Mets would offer Billy Wagner a $40MM deal with the fourth year guaranteed after his tour of the city and he planned to accept it.  In a regrettable move, I relayed actual dates for the deal mentioned by my source.  I missed on the date, but Wagner signed on the 28th.  I’d call it a half-success.

I had a tip on the 28th that the Phillies were talking about an Abreu for Bedard and Gibbons swap with the Orioles.  I’m fairly confident that similar discussions occurred, though I can’t guarantee I had it first.

On November 29th, I extracted a detail on the Cubs’ initial contract offer to Rafael Furcal:  four years, $38MM.  Who would’ve thought he’d get more than that for three years?

Also on the 29th, a source gave me word of an exciting memo to Cardinals employees.  I worked with Viva El Birdos to piece together various scenarios, and the Cards’ interest in A.J. Burnett soon came to the forefront.   

I definitely didn’t break this one, but it wasn’t yet well known that Paul Byrd was in Cleveland to talk business.  In this case, all I did was pass along a Scout.com message board posting to spread the word.  Some useful stuff comes out of message boards occasionally.

We had some blunders in November, which you’ll read about later.  But all in all, it was an exciting and successful inaugural month.