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December 5, 2007

The Mill

Winter Meetings, Day Three

by Baseball Prospectus

8:00 p.m. ET: The big rumor of the day was a three-way deal between the Mets, Twins, and A's. By the time the sun went down, the rumor had been quashed. I won't go into the details here, but it involved Haren, Reyes, Santana, and parts. Both Billy Beane and Omar Minaya denied speaking on this, or any other deal.

The Mets have been a bit more active, at least in terms of rumors. A possible move for Dontrelle Willis was floated, but no one was willing to confirm any discussions, leaving this just something to discuss in the lobby. The Tigers have been active, looking to see where Brandon Inge could go. The Twins are a possibility, as are the Brewers and Angels, but with the Twins, the Tigers could try to add in something and make a run at Joe Nathan. They don't have much left in their farm system, and it's hard to trade in division, so I'm not expecting this to get much steam.

The Cubs have been "simmering" for days, but they haven't been able to get anything big done. Kosuke Fukudome is evidently going to wait until next week to visit teams in person, Brian Roberts is a rumored possibility, and in the more interesting story, there is a circulating rumor that the team would like to acquire a center fielder. With Felix Pie seemingly at the ready, this one's going to have to flesh out a bit more.

Finally, an explanation--sometimes, I'm told things that work out, but then again, some don't. With the Santana item posted yesterday, I had two solid sources that told me that it was "very close." I translated that as "all but done" and now... it's not. I can't explain why it didn't, but at the time I wrote it, I believed it. There are times I get suckered by misinformation--such as I was yesterday about the Tigers-Marlins deal at mid-day--and also times where things don't work out as I was told. Rumors and facts are tough to distinguish at times, especially when they change by the second.

--Will Carroll

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