I’ve never heard more unadulterated piffle in my life! AP writer Ronald Blum has the story. Scott Boras said that A-Rod is opting out because he didn’t know what the direction of the team would be since Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte were uncertain of their status, as well as the managerial limbo in the organization. Really now. Is any self-respecting Yankee-hating fan supposed to believe that nonsense?! If A-Rod really cared about what the others would have done, he had until 10 days after the World Series ended to make his decision. He didn’t even wait for one hour.

First, the Yankees have so much money, it did not matter if Rivera et al. re-signed. The Yanks would have bought people to play those positions. Please note I said BOUGHT not BROUGHT. I do not mean via a trade; I mean via a bank account. Do not try to use that “The Yankees aren’t over-spending anymore.” That line is garbage.

Second, even if the Yankees wanted to re-sign Rivera and Posada, sure they would wait, but at the end of the day, they would have paid top dollar for the duo.

I think this is an attempt by Scott Boras to hoodwink the baseball public and put the blame on the Yankees. This time I will side with the Yankees (even though the above rant may not reflect that view). A-Rod opts out? Then goodbye. Let somebody else pay for you and then we’ll see how well you do in the playoffs Mr. “ofer his last 18 with RISP”. Scott Boras needs to have some guts and tell the public that A-Rod wanted to opt out so he’s opting out. Or really tell the truth and say that I want A-Rod to make more money, so that I make more money

If the Angels go after A-Rod, then Vlad is the odd man out. It will be disrespectful to Vlad. The only real option where star-power is limited and cash is abundant-LA Dodgers. If A-Rod is trying to escape the scrutiny of the NY limelight then he has another thing coming.

The Yankees are cleaning house…of the useless players. I shouldn’t say useless, because Mike Myers is a respectable reliever. What I don’t get is that the Yankees designate Myers for assignment and call up Jim Brower who in his limited 1.1 innings of work managed to give up 3 hits, a walk and an earned run. But he’s supposed to be better than Myers? Yikes!

Other players designated for assignment around baseball:

Miguel Cairo- New York Yankees…thank goodness. This guy blows and sucks simultaneously

Brian Dopirak- Chicago Cubs: this guy never played a day in MLB…according to Yahoo! Sports stats

Released Players:

Royce Clayton- Toronto Blue Jays

Scott Williamson- New York Yankees. Williamson played with the Orioles this year. He signed a one-year $900,000 deal in the offseason. Somebody should take a chance on him. He has 55 career saves, and two of his best years came with the Reds. They should look into signing him. It could be worthwhile.

UPDATE: I guess you can say you heard it here first. ESPN has a story saying that Wells will be designated for assignment so clear a roster spot for Chris Young who will be activated from the DL. The article states that the Padres GM, basically out of respect, gave Wells some options which will lead to the latter either retiring or joining another team. I’m hoping that the Braves pick him up, but that is wishful thinking. I still think Wells has something left in the tank, but he probably doesn’t think he owes it to anybody to dig deep and find it.

David Wells is abysmal this year. He’s never really struck me as a great player. Sure he threw a perfect game, but a perfect game and a no-hitter both have elements luck…and in Boomer’s case maybe his involved hitting the bottle.

Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune postulates (there’s a word for ya) that Wells maybe headed out the door by being designated for assignment/fired/released. Boomer is a controversial character so few teams may want him. In the past, he expressed an interest in playing on the West Coast. His salary is manageable this year as he is paid per start. His 5-8 record and his 5.54 ERA are far from what the Padres expect of him. Perhaps they’ll place him on waivers to see what they may get for him.

His postseason record makes up for any attitude problems. He’s 10-5 in the postseason with a 3.17 ERA, although he’s 0-3 in his last 3 postseason starts.

Two interesting reads to verify, one written today while one was written yesterday. First the old one:

• Dean Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette said that a deal between the Pirates and Tigers was pretty close to being finalized. The deal called for the Pirates to receive two of Detroit’s top six prospects and an unnamed MLB-ready pitcher. The sticking point was how much money the Tigers would assume in the deal. Wilson is owed $14.5 million for 2008-2009. How do you say “bad contract.”

There is no way Wilson is worth one top prospect, let alone two?! This had bad deal written all over it.

And the new one:

• The other article is from Paul Meyer, also of the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette. This article states that Wilson could pass through waivers because of his salary and the Tigers could claim him then, assuming all of his contract but not giving up much in terms of talent. Meyer’s article also says via one of his sources, that a deal was done. The Tigers balked when the Pirates also asked for an MLB player and Meyer speculates that it was Craig Monroe together with either Dallas Trahern or Jair Jurrjens and a mid-level position player prospect.

That is way too much to give up for someone like Wilson. There are a lot more options available. What about a guy like Craig Counsell. He is a veteran who has won a World Series ring. He’s worth more than Wilson in my book.

Bob Sansevere of the Pioneer Press has a great interview with Twins CF Torii Hunter. I think it’s an understatement to say that Hunter is frustrated. It’s a very candid interview and sheds some light on Hunter’s feelings toward the organization. Bear in mind that the interview was done on August 1, which isn’t too long after Luis Castillo was traded.

Hunter is having a career year with a couple minor slumps mixed in. He hit 31 HRs last year and is on pace to hit 33 this year and exceed 100 RBI’s. He is making a case for a huge payday.

I have both players on my fantasy team so I know where Hunter is coming from…not really but still.

Two items of note. Not really for fans but for Fantasy owners like myself:

• Ken Rosenthal reports that the Phillies acquired Kyle Lohse from the Reds for Class AA LHP Matt Maloney
• Another Rosenthal story say that the Red Sox are still in on Jermaine Dye. Why ? I think they just want to make a trade

I’ll believe it when I see it. Is John Schuerholz showing the other GMs how it’s really supposed to be done? Ken Rosenthal reports that the Braves are in the running for Kansas City closer Octavio Dotel.

Come now. But then again I said that the Braves need to find something to do with Scott Thorman. Thorman has power, but he’ll need d at-bats and that’s a luxury the Braves can’t afford right now.

Rosenthal suggests that the Braves, Indians and Dodgers are in the running for Dotel. Kansas probably doesn’t want to trade with Cleveland because they are in the division. Not that the Royals are going anywhere anytime soon, but you won’t want to help a team in your league reach to the World Series right? And then the Royals GM was a stalwart in the Braves organization.

This is shaping up to be a trade deadline of note!

Jim Molony of MLB.com has a list of last year’s trades up. It’s a thorough list of the good and just plain bad moves that were made last year.

I think the most significant trade was the Carlos Lee trade. What will be the most significant this year?

The trade deadline is one of the most exciting times in all of sports, particularly baseball. Players don’t move in other sports as they do in baseball. Sure in basketball you have real blockbuster deals in the offseason, but in baseball, you get tons of trades to talk about: good and bad. You’ll be at the bar with your buddies; a bit inebriated and that is the time you choose to share your wealth of baseball knowledge and trades that were done. You’ll most likely start off with, “Remember that time when (insert player name here) got traded to (insert team here). Man that trade blew chunks.” Or something along those lines. Well here’s some more potential bar conversation:

• The Yankees are calling around and asking if anyone wants Johnny Damon off their hands. Shouldn’t it work the other way around? Aren’t teams supposed to ask you for your players? The Yankees have exposed their hand on Damon and now no team is going to bite unless the Yanks absorb a heckuva lot of Damon’s salary. Dan Graziano of the New Jersey Star-Ledger says that the Yankees called a few teams including the Braves, since Andruw Jones is most likely leaving after the season is over. The Braves like Damon, “but not at that price”. With Damon’s noodle arm, I think he’ll be better off in left field, with Francoeur in center and maybe Harris in right if the Braves keep Willy.

• The Nationals are close to signing Dmitri Young to a contract extension. Bill Ladson of MLB.com has the story. It looks as though the Nationals think highly of Belliard and Young. They could be right…or wrong.

• George King of the New York Post says that the Tigers are trying to bring Kyle Farnsworth back. I saw somewhere that Atlanta had interest in Farnsworth as well, but I doubted that since John Schuerholz tends to hold a grudge against players who disrespect the franchise, namely Kenny Lofton and Kyle Farnsworth. I posted a few weeks back it’s unlikely that the Braves would trade for him simply because he left for the Yankees and said that the Yankees were better off.

• Nick Cafardo and Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe say that the Red Sox are interested in Ty Wigginton. The Devil Rays slugger is a cheaper alternative for cash-strapped clubs or teams not wanting to give up loads of prospects that would disrupt their plans. They also said that the Sox are interested in Mark Teixeira, but the Rangers want a lot of prospects. That’s where the Braves come in. The biggest rumor right now is the Braves interest in Teixeira and possibly Eric Gagne. If that happens, they could probably move Wickman, let Gagne leave via free agency and get the draft picks. If Andruw Jones leaves, they’ll also get draft picks, plus have Teixeira for a year and a half and draft picks for him in 2009.

I am tired. I love the trade deadline

Doug Padilla of the Daily Breeze suggests that the Angels could make a move for Adam Dunn. It would be an interesting fit considering that the deal that fell through with Dunn recently, included Tony Gwynn Jr, Matt Wise and a prospect. If that is all it took to get Dunn who was being traded to another team in the division, then how much would the Angels have to give up for Dunn?

If the Angels get Dunn, I think we know who the favorites are to win the World Series. Acquiring Dunn means that the Mariners can’t keep up. The Mariners’ offense is already pushing the starting rotation whose guys have wins, but high ERAs. The Angels have the pitching and if Bartolo Colon starts to win some games and lower his ERA, all the better.