Did you hear, the Mariners are weighing several packages in exchange for outfielder Raul Ibanez. The Royals' lefty reliever Ron Mahay is on the market and attracting a lot of interest. The Dodgers have their eye on Pirates' shortstop Jack Wilson.
Yes, it's silly season, that time of year just prior to the trade deadline when teams in contention (and Houston) consider swapping prospects for veterans playing out their contracts. Of course, like hurricane forecasters and stock analysts, reporters predict 15 out of every two trades. (Do the math.)
But this year is the silliest of all. In the past, there was at least some grandiosity to the conjecture. We talked about trades for difference-makers like Carlos Beltran and Mark McGwire. This year -- Raul Ibanez? Set the RSS feed! I don't want to miss the Jack Wilson update. Just imagine what a lift his .312 lifetime on base percentage and .375 lifetime slugging average could give a team.
Unless you're a nutcase fantasy player it's time to avoid the baseball sites, sports talk shows and newspaper back pages when the rumor mill starts spinning. Otherwise you might fail to notice that none of these deals makes a whole lot of difference.
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