My Internet connection - never the fastest - is running particularly poorly today, so I'll probably end up keeping this relatively brief...
Final score from the Rule V Draft: Arizona 0, The Rest 3. We lost three players in the draft, though probably the only one you've heard of (William K excepted!) is infielder Dan Uggla, who went to Florida - funnily enough, they were very active throughout, vacuuming up minimum wage players to replace the expensive talent they've traded away. Uggla almost made the 40-man roster for us, after hitting .297 at Double-A Tennessee, and has to stay on the Marlins' 25-man roster the whole year, or we get him back at half-price.
Further down the line, we lost pitcher Josh Perrault, who posted a 2.07 ERA in 45 games for Class A South Bend, and outfielder Josh Cook (.314, 19 HR at Class A Lancaster). However, Cook was seen as too old - at 25 - to be at the Class A level, though Perrault's curveball was well-regarded in the Diamondbacks organization.
With the Mets-Oakland talks for Zito having apparently soured, the Mets-Arizona ones for Vazquez seem to be back to the forefront. The Newark Star-Ledger - who were about the only place I saw an Estrada trade mentioned ahead of time - say the name of Lastings Milledge has cropped up in those talks. Milledge + Benson for Vazquez? We get a starter and a CF, which ,akes sense here.
Meanwhile, it seems the Cardinals have backed out of the running, because of our stern refusal to take any of Vazquez's salary on board. Over at Viva El Birdos, they report the deal being worked on was "Marquis, Suppan, and two prospects (prob'y Wainwright and Lambert) for Vazquez and coveted outfield prospect Carlos Quentin." While this would help free up the corner logjam, and I don't know much about the prospects involved, Marquis and Suppan are both free agents after this season, and that doesn't fit in with our plans to rebuild. I like to think we wouldn't dump Quentin for a pair of one-year rentals, so I think this one is most likely fabrication.
Finally, looks like the South Bend Silver Hawks won't be moving anywhere. An agreement to purchase the team - probably leading to it moving to Marion, IL - has been recommended for rejection by the Midwest League authorities. The main reason for it being turned down is it would add an extra five hours onto travel time for other teams in the league, but a "loyal fan base" in South Bend may have influenced the decision. Nice to know one team in the organization has that...