Yeah, I know I said I was going to do one of these every Monday, but there has really been very little worthy of mention in the past couple of weeks. However, as we get closer to the deadline, I think there may be a little more activity; here seems a good place to put everything short of an actual deal announcement, which of course, should be a 'proper' story by whichever author gets to it first. In the meantime, after the jump, you'll find what's going on at the present time - brief summary, "not much" - and some random other nuggets.
FoxSports.com are reporting that "trade activity has been light on Diamondbacks starters Doug Davis and Jon Garland...but Arizona officials are optimistic that the market will pick up in the final days before the deadline."[Thanks to AJforAZ for the tip on that one]. They may be optimistic - Peter Gammons quotes one GM as saying, "We've looked at Doug Davis, Jon Garland, Kevin Correia, Ian Snell and the long list of available starting pitchers and do not see anyone we would give A- or B-list prospects to get." But it's also reported that the Cubs may be looking at Davis and Garland.
Scott Bordow of the Tribune discusses the potential for trading Chris Snyder and reckons it's almost certain to happen during the off-season: "His time in Arizona is coming to an end." While there's no denying his abilities, the contract extension which Snyder signed [paying him $4.75m and $5.75m the next two years, with a $6.75m for 2012 with a $750K buyout] would seem to over-value him based on his production this year, so will likely restrict the number of potential partners.
Given his recent surge, it's appropriate our colleague over at Minor League Ball has covered Miguel Montero in his latest Prospect Retro piece. With regard to the Snyder situation, he says, "I’d pseudo platoon them….Montero plays against RHP and against lefties that I think he can handle. Snyder spots against tough lefties and enough playing time to keep Montero fresh." Not related to the current deadline, but did you know Arizona made a stab at getting Mark Teixeira from the Rangers two years ago? "The Diamondbacks came in at the last minute, but the Rangers weren't interested in first baseman Conor Jackson," according to this report analyzing the deal.
And if you want a good laugh, it appears Washington are still gleeful over trading us Jon Rauch: "Clear he was dealt at the top of his value - and there are still members of the Nationals' front office talking about how well they fared selling high on Rauch." O RLY? Emilio Bonifacio had an OPS+ of 70 for the Nats before being shipped to Florida (63 OPS+ there), while Rauch has had a 91 ERA+ for us and seems to have cured what ailed him. If Washington think they made out like bandits there, little wonder they're the worst team in the majors.
Finally, the back-to-back shutouts of the Pirates' offense hurt their fans in more ways than a simple defeat. For every run they scored over the weekend, the team were going to take $1 off the price of its left and right field box seats for a series against Washington [well, got to sell them somehow...]. Those tickets ordinarily go for $24, and Friday night's 10-3 win reduced them to $14 - perhaps fortunately for Pittsburgh management, that was as far as it went. Mind you, if the score had been repeated on Saturday and Sunday, would they have paid people $6 to go to the game?
