Beane, Cashman, Colletti: 3 way deal?
Could a three way trade be in the works at the moment at the winter meetings? Beane loves undervalued players, and always tries to sell high. Barry Zito is entering his walk year, there's very little available pitching talent of his potential on the market right now. Milton Bradley is a persona non grata in Los Angeles, and could be had for a song compared to his talent level. The Dodgers need pitching, and Zito, who gre up in San Diego, lives in LA. The Dodgers would most certainly have to give up a lot more than just Bradley, but they have a glut of minor league talent (most assuredly, they'd have to part with Joel Guzman (they did just sign Furcal to play Guzman's current SS position) and/or Chad Billingsley, and either Matt Kemp or Russ Martin).
The trade would leave Oakland in a position where they'd most likely want to move one of their OFs. Considering Kielty and Swisher are young, cheap, and have their best days ahead of them. Those are usually the types of players that Beane likes to keep. They still also have control of Jay Payton. Which leaves the most expensive outfielder on the team as the one most likely to go: Mark Kotsay, who is signed through 2008 at a reasonable (especially in this market) $7M+.
Even though it's a salary dump for Oakland (can you imagine what Beane could do at the dealine after shedding those two contracts?) don't think Beane is just going to give up Kotsay for nothing. Throw the obvious Pavano rumor in to either Oakland or LA, but my guess would be more likely a couple of minor leaguers not named Duncan, Hughes or Cox and possibly even Jaret Wright, with the Yankees paying half of the remaining year on his contract. Colter Bean seems to be the type of player Beane likes - not a toolsy guy, but good numbers. These could go to either Oakland or LA, or both.
Sure, this is idle speculation, but you have to admit it makes a lot of sense.
posted by Mr. Faded Glory @ 9:13 AM
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