The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the Philadelphia Phillies and Colorado Rockies were serious about a trade that would have netted the Phillies LF Matt Holliday and LHP Brian Fuentes.  According to the paper, this is what was required from the Phillies and why this was deemd serious.

Word had leaked out of Bowie, Md., last week that the Rockies had been sitting on the Reading Phillies for four days, checking the parent club's top Double A prospects.

A source told Morning Report that pitching prospect Carlos Carrasco would have to be included in the deal, and that the Rockies also wanted centerfielder Shane Victorino.

According to Foxsports, the deal would also have cost the Phillies Lou Marson (a top catching prospect) and starting pitcher J.A. Happ

I'm not convinced the Rockies would have done it given their climb in contention in the weak NL West - 6 games out while being 14 games under .500.  Hopefully the deal was killed by the Rockies and not the Phillies.  Both players would have made the Phils the favorite in the NL East and completed the transformation of the Phillies to the 21st century version of the Blake Street Bombers.

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Steve Phillips of ESPN runs down a list of pitchers who will have to fill the void C.C. Sabathia left for teams looking to bolster their rotations for the summer's play-off run.  Greg Maddux and A.J. Burnett are mentioned as fits for the Chicago Cubs who are expected to react with action to a division rivals' trade acquisitions.  With the Blue Jays publicly stating it wants a longer-term answer at SS (insert Troy Tulowitzki crack here) in exchange for Burnett, one wonders whether Ronny Cedeno would fit the bill.  More intersting would be current SS Ryan Theriot.

Buster Olney counters.  Without the big name prospects to land Sabathia, he suggests the Cubs will not answer the Brewers move.  While there are warts on the remaining pitchers, I think the Cubs match-up much better with their bewarted prospects.  Can the team land one of the Oaklans A's starters?  Probably not, but A.J. Burnett doesn't endear himself to the Toronto organization.  Nor should the Jays want to risk an injury that prevents Burnett from declining to exercise his out clause and leave the organization on the hook for an additional two years and $24MM.

Jeff Blair of the Globe & Mail quotes Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi, "We'll see the level of interest in him [Burnett], if any. As of right now, we haven't spoken to anybody."  Given Ricciardi's past with lying to the press, I wonder if "speaking" excludes emails or how he defined "we".  Anyhow, if Mr. Blair is correct that the Jays want two "bona fide" prospects for Burnett to make-up for the two draft picks the team would lose if Burnett opts out, then I can see a Alfonso Soriano situation playing out in Toronto just as it did for the Washington Nationals two years ago.

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Ken Rosenthal follows-up yesterday C.C. Sabathia-to-Milwaukee news with news that the Los Angeles Dodgers are in the hunt for C.C.  However, the team is conflicted as their pursuit of Pirates' SS Jack Wilson involves some of the same prospects they'd need to incude in a Sabathia deal.

So, do the Dodgers need a half-season of an ace more than two years of a no power/good glove SS?  Adding Wilson will certainly improve the Dodgers' current cast of SS options, but he isn't going to bring the noise the offense needs at the plate.  Even with Wilson, I don't see the Dodgers breaking out of the low-scoring doldrums that offense provides.

With an ace, though, the Dodgers will be able to keep the opposing team from scoring runs.  With the 2nd best bullpen ERA in the NL at 2.97 and 3rd best starter ERA, the addition of Sabathia makes the Dodgers' strengths stronger.  Because the Dodgers' rank 13th in starters' innings, adding C.C. will improve the team in that stat and preserve the overworked bullpen as the season heads into the dog days of summer.

When can we expect any of this to be resolved?  This is the most interesting part of Mr. Rosenthal's report.  He writes, "His next start is Tuesday, but several baseball people expect he will be traded before then."

Tom Hardicourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel leads one to believe Brewers' GM Doug Melvin told him what the Brewer's offer is.

"If the Brewers' latest offer is accepted, it's my understanding that it would include top prospect Matt LaPorta, minor-league third baseman Taylor Green and probably another prospect, perhaps outfielder Lorenzo Cain."