The GM meetings begin on Monday. With marquee players such as Marlins 3B Miguel Cabrera and Twins SP Johann Santana being bandied about the Trade Rumor Circuit, these meeting will lay the groundwork for possible deals. Given the early prices for players like this (Peter Gammons says a Yankees/Marlins deal begins with SP Phil Hughes), deals are unlikely to happen until later in the off-season if at all.
However, last Monday's trade between the Tigers and Braves may signal that teams could be willing to move quickly. If there is some fire in the smoke coming out of this morning's Miami Herald where Marlins' GM Larry Beinfest does not dismiss out of hand the possibility of Alex Rodriguez playing in Florida. To do so would mean Cabrera would have to be moved. Whether that is across the diamond to 1B or to another team is unclear, but Beinfest is open to the idea.
''I think I'm always open to new ideas,'' Beinfest said.
To be serious players in the ARod bizarro sweepstakes (the winner gets to spend $200+MM), the Fish would likely need to clear Cabrera's estimated 2008 salary of $11MM. A protracted bidding war in which several teams try to give as little as possible while the Marlins try to get as much as possible would eat into the time it would take to woo ARod and convince him that the Marlins are the picture of organizational stability that the Yankees were unable to provide.
Unless Florida is this year's Boston, and Scott Boras already has a deal in place with the Marlins just as he did with JD Drew last season.
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