Trade rumors are the red meat of the fantasy baseball season. They provide sustenance for teams whose chances have dwindled and hope for those whose have not. Who is hoping more for an Eric Gagne-to-Detroit deal than the teams trailing the Todd Jones owner in saves? The owner of Akinori Otsuka! With the news that Oakland is close to dealing OF Mitlon Bradley, who is refreshing their favorite roto-news site more than the Bradley owner?
The rumors that float in the press are amongst the most rapidly disseminated baseball news at this time of year. Unfortunately, they are often just trial balloons for the various teams and do not reflect anything imminent. At least, that is how I charitably characterize some. To get dysphemistic, they writers clearly have minimal working knowledge of other teams.
Over at Baseball Prospectus, Will Carroll has offered a a prize of some nature (BP subscription? Football Prospectus? Autographed headshot of Will Carroll?) for the best ones. There is an email address in the BP post for entry submission.
There is no guidelines towards what will win only that the BP staff will review them. Should you try to strike it rich with the least obvious deal i.e. Alx Rodriguez to the Chicago Cubs for Aramis Ramirez and Matt Murton, or one more likely to occur such as Mark Buerhle and Rob Mackowiak to the Mets for Lastings Milledge and Ruben Gotay?