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.
In other Monday trade rumor-related news:
Other teams continue to call the Pirates about shortstop Jack Wilson, and the Pirates continue to listen. Perhaps more purposefully than they did earlier this month, when the Los Angeles Dodgers became the first to inquire.There remains no firm indication that Wilson will be dealt, nor that management's stance on him has changed: They would prefer to keep him, largely because he would be impossible to replace internally. But there is a palpable openness to trading Wilson for an appropriate value in prospects, as there is with everyone on the roster. If that means creating a hole for the rest of 2008, the thinking goes, so be it.
...still looking primarily for a right-handed-hitting outfielder and an experienced late-inning reliever (a Huston Street/Matt Murton combo from Oakland is a hot rumor); still more concerned about the acquisition cost (in terms of prospects) than the financial ramifications; still willing for the first time to have free-agent-to-be rentals "on the radar"; and still more likely to make a small deal than a big one.
With the non-waiver trade deadline 10 days away, General Manager Ned Colletti said the Dodgers could enter the market for a third baseman if they're unable to land a shortstop.
The Dodgers don't appear to be interested in Oakland shortstop Bobby Crosby or Seattle third baseman Adrian Beltre.
Even though the Giants spent the first half within striking distance of first place in the National League West, they long planned to move potential free agents such as Durham, Rich Aurilia and perhaps Omar Vizquel to get more playing time for Emmanuel Burriss, Eugenio Velez and Ivan Ochoa, who might share time at second base.The early guess (and that's all it is) here is that the Red Sox will acquire Pirates lefty Damaso Marte before the deadline.... A reliever who might emerge as a cheaper alternative to Marte in the trade market: Oakland left-hander Alan Embree.