WasWatching.com

That Rosenthal column just doesn't seem credible to me. First, he seems to think that it is a viable possibility that ARod would waive his contract after next year in order to make MORE money. That's nuts. There is no way that an age 33 ARod could make more than $25 million per year no matter what the finances of baseball look like.

Second, he links the Yankees potential trade of Sheffield to trading ARod. I highly doubt that too. No matter what, an ARod trade would take a long time. I find it hard to believe that the Yankees keep Sheffield until that trade is worked out.

Ken is saying that if A-Rod is traded, the Yanks might be inclined to keep Sheff because he'll be the only right-handed power bat they have. But what are they going to do with Sheffield -- make him play third? Unless he wants to be a full-time DH (which is Giambi's job) or a first baseman (which he has stated he doesn't) then there's no place on this team for Sheffield.

I found this more interesting from the article:

"Devil Rays outfielder Elijah Dukes is tearing up the Arizona Fall League, and the Rays envision him possibly getting 400 at-bats next season as a fourth outfielder, first baseman and DH. B.J. Upton and Ty Wigginton figure to compete for the Rays' third-base job, but Upton could make his long-anticipated move to the outfield if the team trades left fielder Carl Crawford or center fielder Rocco Baldelli."

Okay, I know we already have too many outfielders. And it's already going to be hard to squeeze Melky into the lineup, but Crawford has always been someone I loved. Imagine you batted this guy ninth in our lineup? And let him take over the leadoff spot when Johnny gets too old for it?

I'm sure the Rays would want some pitching in return. They can't have Hughes. But I'd be willing to listen on everything else. Maybe the Yankees can get a trading chip good enough from any Sheff/Melky trades to get something the Rays want.

FWIW, Ken and I have corresponded in the past on things - and he took me to school once for asking about something without being 1,000,000% sure on the source. (It was when there was that rumor that the Sox let Loretta go.) Therefore, I would be shocked if he's not getting this information from the good stuff.

I trust that the source told Rosenthal this, but we don't know anything about the motivations of the source. I think that Rosenthal was probably too gullible rather than that he was just making things up. We'll just have to see, I guess.