Stating the obvious in Cincy, and open season on Halladay

Somebody set the Hot Stove to preheat, and it's taking a while to get there. Fortunately, there are a few kernels popping in baseball's offseason Jiffy Pop... why am I suddenly hungry for popcorn?

- Buster Olney tweeted that other GMs believe the Reds (GABA '10 - April 7th) would prefer to trade Aaron Harang rather than Bronson Arroyo this offseason. I'll need a handiman immediately, because I've fallen out of my chair. (Is there an emoticon for sarcasm?) The Reds would rather move a guy who has 12 wins the last two seasons, and is gonna making $12.5 million next year, instead of a guy with 30 wins since the start of '08, who's making $11 million? No way! Maybe I shouldn't be so sarcastic about this though... there are teams out there who would see nothing wrong with moving Arroyo and proudly putting Harang back out there as an ace. OK, maybe stating the obvious is better than missing the obvious.

- Roy Halladay had his people give a message to some people to tell the Blue Jays (GABA '10 - April 20th) people he won't accept an in-season trade. In other words, it's open season on the Jays' longtime ace. I can appreciate Halladay's not wanting to switch clubhouses midseason, and I'm sure he wants the trade cloud lifted ASAP, but the ultimatum might actually slow things down, and hurt his value on the market.

The Jays know they have to trade him before Opening Day or they'll get nothing for him. Other teams know that too, and they can just wait out the Jays until, say, sometime in March when desperation starts setting in, then offer an inferior set of prospects for a guy who wants to throw 10 innings every time he's out there. (For more on playing the incessant waiting game, see Lackey, John.)

Halladay's ultimatum might stick him somewhere he doesn't want to be in 2010. In other words, somewhere just like Toronto.

- Dustin Pedroia at shortstop? I was always taught in blackjack that you don't mess with a winning hand. I'm not saying a move to SS won't work... I'm just saying why mess with something that's clearly working VERY well. Talk amongst yourselves.


For anybody in the Milwaukee area, listen in to AM 1250 WSSP this afternoon. I'll be dropping by The Big Show with Gary Ellerson, Sparky, and company from 3:00-3:30PM on location at Blaine's Farm and Fleet in Oak Creek. Better yet, drop by and bring a toy for their annual Holiday Toy Drive. And if you bring Rock Em Sock Em Robots, just leave that toy with me...