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Well, we can put those Carlos Beltran trade rumors to bed for the last time. Say goodnight, Carlos.
And any teams thinking they could deal for Danny Bautista or Frank Catalanotto to solve their post-deadline outfield problems? Sorry. Not happening.
It's now safe for Roger Clemens, Paul Wilson, Ramon Ortiz and Jorge Julio to unpack for the rest of the year, too. Because we know now they failed to navigate their journey through the waiver-wire forest without being claimed.
All of those names made it into many a conversation before the trading deadline last month. But even though numerous sources indicate that more players are flying through waivers this month than they've seen in years, some of the most talked-about names were claimed and pulled back.
Those seven players we've mentioned so far fit into that category. So we can now delete them from Rumor Central for the final time. Congratulations, men. It's safe to breathe again.
As for Randy Johnson, Ugueth Urbina and Jose Mesa, uh, not so fast.
Those three are among the hundreds of players who hadn't even been placed on waivers at last check. So while it may not be any more likely to see them moved in August than it was in July, stay tuned.
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PITCHERS WHO CAN BE TRADED
Darrell May Brian Anderson Buddy Groom Justin Speier Elmer Dessens Jason Grimsley Al Levine Steve Sparks Gabe White
OUTFIELD BATS WHO CAN BE TRADED
B.J. Surhoff Richard Hidalgo Raul Ibanez Jose Cruz Jr. Robert Fick Ben Grieve Dmitri Young John Vander Wal
(Then there's a second category of players who made it through, but are less likely to go anywhere, since they're still assuming reasonably regular roles on assorted contenders. That list includes:)
Kenny Lofton Carl Everett Ruben Sierra Terrence Long Brian Jordan Jay Payton
OTHER BATS WHO CAN BE TRADED
Bret Boone Tino Martinez Shea Hillenbrand Mike Sweeney Placido Polanco Geoff Blum Charles Johnson
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There's no argument here that the Phillies needed to do more at the trading deadline than they did. And, in fact, they essentially announced that to their fanbase by simply aspiring to do more. But not everything broke their way, either.
Multiple sources have corroborated that they had a trade done to send Placido Polanco to Oakland -- and could have parlayed that into either A's reliever Ricardo Rincon (in a two-way deal) or Yankees center fielder Kenny Lofton (in a three-way deal). Except Oakland had bullpen injuries and had to back out.
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How did Randy Johnson not wind up with the Dodgers? Two weeks after the trading deadline, there are still people trying to figure out what happened in the final hours that caused a seemingly agreed-upon deal to blow up.
Johnson
Two different baseball officials have told Rumblings that the night before the deadline, the two teams thought they had all the players agreed to in a Johnson deal. Arizona would have gotten Brad Penny, Jayson Werth and highly regarded pitching prospects Chad Billingsley and Chuck Tiffany.
Both sources said there had never been any meaningful conversation, up to that point, about including the Dodgers' best young pitcher, Edwin Jackson, in that trade. And one source said he believed the Dodgers were so sure the names had been settled that they had a tentative press release already written.
But then, the next morning, the Diamondbacks abruptly changed course and said they couldn't trade Johnson unless Jackson was in the trade -- a demand they almost had to know would be a deal-breaker.
At that point, the trade collapsed and never did get revived. But despite reports that Johnson had decided, earlier that day, he would approve a trade to L.A., an official of one NL club has his doubts.
"I find it hard to believe Randy would give his blessing and then that deal wouldn't get done," he said. "I don't think he really wanted to go. I just can't believe he would he have gone to the mound (for Arizona) on Friday night if he knew that on Saturday he was going to OK a trade to L.A. That just doesn't add up. In my view, there's a lot of spin control going on about this whole thing."
So the Unit now finishes out the year in Arizona. But you can bet those Johnson-to-the-Yankees rumors will explode again in November, when the Yankees can more easily put together a three-team deal, because they can (and will) sign free agents to replace anyone they trade.
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