I suggest you read Will's piece below, as he brings up an excellent point about how reporting on the trade deadline is about having contacts and talking to as many people in the know to find out what is happening. I've been reading Will's Mill at BP the past week and the whole subject of who might go where is tantalizing for my brain. Many bloggers rip actual reporters, but they are the people that bring us the news that we comment on. Considering that Will started on the internet, but puts on his reporter's cap more than most newspaper writers, he is the guy who seems to be the bridge between the two.

Having said this, let me mention that Will, Gammons, Rosenthal, etc. overall efforts on the trade subject were about as fulfilling as my first girlfriend. A lot of hard work for very little payout. I guess we shouldn't have expected too much, considering the one team who had the most players wanted by the teams in contention, the Devil Rays, has an aversion to making deals.

GM Chuck LaMar reminds me of my childhood friend, Brian Andersen. I used to invite Brian over with a couple of other friends to trade baseball cards and I'm not sure I ever actually completed a trade with the guy. Brian overrated all his players. I would offer up a Jim Palmer for a Tom Seaver, to which Brian countered with, "if you would throw-in Catfish Hunter, it's a deal." You think this is an exaggerated comparison, well look at this from Will's Mill "(T)he Twins also reportedly inquired about Aubrey Huff, but stopped when the Rays asked for Justin Morneau." Hey LaMar, guess what, eventually Brian Andersen stopped being invited to our trading sessions, as it wasn't worth the aggravation. I know Devil Rays' fans have taken you off their RSVP list. (I'm making an assumption, since I'm not sure there are actual Devil Rays' fans.)