Ready for your fix?
Well, nothing new happened overnight (in spite of trade talks "intensifying" all day), so you can relax a little bit. But that doesn't mean I can't get you up to speed, bullet-point style!
- Add the Rangers to the list of teams that are "pushing hard" for Cliff Lee. Let's see, that's the Twins, Tigers, Rays, Rangers and Mets, with the Phillies on the outskirts, the Yankees naturally over-confident "they could get him if they wanted to" and, I'm just spit-balling here, the aggressive Kenny Williams now that Jake Peavy is out for the season.
- Oh yeah, the Reds are sleepers, too.
- It still sounds like the Mariners are looking for a catcher who is close if not ready for the Majors, which is good news for the Twins even if Wilson Ramos is scuffling.
- The general feeling is that Seattle is still asking too much for their southpaw ace. On the Twins-front we've heard rumors of a Ramos/Aaron Hicks offer, and a "crazy ask" at an offer even better (for Mariners fans) than that. Reportedly Seattle has been gathering information on Ramos and Kevin Slowey. Who knows.
- Officially, as of last night: the Twins and Mariners have NOT exchanged names that Minnesota would send to Seattle. But the Twins' system is being scouted by them.