Rumor patrol
I'm always wary to start chasing down every Hot Stove rumor because, well, I'm kinda lazy. It seems like a lot of wasted effort to me, because most of the rumors don't turn out to be true.
This one, however, seems worth mentioning: The Sox are supposedly close to trading Jon Garland and the Texas Rangers are the rumored trading partner. This report (which I saw at Baseball Think Factory) also suggests that the Orioles are interested. The Rangers may also be interested in Brian Anderson. Minor league lefty John Danks is the Rangers' prize that the Sox are interested in, according to the report.
The Sox are known to be shopping a starting pitcher in order to clear a spot for Brandon McCarthy in the rotation and get some young pitching in return, so the Garland-to-the-Rangers-for-Danks rumor is at least plausible. I'd prefer not to trade Anderson. I think he'll give the Sox more on offense next year (his
minor league numbers suggest that he can do better than 2006). I participated in a roundtable discussion at South Side Sox last week, and my prediction there for a big trade by the Sox was to go for Vernon Wells of the Blue Jays. I would still want to keep Anderson in such a trade if possible. At worst, Anderson and Ryan Sweeney can be the options for left field in 2007. Anderson may end up as a fourth outfielder at some point, but I think he's worth keeping to find out if he can be an every day player.