All Things Bubba

Are the Yankees secretly working on a huge, blockbuster trade? Maybe. There's a guy who posts occasionally at the YES message boards. He claims he has a friend who's a scout for the Yankees. Is that true? I dunno. YES recently installed new message board software, so nobody has a very long history there (even though they've had their message board and most of their regular posters for years).

Anyway, tonight this person said said his scout friend told him the Yanks are working on a monster trade. If it goes through (big if), it will be the second biggest trade in MLB history. As many as five teams are involved (Yankees, Rangers, Angels, Braves, White Sox). Two Yankees who have no-trades may be traded. (Presumably Randy Johnson and Alex Rodriguez.) When the dust settles, the Yankees will have a new lefty reliever (not necessarily Gonzalez), a new third baseman, a new first baseman, and maybe a new, almost-ready catching prospect.

Quite a shakeup, if it actually happens.

And in other news...100 MLB players tested positive for steroids in 2003:

A federal appeals court revealed today that more than 100 major league baseball players tested positive for steroids in 2003, and ruled that the government could use their tests in its investigation of illegal drug distribution to athletes.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco also said federal investigators had obtained Major league Baseball's 2003 testing samples and results for 10 players linked to the investigation of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, or BALCO, and that eight of them had tested positive for steroids.

Labels: steroids, Trade rumors

Bucco Blog is reporting that the three-way trade is a done deal. Supposedly, Mike Gonzalez had to cancel a personal appearance in Texas yesterday in order to come to NY to be examined by a doctor of the Yankees' choosing.

If he passed the physical and the deal goes through, the Yankees will send Melky to Atlanta. Atlanta will send LaRoche to Pittsburgh. The Pirates will send another player to Atlanta (perhaps Castillo or McLouth). And the Yankees' Christmas present will be Gonzalez wrapped in pinstripes.

Meanwhile, in Cincinnati, there's still no official information about Griffey's injury. The Cincinnati Enquirer thinks Griffey will be healed by spring training, but the Reds would not confirm it.

Someone said Griffey incurred the injury playing with his kids, but who knows if it's true.

Labels: Trade rumors