Gotham Baseball’s Executive Editor, Mark Healey, had some informed speculation on Monday about a possible trade of Barry Zito to the Mets for Lastings Milledge and Brian Bannister. I figured I’d pass it along, as these guys seem to have some good front office type sources.
Here are some highlights quoted from Healey from the thread:
"Call me nuts…but I still think something is happening here and will in the next couple of days…
Mike and I talk to scouts, front office people every week, sometimes daily….mostly to check on things, etc…
Before and after our respective trips to ST…we both did pre-work and post-work…
When people start getting tight-lipped, and strange things like Milledge and Bannister staying in Major League camp longer than they were supposed to be — my antenna goes up.
However, be that as it may, this thread was specualtion…if I had any corroboration, it’d be in the Rumor Mill.
[posted today] About five minutes after I posted the above I got a phone call from my West Coast guy saying that My speculation "might not be far off the mark" but wouldn’t elaborate…saying to check on what Oakland GM Billy Beane has been up to…
Hmmm…seems Billy traded the immortal Juan Cruz to the D’Backs for Brad Halsey (a 25 year old left-hander)…
Another starter, one less reliever for the Oaks?
The plot thickens…"