Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports leads his latest column by contrasting the value of Zack Greinke and Matt Garza. Though Greinke is widely viewed as the superior pitcher, Garza comes with an extra year of control at similar overall money. Either righty would require a huge trade bounty. On to Rosenthal's other rumors…
- Jayson Werth's contract includes decent-sized bonuses for strong finishes in the MVP voting.
- The Dodgers are in discussions with Bill Hall to be their primary left fielder. Rosenthal feels that such a signing would be the team's last significant move. Hall's last strong season as a regular was 2006, the 35 home run campaign for the Brewers that earned him a $24MM contract.
- Rosenthal tweets that the lack of state income tax in Texas has minimal impact in the Cliff Lee talks, since Lee would reside in Arkansas instead. Rosenthal feels that the income tax-related savings the Rangers could promote would be balanced by a higher salary from the Yankees plus endorsements. George A. King III of the New York Post offers a similar take.