Half-Full: Jason Bay to the Tribe?

Being woke up on a Sunday morning at 6 A.M by my 2-year-old son, I was grouchy as can be, until, low and behold:

According to Rotoworld (via The Boston Herald): "Report: Indians, Pirates discussing Bay deal"

Baseball insiders told the Boston Herald that talks between the Pirates and Indians regarding Jason Bay have heated up.

Kelly Shoppach apparently would be involved in the deal, but his was the only name the Herald had. Other possibilities include outfielder Trevor Crowe, third baseman Andy Marte and top pitching prospects Adam Miller and Chuck Lofrgen. Perhaps the Pirates would also be interested in Josh Barfield if they thought Freddy Sanchez would bring in a top prospect or two. Dec. 2 - 12:18 am et

Here is the link to the Boston Herald (see page 2).

Two things come to mind here:

1) Why are we hearing about this from the Boston media instead of our own?

2) Why is Adam Miller being suggested in such a trade?

The answer to the first one is a bit of a no brainer to those of us in the Cleveland area who are well aware that we seem to have a void of beat writers and journalists with an inside scoop. Ever since Hal's passing, there simply has been a lack of valuable 'inside information' in Cleveland, and now it seems we'll have to rely on journalists from other cities to do their homework for us at times. Case in point, last week's Sunday sports section in the Morning Journal had a grand total of 4 pages of information. FOUR! Just think... by the time you open the sports section, you're almost done reading. Pathetic! And to think that the Morning Journal continues to call with special subscription promotions. Never mind how poorly constructed their website is in an age of technology. But I digress.

The second answer, is that hopefully Rotoworld is just simply naming off our top prospects and not that Mark Shapiro is considering giving up our top farmhand. I have faith in you on this one Mark. Especially with Lee, Sowers, Laffey, Marte, Francisco, Choo, and others being much more expendable than Miller. That said however, outfield is the one lone area of depth on the Pirates, so expect Shoppach and some pitching to be part of any deal. According to this article written 6 days ago, Bay is not being shopped and if he were to go the 'price could be outrageous'.

X-Factor: Freddy Sanchez. If Pittsburgh would be interested in throwing in Sanchez, then I would gladly add Adam Miller, Josh Barfield, and Andy Marte into the deal. This would of course enable us to move A.Cabrera to SS, Peralta to 3B, with Sanchez at 2B and Bay in left.

New Lineup:

CF Grady
2B Sanchez
LF Bay
C Victor
DH Hafner
1B Garko
3B Peralta
RF Franklin G.
SS A.Cabrera

I'LL TAKE IT!

The sacrifice: No starting player is lost. Shoppoch, Miller, Marte, Barfield, Sowers....you have to give up something to get something....and this team can most certainly go on without this group. I'd miss Kelly the most out of that group....but just the idea of no more Michaels/Delucci is enough to put me in a good mood for the rest of the week.

AND ON A SIDE NOTE:

GOOOOOOOOOOO BUCKEYES!!!!!!! NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HERE WE COME! Now, who the heck are we going to play? My Guess: LSU

Gooooooooooooo Tribe!