Per Ken Rosenthal, Sporting News
Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria keeps denying that the team might trade left-hander Dontrelle Willis, growing increasingly outraged by each new round of speculation.
What Loria can't deny is the sheer logic of moving Willis at the July 31 non-waiver deadline if the rebuilding Marlins get the right offer.
Willis, 24, will appeal not just to the losers of the Roger Clemens sweepstakes, but also to any surprise team that wants to maintain its early momentum with a midseason blockbuster.
For example, what if the Reds offered a package including third baseman Edwin Encarnacion and top pitching prospect Homer Bailey?
Dontrelle Willis is just 24 and could be a hot commodity at the end of July. (Brian Kersey / Associated Press)
The notion isn't as far-fetched as it might appear.
The Reds' new owners want to win. And while Encarnacion and Bailey would be a high price, the Reds would get Willis for the rest of this season and all of 2007 and '08 before he becomes a free agent.
Yes, Willis' salaries in arbitration likely will exceed $7 million '07 and $10 million in '08. But his arrival would change the entire dynamic of the franchise. Willis is one of the few players in the majors who is an actual draw. If he stayed healthy — a big "if" with any pitcher — he would pay for himself.
And, as the Marlins' Loria surely recognizes, other clubs might want Willis for the same reasons as the Reds, creating the possibility of a frenzied auction before the July 31 non-waiver deadline.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5549214
Would you do this deal?