All the rumors on one list

[redsrbetter]

Here are all the possible rumors that I have heard come up this offseason. I will keep a list of these rumors and grade their possibilities.

Likelihood graded on a 1-10 scale. 1 being not likely and 10 being almost certain.

Bucky Dent- hired.

Casey to the Pirates for Williams- 10 - reported talks have been made. The deal makes sense for both sides. Casey is from Pittsburgh. Pirates really need a 1B for one season. Will be finalized pending physicals.

Tony Womack for Kevin Howard and Ben Himes- 10 - Done deal.

Jacob Cruz- 10 - signed to a minor league contract.

Rich Aurilia- 7 - Offered arbitration. Angels are interested if they move an infielder. Reds still reported as trying to get him back. Padres, Rangers, Red Sox, and Mets may have interest.

LaRue for pitching- 5 - Inside info shares that LaRue is being shopped strongly. He wants a 3 year deal to stay with the Reds.

Jerome Williams for Kearns- 5 - reported by ESPN that Williams has replaced Mitre. Talks have supposedly become serious. Nalasco is off the list as he has been traded.

Brad Lidge- 4 - Reported that Dunn may be offered for Lidge.

Larkin- 4 - With statements like "there was no greater place to be living than Cincinnati." There is always that possibility. He is likely still wondering what will happen with the new regime and is "excited."

Gil Meche- 3 - Simply mentioned that DanO may be after him. Pirates, Orioles, Mets, and Brewers have turned him down. This likely means DanO will bite because he sucks.

Junior to the Yanks - 3 - I really think this could be revisited. the Yanks have even talked about moving Jeter or ARod to CF. They are desperate and we know they have money. Our own Maximillian posted the rumor from an ESPN radio show as well. http://www.strike3forums.com/forums/...ead.php?t=7738. Becomes a lot less likely after Casey deal.

Lou Piniella - 3 - last word is that he is taking up a broadcasting job somewhere. But there is still that sit down with Castelinni...

Kearns/Pena to Cards- 3 - Just some thoughts from an article. But they do meet the needs for both teams.

Jason Marquis- 2 - Not known how valid this possibility is and it is said that their first priority would be Abreu. Grade would be higher if we heard something bigger on this. Looking more unlikely because Morris is not going to resign with the Cards.

Erik Bedard- 2 - I think this is just one of those scenarios where the Reds outfielders are mentioned. again, not a lot of validity and there are plenty of options for the Orioles. Abreu is mentioned here as well.

Bob Wickman- 2 - Simply mentioned that DanO may be after him.

Rick White- 2 - Simply mentioned that DanO may be after him. Rangers are reported to be talking with him.

Octavio Dotel- 1 - Simply mentioned that DanO may be after him. has narrowed his list down to 4 teams. 2 of those teams are the Mets and Yankees. It will be very expensive to convince him to come to Cincinnati.

Millwood- 1 - Mentioned that Reds are talking about him. But he is a FA and the Reds have stated that free agency is going to be too expensive to consider. Expected to sign with M's.

Tony Armas Jr.- 1 - Simply mentioned that DanO may be after him. reported that Nats are expected to resign him.

Adam Dunn to Red Sox- 1 - Sports Weekly reports some buzz on this. Just possible chatter for now. Becomes very unlikely after Casey deal.

Matt Morris- 0 - Money saved in the Casey deal could be used here. DanO had a long meeting with his agent. Morris has narrowed it down to two teams, Giants and Reds. Giants are the favorite and DanO will have to raise the price to get him. Reported that the Reds are now out of the race for Morris. Signed with the Giants.

Dunn to Orioles- 0 - Just rumored that there have been talks...Orioles are very interested. Bedard is mentioned to be likely to go in this possible deal. Reported that talks are pretty much over because the Reds were adament on Bedard.

Mitre/Nalasco for Kearns- 0 - This is the first chatter we have heard from the Winter Meetings and is likely something being discussed. the report is coming from Chicago radio and our own CRF has some inside thoughts on this. Cubs GM stated that these were just rumors and that there have not been any talks between himself and DanO. Mitre is reported as a no go, but Williams is added. Both Mitre and Nalasco have been traded to the Marlins.

Freel to Cubs- 0 - Suggested from Cubs beat writer that Freel would be an ideal leadoff candidate. Pierre has signed with Cubs takes away from this thought.

Todd Jones- 0 - Simply mentioned that DanO may be after him. Another article mentioning Jones and that he could be affordable for the Reds. But their are 4 others teams going after him as well. Agreed to sign with the Tigers.

Pena for Dave Bush- 0 - Bush traded to the Brewers.

Arroyo/Youkilis for Casey- 0 - Reported that the BoSox are talking to the Reds and the Reds have at least talked about it. CRF has also heard some inside chatter concerning Casey. Casey traded to the Pirates.

Paul Byrd- 0 - ESPN thinks this is a scenario for the Reds. But as DanO has professed, we are not going to see a FA signing this offseason unless Castelinni comes in and makes a move to raise payroll. DanO is holding out on this "big trade." Just signed with the Indians.

* These are only the rumors that have become actual rumors, not just trade scenarios.

[Wally Mo Pena]

apparently this one is dead before we learned about it, but Gammons reports:

"the Royals have no intention of trading Greinke -- not for Ramirez, not for Austin Kearns."

I'm glad to at least hear that we're trying. give em kearns and a prospect.

[redsrbetter]

Update for the Marquis deal:

Not much but one website is stating that Marquis is as good as gone. Who is better to get for them than Griffey? Just a thought.

[redsrbetter]

Adde Dunn to Red Sox rumor.

[redsrbetter]

UPDATED:

Todd, Jones, OD, and Wickman.
Casey to the BoSox for arroyo or Youkilis.

[redsrbetter]

UPDATED:

Byrd sigend with Indians.

[redsrbetter]

UPDATED:

Kearns and Pena to the Cards and the talks of signing Milwood.

[redsrbetter]

UPDATED:

Kearns to Cubs for Mitre/Nalasco

[redsrbetter]

UPDATED:

Casey to the Pirates and Williams taking Mitre's place.

[redsrbetter]

UPDATED: Casey deal changes a lot of looks.

[redsrbetter]

UPDATED:

Dunn to O's talk

[redsrbetter]

Should be completely updated as of 9 Dec 05 0949 EST.

[redsrbetter]

UPDATED: Morris dropping down the probability list. And Lidge added.

[redsrbetter]

UPDATED: Morris to the Giants

[redsrbetter]

Just imagine if all of this happened:

-It was rumored tha LaRue was being shopped hard last season. But they never even got an offer for him. It says it would have been for pitching though and I would have taken any decent reliever over his production last year anyday.

-Jerome Williams for Kearns. My God we had better be happy that this trade never came to fruition. Or else we would have a 7.30 ERA. Not to mention that this is a small sample size because he merely got the September callup after being sent down to AAA on Apr 23rd by the Cubs.

- Let us also thank our lucky stars that the Dunn for Lidge trade didn't happen. Lidge completely stunk it up this season getting hammered for a 5.28 ERA. At the very least, he would have lost his closer's job for us. Or you would hope so. No Dunn + a sloppy Lidge = disaster.

-I said Meche sucked this past offseason and he didn't do too bad. Then again, he was pitching in Safeco and we can't argue those numbers would have been much different in GABP. I am glad we didn't get him.

- What if Junior was a Yankee? I guess that all depends on what we would have gotten for him. All I know is that his production this past season dropped greatly compared to the year before and his value has dropped tremendously. But its still nice to have my favorite player on my favorite team.

-Piniella instead of Narron? Can we say that our chances at playoff contention may have been greater? I think I could say that. At least Sweet Lou would have sparked a flame a would have put together a far more productive lineup. Enough said.

- Marquis got hammered this year but still managed to win a lot of games. I have no doubt that the record is inherited from being a Card though. Another one I am glad we did not follow through on.

- What about Bedard? He would have been real nice to have. And they wanted Kearns or Pena in the deal. Ok, so we got aneven better deal for Pena. But Bedard for Kearns is a lot better than Majewski for Kearns.