Phillies claim Abreu isn't being shopped

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http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/13308226.htm

Bobby Abreu is going to the Red Sox for Manny Ramirez!

Unless, of course, the Phillies rightfielder is traded to the Giants for Jason Schmidt, the Cardinals for Jason Marquis or the Orioles for Erik Bedard.

All those rumors can only mean one thing: The winter meetings are right around the corner. The annual conclave formally opens Monday in Dallas; baseball people from the various teams will begin establishing their beachheads beginning Sunday.

Anything can happen in the hothouse atmosphere that is created when a bunch of baseball executives are all together in the same place for 4 days, but it appears unlikely at the moment that the Phillies will be making any headline-grabbing trades involving Abreu, Pat Burrell or any other big names.

For one thing, while the Phillies have few untouchables, the two corner outfielders likely would be bait only if a top-notch starting pitcher could be acquired in return.

"Which I don't see," general manager Pat Gillick said.

As far as Abreu is concerned, assistant general manager Ruben Amaro called agent Peter Greenberg in Venezuela 2 weeks ago and asked him to let the outfielder know that, know matter what Abreu might hear, he wasn't being shopped.

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Now there is concern over how these rumors will affect Abreu

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/13914468.htm

But if the Phillies had been able to find a fair trade for him, he probably would be elsewhere. Abreu, 31, is expected to arrive at Bright House Networks Field tomorrow, when the team will hold its first full-squad workout. The Phillies had off-season trade talks with several teams about the rightfielder, but no proposals reached the point where the Phils asked Abreu to waive his no-trade clause.

Still, sources close to Abreu have said that he has been hurt and feels rejected by the talks. Even a little angry. He is expected to address reporters tomorrow, but don't expect him to express those feelings publicly.

Abreu typically plays it cool.

"He's a professional," Phillies general manager Pat Gillick said. "He's been here before. I expect him to show up and do his job."

But Manuel said he still planned to talk with Abreu to make sure everything is OK. And Gillick said he spoke with Abreu's agent, Peter Greenberg, recently. Phillies assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. also has talked with Abreu a couple of times over the winter.