Thirsty Thursday

Well let's just jump right in today. The lineup includes, trade talks from the NBA and MLB, and Miguel Tejada Continues His Streak. Let's do it.


Trade Scenarios for Players on the Block

There are several players who are supposedly on the trading block in both the NBA and MLB and while these might not be trade scenarios that are overly likely or that are being talked about, we're going to take a look at a couple deals that I think could or should be made. Just some things to think about.

Ken Griffey Jr.

Well Griffey says he would welcome a trade to the Cubs, but who would the Cubs give up? Certainly even with the year Junior is having, Felix Pie would not be available and I don't know who else would make the Reds pull the trigger on a Griffey deal. A scenario that I think should get a look is Griffey to the Red Sox. Boston could offer CoCo Crisp who has started heating up and perhaps just needs a change of scenery to return to his form in Cleveland and young arm Craig Hansen who still has great stuff but has soured a bit in the eyes of the organization. If that deal isn't sweet enough for the Reds, Boston could add Brandon Moss or David Murphy to the mix. Both are hitting well in AAA Pawtucket and would complete a pretty solid three player package to offer Cincy.

Another possible destination for Griffey could be Atlanta. The Braves are currently using a platoon in one of their outfield spots and Griffey would certainly be an upgrade. Plus there has always been speculation of Junior to the ATL, possibly because of its proximity to Florida (his offseason home) and the fact that they are almost always in contention. Ken Griffey Jr. to the Cubs just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me but I guess we will just wait and see. Be on the lookout for a deadline deal to the Braves or Red Sox.

Kevin Garnett

A Kevin Garnett deal to the Celtics has been where all the talks have been but that doesn't seem likely to get done, and KG himself said he would like to be traded to the Suns, but the idea of Garnett playing for Phoenix has to be terrifying for every team in the West. Just for kicks I'll give a scenario of The Kid to the Suns and then I'll give you an alternative possibility. First of all the Suns aren't going to give up Amare Stoudemire so just forget about a straight up swap there. A likely possibility would involve Shawn Marion going to Minnesota as the main piece in the trade along with possibly Raja Bell and Marcus Banks to even things out a little bit. That would actually be about as good of quality as the Timberwolves could hope to get in a trade for Garnett. Marion is a 20/10 guy, Raja Bell is a good shooter and scorer and a very capable point guard, and Marcus Banks is actually a very quality guard who kind of just could never get in the flow of the Suns offense. Banks was at the disadvantage of backing up Steve Nash in a system that was designed to be run by Steve Nash. No offense to Banks, but no one in the league can do the things Nash does. Banks never really had a chances to succeed in Phoenix. This trade really is pretty fair and could actually happen. Some minor adjustments would probably have to get made in order to make the salary situations work but I'm not an accountant so I will leave the number crunching to someone with a degree in it.

Here is a different scenario that I think could work as well. KG to the Lakers has always been a pipe dream of LA fans, but maybe it isn't so unrealistic after all. The Lakers could offer Lamar Odom, Smoosh Parker and Jordan Farmar for KG and *insert name of random back-up point guard here*. Again there would probably be other players involved for salary cap reasons but they would likely be inconsequential salary dumps for the most part. You say this deal doesn't look that fair, but Odom is one of the most unique talents in the league. If you think about it, he is kind of the original version of Kevin Durant, except he's probably a better passer than Durant ever will be. With all of the hype surrounding Durant heading into the draft that sounds crazy right now, but Odom and Durant are very similar players in my mind. Except of course Odom can likely bench his body weight. Not saying this deal will happen, but especially if Kobe gets traded, look for the Lakers brass to make a splash like this in order to stop the bleeding with its fanbase.


Tejada Continues Streak, but not Right Way

Miguel Tejada continued his consecutive games played streak Thursday, extending it to 1,152 games, only aproximately 1,500 shy of Cal Ripken's record. Tejada is currently the active leader in consecutive games played but there was some controversy about how the streak lived on in Thursday's game. Tejada was hit by a pitch on the wrist Wednesday night and could barely hold the bat tight enough to bunt in his only plate appearance on Thursday. Tejada reached on a fielder's choice and was promptly removed for a pinch runner. The Orioles had moved Tejada into the number two spot in the batting order so he could get his at bat, and get out of the game quicker. There was really very little deception in what they were trying to do. Cheaply allow Tejada to continue his streak when he was clearly not fit to play. I am all for pursuing records and everything, but this is ridiculous and it makes a mockery of the Iron Man record. What makes the record great is that Cal Ripken was able to go out for over 2,600 straight games and try and help his team win and when Ripken was nearing the end of his career and felt like the team had a better chance to win with someone else in his spot, he told the manage to sit him down. That's what this record is all about, not about how many games you can get an at bat in so you can bunt with a broken wrist.

As it turns out, Tejada's wrist is broken and his streak will likely come to an end in Baltimore's next game, but even cheaply extending his mark by one game is too many. Maybe I'm overreactive, but this really just didn't sit well with me. I am not claiming that I'm being rational about this at all, I just really was not a big fan of this move when I heard about it.

Thats all for today folks, enjoy your Friday.