ESPN Rumor Central items of the day:
The Brewers are apparently close to acquiring free-agent-to-be slugger Adam Dunn from the Reds, in exchange for Tony Gwynn Jr., reliever Matt Wise and an infield prospect.
The Red Sox are interested in acquiring a left-handed reliever and are focussing on Damaso Marte from the Pirates. "Marte is holding lefty batters to an .087 batting average (four hits in 46 at-bats). The Red Sox's present lefty specialist, Javier Lopez, hasn't been nearly as effective against left-handed batters as they are batting .286 (14 hits in 49 at-bats) against him."
Keith Law has an interesting column up where he lists the teams he thinks are on the borderline for being buyers or sellers ... so anyone below them is a seller, while anyone with a better record is a buyer.
Buyers
Phillies (46-45)
Cubs (46-43)
Yankees (45-44) "strategic buyers"
Twins (48-43) "strategic buyers"
Sellers
Rockies (45-46)
Blue Jays (45-46) "strategic sellers"
A's (44-47)
Law says this specifically about the Jays: "A comeback this year isn't impossible, but it's unlikely, especially with the Mariners and Twins in front of them in the wild-card race and the Yankees at their side. So it makes sense for the Jays to sell, but to do so strategically, with an eye toward their 2008 playoff chances rather than a longer-term rebuilding process, which wouldn't make sense given their very thin farm system."
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