Rule of thumb for reading interviews from Jack Zduriencik. Whatever he says...believe the opposite unless you have independent confirmation. :)
Of course, in this case, I do in fact believe the market is quiet (independently confirmed by the lack of trades everywhere else)...and I think it's because there are too many teams in contention this year and too many of the teams eliminated from realistic shots at contention are beseiged with drama, bad-value contracts, financial distress, or a surreal lack of talent depth. The guys still in it right now, realistically, would be:
Yankees
Red Sox
Rays
Jays
Indians
Tigers
White Sox
Rangers
Angels
Mariners
Phillies
Braves
Cardinals
PIRATES (!!)
Reds
Brewers
Giants
D-Backs
Rockies
Of the teams currently eliminated from contention, the Orioles don't have the position currently to give up bats...they've got injuries (Scott would potentially have been a target, for example), bad performances, and not a lot of AAA depth. The Royals have a ton of position player prospects, but that's their only hope to get their pride back going forward...they need to develop more before they start moving the chips around looking for pitching. The Twins got blown up by the injury hijacker and had no hitting to offer anyway other than Kubel, who they might prefer to lock up cheaply if they can. Oakland might actually have a worse offensive outlook than Seattle. Florida can't afford to trade for guys about to hit arbitration and they need to hold the two or three interesting bats they do have. The Nats aren't exactly overflowing with extra bats to trade for or minor league depth in the offensive department. The Cubs are a total mess...and I don't think any of the guys they'd be offering we'd actually want. The Astros have some interesting pieces...but...Pence is going to take a while to get the market pulse on so we have to wait. The Dodgers have Kemp and Ethier, but their problems are large and they don't have a ton of time to figure out the on-field product right now. The Padres have nothing we'd want... And you're not going to get a big bat from teams still in contention without paying twice what he's worth.
Sooooo...we're going to have to be patient. Stinks, don't it?
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