A Tale of a "False" Rumor

by user DNL

August 1 -- the aftermath.

In baseball, August is a month of minor deals and odd transactions, as the waiver wire becomes a necessary conduit toward any trades of note. And it also gives us a chance to look back at July, a month full of rabid trade rumors, most of which fell short of completion.

Fans -- we feel snakebitten. We blame ESPN and other sources that have breaking "news," only to find out that the new wasn't true.

Well, my experience suggests that the news was true -- and it changed.

Let's go back in time to December 15, 2002. The New York Mets let Edgardo Alfonzo walk. He'd sign a four-year contract with the San Francisco Giants a days later. But, on that date, I got word from a source in the San Diego Padres organization, which I posted to my long-dead blog:

EXCLUSIVE! PADS OFFER ALFONZO CONTRACT:

Surprised? I am. But a source close to the Padres organization (sorry for pulling a Gammons) tells me that San Diego has offered Edgardo Alfonzo a four-year deal, and its so far the best on his table. I've also heard somewhere -- WFAN? -- that the Pads are going to sign Mark Loretta. That'd give them basically four guys that can play third, with Sean Burroughs and Phil Nevin being the other two. Nevin will probably move to first, displacing Ryan Klesko to the outfield. Burroughs, I figure, will play third. Alfonzo would go back to 2b (where he wants to be), and Loretta would be a utility infielder. At least that's how I would do it, unless Loretta can play SS. We'll see. Maybe the Loretta offer isn't as absolute as I thought.

UPDATE: In fact, if the Pads sign Alfonzo, I'm told that Loretta won't get a contract from them. And Klesko would stay at 1B, with Nevin moving to a corner OF position.

UPDATE 2: I wasn't wrong, because it's likely that the Giants beat the Pads offer (and have Bonds). But Edgardo isn't a Padre.

So, what happened? Alfonzo apparently took a slight discount to play in Candlestick (or whatever that new park is called -- it should be Mays Field). Or maybe the Giants made a late phone call and upped the dollars. Or maybe Alfonzo just didn't like San Diego. He ended up in San Fran -- who knows why? (If anyone has a chance to ask him, though, please do.)

In most cases, what we hear is the truth. Just because things don't take their logical progression to completion doesn't change that.