Lazy Sunday at the Rumor Mill

With a late Lazy Sunday (something was happening in Pittsburgh this afternoon), there’s very little happening in reality with the Indians (at least if you just check your local fishwraps…who have nothing on the Tribe today with OSU and the Browns taking up all of the ink).

Regardless, let’s take a quick turn around the Rumor Mill for everything being said nationally about the Erie Warriors. Keep in mind that all of these “reports” should be taken with a grain of salt the size of a beach ball as they’re often nothing more than the fanciful thinking of a beat reporter or a bunch of writers sitting at a bar writing on napkins. Every so often, one of these “rumors” has merit and is grounded in fact; but most of the time, they’re simply large projections on “whispers” that someone heard from a guy who heard it from a guy who heard it from a guy…and on and on.

That, of course, doesn’t take the fun out of looking at them:
Here’s the latest Jason Bay to Cleveland noise, although reading the whole article makes me think that we’ve found the equivalent of Roger Brown in the Great White North (how about that Tom Brady-Calvin Klein News!) as the only real reason Bay is mentioned is because he’s Canadian.

From the Gotham Baseball Magazine is news that the Yankees and Mets are interested in Shoppach, and that Shoppach’s name came up multiple times while Shapiro and Mets’ GM Omar Minaya discusses…Cliff Lee?
The text is a bit of a way down, so here’s the gist of it:
The scouts that Gotham Baseball Magazine have spoken with this week -- in preparation for our third straight trip to the Winter Meetings -- are all in agreement that Cleveland backup catcher Kelly Shoppach is one of baseball's up-and-coming prospects.

They also are very sure that both the Yankees and Mets are actively keeping tabs on the young backstop, in hopes of dealing for his services.

The Mets' needs are more immediate, as their interest in Yankees' backstop Jorge Posada are a bit "overblown" said one agent. Though Mets GM Omar Minaya's talks with Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro this past week were said to be more about Tribe starter Cliff Lee, as many as three industry sources have told GBM that "Shoppach's name came up more than once."

The Indians aren't looking to deal Shoppach, but might be willing to listen if a package included Mike Pelfrey or Aaron Heilman.

Shapiro has stated that he’s not averse to making any deal if it can help the club, but the lack of a suitable replacement Catcher on the roster (those who think that Wyatt Toregas is ready to be the back-up C, raise your hand) would seem to preclude Shoppach from getting dealt right now. If, however, Shapiro was blown away by an offer from Queens, a back-up Catcher can be found pretty quickly.

The Phillies are looking for a 4th or 5th OF to shore up their suddenly depleted OF depth. Would that include some former Phils who reside in LF at the Jake? Probably not, as they’d be more interested in a player like Francisco, but would probably have little to offer the Tribe as the two teams just don’t match up very well in terms of positions of strength and weakness.

Outside of that, all’s pretty quiet on the Northern Front on a weekend that Cleveland fans would probably like to forget.