Chron: Trade complete; Chicago Tribune: No trade
Drayton McLane cheerleader and Chron Astros writer Jesus Ortiz excitedly announced this morning that the Astros were putting the finishing touches on a big trade:
The Astros are set to announce the acquisition of Jon Garland from the Chicago White Sox in a trade that will bolster the starting rotation and place him behind ace righthander Roy Oswalt.
The deal was close, according to Tal Smith, the Astros’ president of baseball operations. It will be announced shortly at Walt Disney's Swan and Dolphin Resort this morning.
[snip]
The rumor at the winter meetings is that Willy Taveras and Taylor Buchholz will be sent to the White Sox for Garland, but Smith wouldn't divulge the players the Astros will send to Chicago.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the White Sox are flatly denying the rumor:
White Sox officials strongly knocked down a report Thursday morning that they were close to trading 18-game winner Jon Garland to Houston for pitcher Taylor Buchholz and speedy center fielder Willy Taveras.
The Houston Chronicle reported on its web site that the trade was close to completion, but Sox general manager Kenny Williams said he had no trade to announce before leaving the winter meetings.
"We have nothing going on," Williams said.
Williams admitted the Sox were "close to about four or five things, but they didn't materialize for us for various reasons."
Well, they can't both be right. Stay tuned!
UPDATE: The Tribune apparently nailed it. In his latest dispatch (actually, a rewrite of the earlier story, at the same link -- VERY ANNOYING), Jesus Ortiz admits the deal seems to be off, but supplies lots of new rumors (rumors being what we expect in quality newspapers!):
Just hours after the Astros were extremely optimistic about landing Garland, it appeared as though the Astros’ trade talks for Garland hit a serious snag and possibly even died.
[snip]
There are plenty of rumors circulating in the lobby at Walt Disney’s Swan and Dolphin Resort, including one that the trade may have stalled because of medical concerns over one of the players the Astros offered.
SI.com reported that the deal fell through because Taylor Buchholz failed a physical. The White Sox might have shied away from the deal because of questions about Buchholz, but it is not true that he failed a physical, according to Buchholz.
If you don't have facts, print rumors. If you don't have enough rumors, print rumors from another news organization.
Gotta love that Astros beat reporting from the Chronicle.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/07/06 11:56 AM | Print | Comments (1)
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