BS Detector

I've been sent this link a couple times and I see it being discussed in the comments. I wasn't really planning on weighing in because I don't think it has much substance, but people seem kind of panicky over it, so I'll toss my two cents into the hat.

The rumor is that the Pirates and Braves had mostly agreed on sending Jason Bay to Atlanta for four prospects, most likely including Brett Lillibridge and Brandon Jones, only to have the deal nixed by ownership. Let's put this one through the ringer:
  • It's from Mark Bowman, the Braves MLB.com beat writer. You know what MLB.com beat writers can be like.
  • Lillibridge has been terrible since being traded to the Braves and is maybe a fringe prospect at this point, if we're being kind. Jones is a semi-promising 24-year-old outfield prospect. Given what Huntington just traded for, does it seem like either one would be on his radar?
  • The Braves are almost certainly shopping Mark Teixeira and looking to sell at this deadline. Why would they be interested in Bay?
  • The deal was nixed by the ownership? Has Bob Nutting seemed even remotely interested in the day-to-day baseball operations since he hired Coonelly last year?
Now, I don't have any inside information and I don't pretend to be inside of Neal Huntington and Frank Coonelly's head and this rumor could very well be true, but looking over just about every aspect, I don't see a whole lot of traction for this one.

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