The Burnett Trade Watch

Now that we've entered the month of July, it's time to dizzy ourselves with trade speculation like kids who drink too much Freshy in the sun.

Almost on cue, the Toronto Sun's Bob Elliot is reporting that the Toronto Blue Jays are shopping A.J. Burnett to any team that might need starting pitching and are willing to give up a shortstop.

While names like Edgar Renteria and Bill Hall have been bandied about, a website called Fake Teams has a kooky idea that caught my attention. They suggest that the Dodgers and Jays get together, with Burnett and David Eckstein going Hollywood in exchange for young Taiwanese prospect Chin-Lung Hu (transaltion: China Man Hu) and others.

While I'm fairly certain that this idea is absurd, the Dodgers couldn't seriously think that Eckstein would replace an injured Rafael Furcal (could they?), I do think that if they choose to move Burnett, the Jays will have to do so for a prospect, or else a player blocked for the foreseeable future on his team's depth chart.

Renteria, who seems to suffer from shittiness allergies in the American League, has an option for 2009, and at the age of 33 would be more of "win now" player, hardly the type of investment that the Jays should be looking for. Hall had an above average season two years ago, when he last played shortstop, but has since been more Marco Scutaro than Hanley Ramirez at the plate, while shuffling between centre field and third base in the field.

As I've mentioned on a certain other blog, the likelihood of Burnett opting out at the end of the season makes it hard to imagine Toronto's favourite son being traded to any team other than a contender. And the thing about dealing with teams in the hunt is that they're reluctant to give up talent that's already contributed to getting them to where they are.

Despite his recent success on the mound, according to another Jays blog, The Mockingbird, Burnett still has a ways to go before he can be considered a Type A free agent during the off season. So, a trade deadline move may not be a bad idea, but if Ricciardi can land a Major League contributing shortstop in exchange for Allan James Burnett, not only does he deserve to remain the Blue Jays general manager, he should be offered another contract extension.

Cot's Baseball Contracts has a list of potential free agent shortstops for next season.

Tim Dierkes at MLB Trade Rumors has some more ideas.