Market for Romero Heats Up

One brief trade market update today, the day after the Joe Mays Demise (JMD) set in for the remainder of the season. Jayson Stark reports that Joe Randa is off the market and J.C. Romero is a hot commodity (ESPN insider required).

First, losing out on Randa is a pretty huge relief. Given the choice between the faltering Mike Cuddyer and an empty .300 hitter who hasn’t hit .300 since 2000, I think I’ll default to the youth movement, because there is some hope for improvement. Anyway, Randa is reportedly headed to San Diego, where the Padres needed to replace a slap-hitting but pop-less third basemen for their pennant run. Apparently, they felt that the best alternative to Sean Burroughs was an older player who has never won who has similar trouble hitting for power, and who will probably hit less singles in Petco. I don’t have a problem with cutting bait on Burroughs for the stretch run, but they should at least have an alternative that is clearly better.

More good news on the Romero front, as an official from another team insists that they will not trade the lefty for a “rent-a-player,” meaning Mueller-for-Romero won’t happen in its current form (collective sigh of relief). Stark had little more to say about Romero, other than idly bandying about the names of other infielders on the market, such as Alfonso Soriano and Shea Hillenbrand. He also pointed out that the market for lefty relievers has dried up, leaving the Twins with an increasingly valuable commodity.