Dallas McPherson could hold down the fort at 3B next season and possibly be acquired for something that is superfluous around here.

…should definitely be looked into early in the offseason.

is an interesting name. 2 down years, but supposed a pretty good glove.

to the idea of trading both Blalock and Byrd in deals like the one you suggested above.

If we can flip Byrd for an intriguing arm like Edwin Jackson, I would give it a look. I know the stats (or at least the peripherals) look scary, but he still has that mid-90s heat and a developed slider. If a guy like Jackson finally clicks, it could be Volquezian.

Yesterday i threw out the name of LHP Sean Marshall as another intriguing arm who could possibly be acquired for Byrd (although I admit that one year of Byrd might have to be supplemented by another piece).

As far as Blalock, I really expect there to be some serious interest in him this winter. I love the collection of bullpen arms in the Yankees system, and I am a huge fan of David Robertson…I think he will become a dominant late inning guy down the road, but he is buried on their depth chart. A year of Blalock should garner Robertson plus one other solid piece, preferably someone who wouldn’t clog a 40 spot.

If we can turn one year of Byrd and one year of Blalock into pieces that will help us win in 2010 (I have repeated this statement so much I feel like a candidate) I will be very pleased, and I think their open market value could surprise us.

Any sense from media reports or visits to Arizona what the Rangers are thinking on Cruz? And, whether there are other teams that are drooling over Cruz?

with the Boston Globe’s article noting that this could be Varitek’s last game in a Sox uniform… I think the player to target in a fairly minor deal is Clay Buchholz. I would talk to the Sox about Masterson as well, but I’d need significantly more back if they were trying to trade us Bard or Bowden.

One of the Marlins arms (Miller, Volstad, Nolasco, or Olsen) would also be very interesting. Homer Bailey (or perhaps Micah Owings) still interests me and with Cincinnati’s need for C and OF help, I think there’s got to be a deal there.

I would love to see us deal 2 of our catchers (preferably Laird and Salty) along with a couple midlevel prospects for these kind of high upside arms. No deals intrigue me more than trading from our excess for ‘special’ arms that could impact our rotation for the foreseeable future.