New rumor: Gavin Floyd to Baltimore for Brian Roberts? [Updated]

January 3, 4:47 PMChicago White Sox ExaminerJJ Stankevitz

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Well, I just finished writing up my last article and was about to go watch the Sugar Bowl, but came across this bit of news from MASN in Baltimore:

The two sides have discussed former Mount St. Joe pitcher Gavin Floyd as a starting point in trade talks. The Orioles might need more, though the White Sox would want it to be straight-up, since they'd be surrendering a 17-game winner.

Wow. As much as I wouldn't mind seeing the Sox selling high on Floyd, this wouldn't make any sense. Despite the excellent offensive numbers, the 31-year-old Roberts will become a free agent after this season and will probably be looking to maximize on his value and net a big contract following the '09 season.

What Roberts would likely amount to for the White Sox would be an expensive one-year rental. That's not what this team needs right now—they need pitching if they want to contend.

It wouldn't cost the Sox just Floyd to get Roberts, too. And unless a major spending spree would follow, this move would deplete the pitching staff to a point where no amount of insane offensive production from Roberts could get this team to the playoffs.

More on this as details come out—but something better not happen between 8:30 and tomorrow morning, because I'm SOL with the publisher maintenance.

Update, 4:47 PM—

Kubatko has an update/clarification on his original report, and it seems to indicate that Williams called Orioles GM Andy MacPhail to kick the tires on Roberts and MacPhail brought up Floyd's name. A Floyd-for-Roberts straight up trade doesn't make any sense on its own, so if Baltimore is asking for Chris Getz in addition to Floyd for Roberts, there's no chance this rumor amounts to anything.

Everybody who has seen this rumor has quickly figured out how bad of a trade it would be for the White Sox. Jim at Soxmachine has a concise writeup on how the trade doesn't make sense for the Sox, so I'm not going to waste anyone's time with another writeup on this rumor.

What I'm more interested in is if the Sox are shopping Floyd. I don't think they are, but if more details come out on this maybe we'll find out if Floyd was offered by Williams or requested by MacPhail. Given that Floyd is only one year away from arbitration, maybe the Sox are willing to deal him if the price is right. At 25 and coming off a successful 2008, his value likely will never be higher—and, again, if the Sox are doing everything short of clipping coupons to save every dime they have, trading Floyd for a package of prospects would help the team save some (not a lot, but some) money in the long run.

However, if Williams indeed is interested in Roberts, it means he thinks the Sox can contend in 2009. Trading Floyd would severly hinder the Sox' already slim chances of contending in 2009, as the team just wouldn't have enough pitching.

If Williams is committed to reloading and making a run at 2010, then trading Floyd (not for Roberts) would make a lot of sense.

I don't see that happening, though. But hey, at least there's something to talk about involving the White Sox.