Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe thinks the Rays may just trade BJ Upton this off-season.  But, he qualifies it by saying this:

“A lot would depend on how the Rays feel about tying up Crawford and whether they felt they could get more in return for him than Upton.”

How the Rays feel about signing Carl long-term is one thing.  It’s hard to guess what the price tag of doing that might be.  As for the return for Carl or BJ, it would be pretty similar, wouldn’t it?  The only difference is whether a team would take a gamble on BJ’s potential and pay more.  We’ve pretty much seen what Carl can do.  I don’t think there’s any more potential to tap into.

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That brings me to a report by Mark Feinsand and Bill Madden of the New York Daily News.  They jump on the prospect of the Rays trading Carl Crawford.  But, they also agree that the Rays will need to get a lot back if they’re going to trade during the off-season.  Interestingly, the name they throw out as bait is the Yankees’ Robinson Cano.

Can you imagine?  The Rays and rival Yankees hooking up for a trade like that?  I don’t see it.  And, while I like Robinson Cano a lot, does he really make sense for the Rays?  Not really.  Seems like these two big city writers are simply throwing names at the wall.

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Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic goes over the list of teams that might be looking for a catcher.  The Diamondbacks are looking to deal Chris Snyder, who would be a decent offensive backstop.  But, he’s coming off back problems in 2009.  And, he’s owed $4.5 million for 2010 and $5.5 million for 2011. 

Unless the D-Backs would be interested in pitchers like Andy Sonnanstine or Mitch Talbot, I don’t think the Rays enter into these discussions.