Hahahaha, I love Dennis Miller...erm, Joe Henderson!
One problem - the deal was never offered to the Rays.
The Rays would have done that trade in a nanosecond.
Marte is exactly the kind of player the Rays covet. He is young, with vast upside, and they could put him at third base and theoretically solve a problem position for the next decade.
The Braves did talk with the Rays about Lugo, and Marte was in the conversation, but it was more of a backup plan. Atlanta really wanted Boston shortstop Edgar Renteria, and that's who the Braves wound up getting.
The Rays and their 29-year-old baseball chief, Andrew Friedman, got sucked into the talks because Boston knew it would have to replace Renteria. That's where Lugo came up. He is available.
Somewhere during two days of discussions, Boston decided to cut the Rays out of it and do the deal straight up. Word soon circulated that Friedman messed things up by demanding extra players and putting such onerous conditions on the trade that Atlanta general manager John Schuerholz was disgusted.
http://rays.tbo.com/rays/MGBQUDZYZGE.html
See, I'm not entirely crazy!!!
Vive Jay Sherman, Vive Quebec!
To all of those who didn't believe that I was psychotic for ripping the likes of Ken Rosenthal and Peter Gammons, thank you.
For all of those who thought that I was rambling idiot who is full of conspiracy theories, you're half right...I'm a rambling fool, a rambling fool whose right! HOW ABOUT DEM APPLES?