It is questionable whether the Diamondbacks will pull the trigger on any trades between now and the trading deadline on July 31. It is not that the Diamondbacks are not willing to make a trade. The issue is whether the Diamondbacks can afford to make a deal. With attendance down again this year, Arizona expects to lose more money than they did last season. This makes it extremely difficult to add more payroll when revenues are declining. Given the current financial situation, the only move the Diamondbacks may make would be to transfer equal payroll or perhaps unload some of their higher price players. Regardless of this situation, there are still a couple of trade rumors that continue to make the rounds.
Before last week's series with the Seattle Mariners, the Diamondbacks sent scouts to look at the Mariners starting pitchers. Seattle in turn had scouts in the stands at Bank One Ballpark to look at Diamondbacks outfielders. In the most plausible trade, the Mariners would send starter John Halama to the Diamondbacks for infielder/outfielder Travis Lee. This would allow Travis to play closer to his family in Olympia. Of course after the Diamondbacks sent Lee to the minors and Halama got rocked in his outing at the BOB, it is questionable whether this trade will go through.
Another interesting trade rumor has the Diamondbacks working with the Philadelphia on a trade that will bring Curt Schilling to Arizona. ESPN is reporting that the current offer is Travis Lee, Matt Mantei, and Russ Springer for Curt Schilling. Given that the Phillies have an abundance of first basemen already and with the struggles of Byung-Hyun Kim and the emergence of Matt Mantei returning to last year's form, I do not believe this trade would be in the best interests of the Diamondbacks. It has also been noted that Philadelphia has countered asking for Byung-Hyun Kim, Vicente Padilla, Travis Lee and Geraldo Guzman in exchange for Schilling. Schilling has stated he would only consent to a trade to the Mets, Yankees, or Diamondbacks. The Mets are not in the market for a starting pitcher, the Yankees recently added Denny Neagle and are no longer interested in pitching. This leaves the Diamondbacks to try and work out a deal. It is unclear whether Arizona will pursue Schilling or stand pat with their roster and hope the starting pitching will work itself out. Given the asking price though, a deal does not look promising.
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