On my way to work I received a Tweet from ESPN.com's Buster Olney which informed his followers (that's what Twitter calls them) that the baseball writer's latest blog post was up, (for INSIDERS only) and in it, Mr. Olney promised some sort of news on the "O-Dog", Orlando Hudson, the 32-year-old free agent infielder who has reportedly been involved in negotiations with the Washington Nationals, though rumors of interest from other teams have surfaced and the ESPN.com writer identifies Washington, Minnesota and Cleveland as Hudson's acknowledged suitors, before exploring how nicely the '09 Gold Glove winner might fit into the Indians' lineup...Why the Indians?
I immediately thought of a recent update of FOXSports.com's Buzz: Latest from the MLB offseason" by Ken Rosenthal, which was subtitled, "Indians trying to make room for Hudson", where Mr. Rosenthal discussed a hypothetical scenario in which the Indians could trade starter Fausto Carmona, "...to clear money for free-agent second baseman Orlando Hudson." While Mr. Rosenthal quickly dismissed what he suggested saying his "baseball sources" considered it unlikely that such a scenario might actually play out, I noted that a few days before the Roy Halladay/Cliff Lee three-way deal between Toronto, Seattle and Philadelphia this winter, Mr. Rosenthal had raised such a possibility as what LA Times' sports writer Jon Weisman called at the time, a "seat-of-your-pants 'Hey, it could happen' scenario...," just days before just such a deal actually took place.
And now tonight, a quick Sports Spyder search for the latest news on Orlando Hudson unearths an article by San Chronicle staff writer Susan Slusser entitled "Brett Tomko is throwing again, looking for deal", in which free agent infielder Adam Kennedy is quoted stating, "...that he's still talking to Cleveland and Washinghton, but it seems as everything is on hold until Orlando Hudson decides where he's going." MASNSports.com's Phil Wood, in an article entitled, "Another view of Hudson", cautions fans of the Nationals who thought Orlando Hudson signing in Washington was "a forgone conclusion" that there are reasons why the Dodgers parted ways with Hudson...
Will Manny Acta and the Indians be able to lure Hudson to Cleveland? Will Washington meet Hudson's demands? Is the possibility of O-Dog in DC a near-miss for the second straight season? Are the Twins still in it? Just when I'm considering these possibilities, MLB.com's Bill Ladson sends out the following Tweet:
"#Nats have not ruled out a double-play combination of Ian Desmond at short and Cristian Guzman at second base."
I give up...Hudson's supposed to be making his decision this week...