When you write about baseball like I do, you hear all kinds of rumors. Some are wild and some are crazy and some are just plain insane. Tuesday night I received an email from a friend of mine who covers the Pirates who told me of a possible trade scenario brewing between the Pirates and Yankees. The Yankees would send Xavier Nady, Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner to the Pirates for center fielder Nate McLouth, (with New York paying about 80 percent of both Nady and Swisher’s salaries as part of the deal).

Now I want to make one thing perfectly clear. Personally, I do not believe for a minute that the Pirates would ever trade McLouth, even with Swisher, Nady and Gardner as a starting point for a deal. McLouth, as you may know, has long been a favorite of WFAN host Mike Francesa, who has deemed him to be the next great Yankees center fielder.

We’ve also been informed by AL and NL sources with knowledge of the situation that the Nationals, Reds, Dodgers and Giants are all showing interest in Nady and Swisher.

Speaking of the X-Man, it was less than three weeks ago, on Sunday, December 28th, that we first reported that the Yankees were shopping Xavier Nady. (We also later reported that teams were inquiring about Nick Swisher). Of course, I was immediately blasted by several “Mad Posters,” who told me that my sources and my information were totally wrong and that I was “off base as usual.” We kind of wonder where these same posters are now, especially since Jon Heyman, the New York Post, MLB.com and Yankees.com have all reported the very same thing.

Frank is a resident of East Brunswick, NJ and former radio announcer. He is a 4th generation Republican and Yankees Fan. He also enjoys listening to talk radio. His favorite announcer is Shawn Hannity of “Hannity” on FOX and enjoys reading about military history. In addition to rooting for the Yankees, he also has a passion for the New York Islanders. You can enjoy Frank’s work at The Dead Ball Era and his book “Bury My Heart at Cooperstown”. Check out his “Rants and Raves” on New York Baseball Digest.

Frank Russo

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Tags: Dodgers, Giants, Nate McLouth, Nationals, New York Yankees, Nick Swisher, Off Season Moves, Pirates, Reds, Xavier Nady