Soriano to White Sox? Not so fast.

Major League Baseball : News : Major League Baseball News

We don’t know how this thing is going to turn out, of course, but my reaction yesterday to the so-close Soriano for McCarthy deal was that it sounded like a typical last-minute leak intended to either sink or force an agreement. Most trading deadline deals have a whiff of surprise about them, because it is very hard to operate when everyone is standing around commenting on what you’re doing.

The denials of Kenny Williams (McCarthy is going nowhere) and Jim Bowden (There is no deal for Soriano) may just be window dressing, allowing them time to put all the pieces in place, but when it comes to baseball trading at the deadline, it’s best to remember that where there’s smoke there often isn’t any fire.