"It seems as if Joe Blanton is perpetually on the trading block. Phillies officials have gauged the market for the righthander the last two off-seasons and have done so again this winter. The widely held suspicion is that the Phils, who have a bulging payroll and luxury-tax concerns, would try to move Blanton's $8.5 million salary so they can try to re-sign free agent Roy Oswalt.

While I don't doubt that the Phils would move Blanton, I wonder if it is really tied to a desire to re-sign Oswalt. If any team knows the health risk that Oswalt presents, it is the Phillies, who dealt with his back issues last season. By all accounts, Oswalt is in good health and hungry to prove he is still an elite pitcher in 2012. But he often looked as if he had one foot out the door in Philadelphia last season -- that didn't sit well with a number of people in the organization -- and you have to wonder if the Phillies would want to go down that road again."