"Here's an interesting update, courtesy of Justin Upton's agents. They tweeted earlier today that Upton does not -- contrary to a prior report -- have the M's on his no-trade list. See? Twitter is good for something.

Why would Upton's agents be putting this out there? Especially since he isn't a free agent, only bait for a trade they will have no say in? Simple. Upton, being only 23, is probably just a tad interested in reading about himself and his possible destination on the internet.

If he's happened by here or other blogs in Seattle, as I'm sure has been the case, he'll have noticed a fair bit of folks wondering what he's got against our fair city. If you think you might end up playing in Seattle, do you really want people thinking bad things about you before you even put on a uniform?

No, you don't. Remember all the speculation about Cliff Lee hating the trade last winter based on his tone of voice in one phone call with the media? Best to avoid that.

So, you call up the guys you pay to do your bidding -- they're called agents, and, despite what Scott Boras may have led you to believe, they do work for players. And you get those agents working to correct the public perception."