The Rays have been linked to trade rumors with the Pirates for Jason Bay and the Rangers for Milton Bradley but I have problems with both of these guys. The Pirates want a lot for Jason Bay which makes me think that they really don’t want to trade him. Milton Bradley is a time bomb and I wouldn’t give up much for him because he’s very injury prone. The Rays did a great job in the off season getting rid of headaches like Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes so it makes no sense bringing in a player that makes both of them look like choir boys. I like the idea of going after Marcus Thames of the Tigers and Josh Willingham of the Marlins. The Tigers would probably want something like Jeff Niemann and Jason Hammel from the Rays for Thames as they are desperately looking for a 5th starter. That would be worth it to take a chance on Thames who has one of the best pure power swings in all of baseball. Thames has played in 70 games for the Tigers this season and he is 54 for 206 (.262 avg, .920 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 20 homers and 43 RBIs. He’s not a platoon player either as he is hitting .269 against righties with 11 homers in 130 at bats this season. Thames has 9 homers in only 76 at bats against lefties (.250 avg). Josh Willingham is a terrible defensive outfielder but he has a solid bat. The Marlins would probably be very interested in catcher John Jaso and outfielder Justin Ruggiano. This trade also would make a lot of sense for the Rays. Willingham has played in 52 games this season for the Marlins and he is 48 for 183 (.262 avg, .839 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 8 homers and 26 RBIs. Prior to this season, Willingham has been very effective with the bat. He played in 286 games in 2006+2007 for the Marlins and he hit .271 with 137 runs scored, 47 homers and 163 RBIs. If I had to choose I would make the trade with Detroit before the one with the Marlins.