Rosenthal: Bautista for Votto Rumors, Indians, Rockies, Red Sox, Rangers

The Jose Bautista for Joey Votto pre-deadline rumors made no sense for the Blue Jays, says Ken Rosenthal, and it's not clear whether the teams ever actually discussed the possibility anyway.

The rumored trade would have made no sense for the Blue Jays because, even though Joey Votto is Canadian, Bautista's popularity with fans was made clear as he became the all-time leading vote-getter for the All-Star Game. Bautista is more athletic than Votto, which presumably makes him more versatile, and he's signed to a much better contract.

• Votto: under club control for 2 more years; $13.25M/yr
  
• Bautista: under club control for 4 more years (potentially 5); $14M/yr

Other new and notes around MLB:

Indians traded their two best pitching prospects to Colorado for Ubaldo Jimenez, but the trade wasn't just about this season, according to Rosenthal. Looking forward, Cleveland now has Jimenez, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Shin-Soo Choo are all under club control for the next two seasons, while Justin Masterson and Chris Perez are under control for the next three. Rosenthal suggests that even if the tribe doesn't win over that period, the team can still flip them for prospects -- something they've been quite good at in the past.

Back In Colorado, the Rockies wanted FIVE of Boston's top prospects for Jimenez, including Josh Reddick, Felix Doubront, Will Middlebrooks, Kyle Weiland, and Ryan Lavarnway. In return, Boston might've seen more than Ubaldo in return, like outfielder Seth Smith or Ryan Spilborghs so they could replace Reddick. Chris Iannetta and Rafael Betancourt may have also been a fit with the Red Sox.

Think the Giants overpaid for Beltran? The Rangers had enough prospects to win the deal, according to Rosenthal, in addition to MIke Adams and Koji Uehara, but would've had to substitute a different pitcher than Robbie Erlin or Joe Weiland in their deal for Adams. As we know by now, Texas just didn't go far enough, as San Fran was willing to part with its top prospect Zack Wheeler.