Many players pretend like they don’t read about all the trade rumors when in fact the converse is often true. Episode 3 of “The Franchise: A Season with the Miami Marlins” on Showtime showed us that players do follow trade rumors, and some are even fascinated by them.
In the above clip (shared by Jimmy Traina), Marlins reliever Heath Bell is seen holding a USA Today page that discusses a trade rumor. Bob Nightengale reported that the Marlins contacted the Red Sox about a potential Heath Bell and Hanley Ramirez for Carl Crawford trade. The deal never went down, and Hanley was dealt to the Dodgers, but seeing Bell’s reaction was pretty funny.
Of course there is the possibility that the scene was staged and that they had Bell hold up the paper after Ramirez was dealt to the Dodgers, so that would explain his carefree attitude.
The episode was excellent just like the previous two, and if you’re not watching them you’re missing out. In another scene, Hanley Ramirez is seen watching his own trade rumors discussed on MLB Network. And in possibly the episode’s funniest moment, Omar Infante thanks the club for trading him away to the first-place Tigers.
