It's almost Thanksgiving. That means the old hot stove is heating up. It should be a great off-season.

The talk in Phoenix continues to center on Justin Upton. After having named the right field pavilion "UPTOWN" last season, new General Manager Kevin Towers feels he has the right chip to convert to difference making players for 2011. How many players isn't being discussed. Towers, no stranger to making healthy clubs out of teams on life support has indicated he is looking for a club that will be willing to overpay for Upton. Towers is honest when he says he is looking for a "win." Not a "win-win." How refreshing to listen to the words of an ol' west gunslinger who shoots from the hip. We can only hope he doesn't blow his own leg off in the process.

Would you trade Upton? Would I? All depends on the return. I'd be looking for at least two current major league players to plug into my lineup or on to my pitching staff and at least two or more major league ready players with "can't miss" labels. Prospects alone don't offer Towers the roster changes he needs to contend. He needs some veteran players with track records if he's going to ship Upton out of town.

Do I think Justin Upton will reach his potential? First and foremost, what is his potential? I have watched almost every home game Upton has played. I don't like the undeserved swagger. I do like the lightning fast swing. I don't like the lack of plate discipline. I do like the way the ball flies out of the park when he gets the barrel on the ball. I don't like the airmail throws beyond the cutoff man. I do like the speed he brings to the game. Is he a 60 (on a scale of 40-80) or is he more? The number doesn't matter. Here's all that matters:
a)- will he stay healthy? (he hasn't played an entire season yet without getting hurt) b- will he hit 30 or more homers a year? c- will he consistently drive in 110 runs? d-Will he hit .305 or higher consistently? He's only 23 years old. Is he more like B.J. Upton or Ken Griffey Jr.? You tell me. Do you trade him? Fans in Phoenix aren't jumping out of windows at the prospect of losing him.

The Yankees made a significant move that won't get much notice. They hired ex-Cub Larry Rothschild as their new pitching coach. He knows how to refine pitching mechanics and he can survive the big stage. It should help their entire staff, but especially the younger guys like Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain the most.

David Price got more votes than C.C. for the Cy. Wow-I didn't see that coming, but it makes some sense. I really don't like post season awards. Why? Derek Jeter another gold glove, that's why! And there are others. Gold gloves? Talk to me about CarGo, Torres or Chris Young and you'll get my attention. Maybe it's just the Gold Gloves that I think are tarnished.

Juan Miranda will probably get more playing time at first base for the DBacks than most people realize. When I saw him in the fall of '09 he looked like he had plenty of power. He's a pretty dead red fastball pitcher. Hello National League West. Meet Juan Miranda. He could be a real fantasy sleeper for power and RBI. Not sure about the average, but Kevin Towers saw plenty of him when Towers was with the Yankees. He'll be more than a utility player for Arizona. Augie,, Augie , Augie. Oy Oy Oy. You're probably gone, Mr. Ojeda. Too bad.
Geoff Blum is a super utility player and that was Augie Ojeda's role. Blum hit the winning bomb when the White Sox beat our Astros in the Word Series when I was a scout for Houston. It was painful because the ball just did make it over the fffffffence.

Are the Tigers really interested in VMart to catch for them? I could see going after him if they needed a first baseman. Victor is, how shall I put this...bad, very bad behind the plate. And that's bad in a bad way, not a good way. His arm is toast. But then again, didn't the Yankees get to the playoffs with one Jorge Posada behind the plate. They won't make that mistake again next year, you can be sure. I still like Bengie for the Yanks.

Bryce Harper isn't starting the Championship Game for his Scottsdale club in the AFL tomorrow. I don't get it. Is it because he was only a "taxi squad" player? He wasn't allowed to play in their Rising Stars game because he was a "taxi squad" player. That made no sense at all since the game was telecast by MLB network and the entire country could have been introduced to the #1 draft pick of 2010. But then again, does MLB always make sense?

Look for Carl Pavano to get out of the American League if he has the opportunity to pitch in a nice, quiet small market place.

The best farm team I have seen in the Arizona Rookie League, The Arizona Instructional League and the Arizona Fall League is...without a doubt the Kansas City Royals. Pitching, defense, hitting...they have players everywhere in the field. Certainly the most impressive are 3B Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez (catcher I'm going to be writing about in my weekly column. I'm crazy about this guy. Keep your eye on him, I'm telling you now.), 1B Eric Hosmer, P Mike Montgomery, 2B Johnny Giavotella,and on and on. Target the Royals in your keeper leagues.

While I'm not a huge Rajai Davis fan, I think the Blue Jays made an outstanding deal to get him.

I had a chance to see Cleveland's Adam Miller pitch in the Instructional League. He was coming off of finger surgery on his throwing hand. I was very encouraged by what I saw. If I were the Tribe, I'd give him a shot out of the bullpen. He can still throw. I'm really pulling for him. The pen is the perfect place for his stuff.

Former Blue Jays pitcher Adam Loewen was working on his stroke in the Fall League. He hit several bombs from the left side of the plate. His swing looked natural and he was putting the bat on the ball regularly. He's a long shot to make it to a big league club, but he certainly opened some eyes. That's what he wanted to do.

What to do with Prince Fielder and Adrian Gonzalez in their "walk years?" Do you wait and trade them in July if your team is in the dumpster? Do you trade them now and try to get some chips for the future? Do you hold them the entire year and get the draft choices? Just a couple more decisions that front offices have to make. Soon.

Are the Giants the new model? A couple of average bats, some very good pitching and aging, mediocre defenders in the infield. It worked. Can't complain about Juan Uribe. He played very, very well. Aubrey Huff? Who knew? But I've always liked Cody Ross. He and Buster Posey were such a great one-two punch. It was a team with a perfect blend that created the perfect storm.

Were you asking if I liked the Marlins trade? Please ask me. I sure like Uggla in the middle of the Braves lineup. I've learned never to question the Marlins. They do it with mirrors. They trade good players and somehow, some way they come up with above average pieces for their lineup that seem to work. This time I think they've gone too far. I've seen much of Mike Dunn on the mound. So far in his career he can't throw strikes. I kind of like guys that can throw strikes. Omar Infante. OK, but...? Would I move HanRam to center and play Infante at short? Well, if Ramirez has range problems at short, I think he'd have similar range (and effort) problems in center. Lots of hustle needed out there. And just where does Chris Coghlan play? Infante at third and Coghlan at 2nd? That was Coghlan's original position, right? Well, it could be a bit of a mess, but we'll let them figure it all out. They have some nice young bats, but some of those studs will miss the impact of Dan Uggla in the lineup.

I'll be at the Winter Meetings and I'll keep you posted on all the gossip. If there's none to report, I'll make some up.

I'll be wrapping up my Arizona Fall League coverage next week with my final article about the league and a blog with items that I won't include in the article. I'll write about guys I think are major league ready.

Until we meet again, remember that pitcher's and catcher's will be reporting before you can learn to pronounce Marc Rzepczynski.