Everyone loves a good trade, but not everyone understands how complex the process can be.
"I don't think most fans realize how hard it is to make a trade," Kevin Towers, former Padres GM and current Yankees scout told ESPN.com's Buster Olney. "They envision a quick exchange of names, then each team settles on a player who fills a need and it's over. It's a lot more complicated than that."
The story explains how long the trade process can take, with some deals starting in spring training and taking almost a full year to complete. Also, sometimes the general managers involved in a potential trade can feel just as anxious as the fans.
"[It can be like] being in high school and having the girl you've had a crush on tell you she's going to call in 20 minutes," one GM told ESPN. "Twenty minutes becomes an hour, an hour becomes two. You sit at home and you stare at the phone and it doesn't ring."
Whichever phones are ringing and not ringing over the next couple of days will go a long way in determining the way the rest of the season plays out. It seems, though, that the GMs involved aren't even sure how things will play out.
