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The Mercury News
The Mercury News
It’s a clear, crisp, late-January day in the middle of the Major League Baseball lockout, but the hot stove is on fire. “What’s it going to take to get me Ohtani?” a voice from across the table inquires. “I’m willing to overpay for that guy.” A few feet away, a small group watches with great interest as numbers are traded and then punched into cellphone calculators. In the end, negotiations for another of the game’s biggest stars fall apart before it really gets serious: “I’d love Trout, but you’re just asking too much; people are starting to figure out he’s kinda overrated.” No, this isn’t a …