As trade deadline approaches, everyone is calling everyone else — about anyone

As the trade deadline looms, there's already a flood of reporting about a phone call. Yes, a phone call.

Actually, about many phone calls. Because there will be many. There have been many. There always are, always will be. Executives call executives. They poke. They prod. They explore.

Who might be available? Who might not be available? Is a player more likely to be available now, or after the season?

It's normal. It's natural. And yet, every year, it becomes fodder for breathless, box-checking reports about teams making calls or getting calls about the players who reasonably fall into the zone of those who might be traded.

Here's a quick rule of thumb to use when trying to make sense of the reporting. If the story is that a team is getting calls about a certain player, the team supposedly getting the calls is leaking it — usually in order to get more calls and in turn more offers. If the story is that a team is making calls about a certain player, one of the teams that has gotten a call has blabbed. And, presumably, that team isn't interested in the player. Otherwise, that team wouldn't want other teams to get into the running.

Here's a caveat. Sometimes, the report is that a team is getting calls when it's actually making calls. But, again, the notion that there's demand for a player will in theory help the team get a better deal.

It ultimately doesn't matter, to the best executives. They know who is or who might be available. They can see through the reporting. Some of them deliberately manipulate reporters in order to make deals happen or, in some cases, keep them from happening.

Ultimately, the question is whether both sides in a given negotiation can work out a deal. For the good executives, the reports are just noise.

That said, some owners who hear or see the reports can become antsy, either to get a player or to move a player. And if the owner gets involved, it becomes harder for the executive to get the best possible deal. And, more importantly, to project the kind of resolve in current negotiations that will become useful in future negotiations.

This is perhaps the biggest point. All deals done in a given cycle add to the overall reputation of an executive or team regarding whether they drive a hard bargain, or whether they can be had. That's why the short-term effort to win games now always must take into account how this specific deal will impact the ability to make future deals.

Again, some teams think that way. Other teams don't. Which is another reason why some teams tend to be competitive, and why other teams tend to not be.