Tampa Bay Rays: James Shields Is Apparently No Longer Available

It seems as though Rays general manager Andrew Friedman is dealing with a bout of schizophrenia these days.

Or maybe he is just having fun screwing with his MLB counterparts.

On July 18, Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com tweeted that everyone on the Rays' roster—save for David Price and Matt Moore—would be available at this year's trade deadline.

Today, Knobler tweeted the following: "Shields makes sense for Tigers, but while rival teams think he can be had, Rays apparently telling teams, 'Not yet'."

Conflicting reports may not be a new thing at the old rumor mill, but Shields has been presumed available for quite some time. So it is indeed rather surprising that he has allegedly been taken off the block.

Of course, "not yet" does not mean never. But with just a week-and-a-half left to get a deal done during the 2012 campaign, "not yet" may mean not this year.

While word about protecting Shields has emerged, it's surprising that there's been no word on Jeremy Hellickson. He seems to be the more obvious choice to keep off of the market, but there has been silence on that front. 

It's difficult to know what to take away from all the noise surrounding the Rays as the 2012 trade deadline approaches, but things seem to become less certain—and more interesting—with each passing day.