Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal report that the Pirates and Angels were, at one point, seriously discussing a deal that would have sent Garrett Jones to Anaheim and catcher Jeff Mathis to Pittsburgh.
This report is so weird, it's almost impossible to take at face value. Mathis has a career .569 OPS, including .527 in 2011 and .497 last year. Jones isn't my idea of a great player, but I don't even know what Mathis is doing on a big-league roster, much less being the subject of trade talks that also involve someone useful. It's likely that these talks, if they happened, took place when the Pirates were playing Dusty Brown and Wyatt Toregas behind the plate, but even if that's the case, I hope the Pirates were seeking other players as well, not just Mathis.
What a bizarre rumor. Good thing the Pirates didn't pull the trigger on this one.