Rosenthal's Latest: Lidge, Daniel Cabrera, Bonds, Edmonds

I'm not sure that trading D-Cab now makes a lot of sense and I would rather the O's keep him. I don't know how much he could fetch, but given his history of control problems I cannot imagine any GM willing to give up a ton to get him; especially because trading for him means taking him out from under Rick Kranitz tutelage. On the other hand, if he has turned the corner with his new pitch-to-contact approach then he is exactly the type of pitcher the O's need: young (26) and under control for 2 more years.

If the worst offense in the major leagues (Padres) doesn't have a place for Edmonds why would the best offense (Cubs) need him?

"Maybe the Cubbies want Edmonds to mentor Pie or something. Maybe they want a "veteran presence" in the outfield. Who knows."

No. Pie would be sent down in they sign Edmonds. If this doesn't work out, they can still just release him in a month and get someone like Ibanez at the deadline, or just bring Pie right back after getting more at bats. I don't see the harm in this at all.

"At this point Sox owner John Henry could pick up a glove and cover short better than Lugo."

Right -- but I'm not convinced Magowan doesn't have more range than Vizquel too. Those are two pretty bad options.

Jayson Stark fails to take into consideration that Pat Gillick will not be doing the negotiating with regards to signing a closer.

asm but if you move Young back to 2B, where does Kinsler go? Could Young play CF? Trade him to the Mets, they can use a 2B who has knees.

Without any stats to back me up -- just my observations and the impression I've gotten from experts -- I don't think either Young or Kinsler could play CF. Rosenthal has Young to 3B and Blalock to 1B or corner OF, or Young to 2B and Kinsler to LF. In my opinion any of those schemes are sub-optimal. Kinsler's offense is superb for 2B but not great for a corner OF; Blalock is having a hard enough time hitting well enough to justify playing third (not that the Rangers right now have anybody that needs to be given the first-base job either, unless Shelton goes all Carlos Pena (can't rule it out)), much less 1B.

My personal preference is what you mention -- trading Young for prospects to a contender who needs a 2B. The Mets would be #1 on that list, I think. Yankees, depending on how Cano's defense develops. Kenny Williams could really torpedo the White Sox' future by making that move if Chicago's still in it in July, I like the chances of that happening. Dodgers could be an intriguing possibility. Cubs. Young is signed for another 4 years, so next offseason could be an ideal time for them to be shopping him, and they could take advantage of a pretty weak market for middle infielders and a lot of contending teams having guys leaving: Tigers, Dodgers again, Mets again, Diamondbacks in particular might make a big impact by letting Hudson walk and making a move for Young.

Of course, the question remains, if they move or trade Young before Andrus is really ready to stick in the bigs, who plays SS until then? Myself, I'd stick anyone there for half a year or so in the interest of rebuilding; you know, go out and get a Cesar Izturis just to man the post for a few months, but you never know if a major league team is willing to do something that bold.

I think to me the simple difference can be seen in how much he misses by this year vs. last. Last year when he missed he missed the zone by anywhere from 6-18 inches. This year when he misses, he is missing by 3-6 inches. Last year when he threw his breaking ball it would sometimes hit the dirt nowhere close. This year it just isn't missing much.

Today I think most batters feel like the way to get him is take, take, take and run him into a bad inning. But I think we will start seeing hitters swing more in a month or so and sitting on fastballs. DCab will have to make the adjustment eventually to rely more on his breaking ball. Though the new sinker is helping out a great deal and might curtail any impact of that midseason adjustment. He throws 2 two-seamers. One that has lateral tilt and one that is a sinker. Both go in the 88-94 mph range.

Because he throws in the 95 mph range with ease, he's one of those rare pitchers who might not need a conventional changeup because he can use a 88 mph fastball as his change of pace.