More from Jayson Stark's Rumblings and Grumblings column today…
- Stark rattles off a bunch of starting pitchers teams are "tracking" in advance of the trade deadline: Roy Halladay, Jake Peavy, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Aaron Harang, Erik Bedard, Kevin Millwood, Mark Buehrle, Doug Davis, Chris Young, Andy Pettitte, Bronson Arroyo, Jonathan Sanchez, Andy Sonnanstine, Jeff Niemann, Jason Marquis, Vicente Padilla, Jeff Suppan, and Russ Ortiz. Not all of these guys are actually available, so check out the article for more analysis.
- Teams are "backpedaling away" from Vladimir Guerrero as a free agent option after the season. One scout sees Vlad as a DH right now.
- C.C. Sabathia downplayed the importance of the out clause in his contract, talking to Stark. Sabathia said it was "just something my agent came up with, and I just went with it." Stark is skeptical though; he thinks the clause was specific to New York.
- Stark talked to a baseball man familiar with the Rays' thinking who sees "zero chance" they don't exercise Carl Crawford's $10.125MM option for 2010. The Rays have a three-year outlook on the budget.
- With Jason Isringhausen ready within a few weeks, the Rays may have a surplus in the bullpen. Stark doesn't expect Dan Wheeler or J.P. Howell to be moved, but teams are tracking them.
- Stark sees Jorge Cantu as a trade candidate after the season. He figures to make $5-6MM through arbitration.
