Ken Rosenthal has recent columns up here and here, as always they are excellent reads. Ken always manages to get some intriguing quotes from scouts and provide his own insight.
- Rosenthal makes a strong case for Roger Clemens joining the Red Sox. He describes a Catch-22 – a team’s need for Clemens increases as its pitching struggles, but Clemens doesn’t want to join a struggling team. If he really wants to play for the team most likely to win a World Series, the Astros might be out.
- Although Eric Gagne looked strong in his inning against Seattle, it’d take a lot to pry away Akinori Otsuka from Texas. Otsuka is signed through 2009. Rosenthal thinks the Rangers would only deal him for a young center fielder. Not too many teams have young center fielders to spare. The Devil Rays, maybe, but they don’t need Otsuka right now.
- Rosenthal doesn’t see the sense in a Brad Lidge to the D-Rays type of deal, and expects the Astros to try to restore the reliever’s confidence somehow.
- One of Rosenthal’s scout friends contends that Chad Cordero would not hold up in the American League. Fantasy leaguers, take note.
- The two April trades that seemed likely to go down, involving Jose Capellan and Byung-Hyun Kim, seem unlikely currently. I’m surprised about Capellan…maybe Doug Melvin’s demands are too high.