Rosenthal Tidbits

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.