Cafardo On Starting Pitching Market

While it was written BR (Before Roger), Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe had a good article yesterday discussing attainable starting pitchers.

• On the topic of Rich Harden, Cafardo quotes some GMs saying he is indeed available if a team will give up a bonanza of young talent.  The A’s have publicly denied shopping him, but I’ve heard otherwise and Cafardo’s sources agree.  As we keep repeating, Harden will need to come back strong for at least a few weeks before anything gets done.
• As we discussed earlier, the Giants might find Matt Morris or Noah Lowry expendable if Tim Lincecum settles in.  Peter Gammons believes Brian Sabean wants a young position player in return, though any kind of Melky Cabrera deal is probably off the table now.
• Casey Fossum and his $2.2MM salary are certainly available.  I’ve heard the same in chatting with RJ of Drays Bay.  Hard to find much to like in Fossum’s performance the last couple of years, though.  And if you want more expensive junk, Eric Milton makes $9MM this year.
• With the way Fausto Carmona and Adam Miller have pitched, the Tribe wouldn’t mind trading Paul Byrd.  Byrd makes $7 mil this year.  He’s walked just three in 24.2 innings and has a 2.92 ERA so far.  I’d be surprised if he’s not traded this year.
• We’ve also talked about the extra arms the Royals have right now; Odalis Perez is the most likely to go.  Cafardo throws the inconsistent Zack Greinke in there too.
• The Phillies need bullpen help, yes.  But right now they also need Jon Lieber in their rotation until Adam Eaton and Freddy Garcia show something.
• If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, right? The Brew Crew has at least six Major League quality starters right now though, considering what Yovani Gallardo has done.  Claudio Vargas at $2.5MM or Dave Bush at only $450K both have plenty of service time left. The Brewers really don’t need any kind of upgrade right now though.
• The Cards might abandon the Kip Wells experiment, especially once Mark Mulder comes back.
• A White Sox fire sale could be in order, with Mark Buehrle the first to go because of his impending free agency.
• The Rockies keep trying to peddle Josh Fogg or Byung-Hyun Kim on someone.  Kim should be gone soon, with the Tigers, Orioles, and Mariners considering him.
• I can see the Jays shipping Tomo Ohka back to the NL; he’s at least taken the ball when asked.