Odds and Ends: Lester, Arbitration, Beimel

Links for Friday…

• RotoAuthority hosts a roundtable discussion of the worst fantasy picks of the first three rounds.
• Nationals president Stan Kasten expects "heavy trade talk," given the team’s surplus of first basemen/outfielders.  Nick Johnson is the most likely candidate.
• Mark Sweeney may be forced into retirement, according to Tony Jackson of the L.A. Daily News.
• Joe McDonald of the Providence Journal wonders if Jon Lester could be the next Red Sox player to get a long-term extension.
• Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball analyzes the salary arbitration class of 2009.
• Brian McTaggart of the Houston Chronicle has Astros GM Ed Wade explain split contracts.
• Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes the Yankees outfielders and Scott Boras clients Xavier Nady and Johnny Damon have been affected by the Stanford financial scandal.
• MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan says Joe Beimel turned down a minor league offer from the Rangers about a month ago. Tough time to be a lefty reliever.