Links for Friday evening…
- As Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times explains, Adrian Beltre's trade value is diminishing because teams are no longer confident that he'll be a Type A free agent. This means the team that trades for Beltre can't expect two compensation picks for losing the third baseman to free agency.
- MLB.com's Mark Bowman argues that the Braves need to make an immediate change to their outfield and says there's an "indication that we'll begin to see it in the near future." He says the Braves must consider dealing the powerless Jeff Francoeur, or at least finding a more productive outfielder.
- According to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post Glendon Rusch is staying at home instead of reporting to Triple A Colorado Springs. The Rockies are expected to put him on the restricted list.
- Via Twitter, Marc Lancaster of the Tampa Tribune reports that Troy Percival, who was just placed on the DL, has gone home to ponder a future "which could be in doubt." Joe Maddon has said he "wouldn't be surprised" to see Percival hang it up, according to Marc Lancaster.
- Another piece of Rays news from the same Lancaster report – With Scott Kazmir headed to the DL, it's likely that David Price will make his long-awaited season debut in Kazmir's place on Monday.
- As MLB.com's Brian Hoch reports, Chien-Ming Wang is returning to the Yankees as a long reliever because of the team's depleted bullpen.
