Odds & Ends: Holliday, Red Sox, Pirates, Kazmir

Things are picking up, so we've got a fresh batch of links for you…

• The recently acquired Matt Holliday was non-committal when talking about his impending free agency, according to R.B. Fallstrom of the AP. "I'm going to enjoy myself and try to help this team get to the playoffs and to the World Series and work every day I can to be the best player I can be," Holliday said. "And leave it there. I think there's a time and a place for all those other things and when that time comes is when I'll do my evaluating."
• Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse tweets that the Red Sox have told people "they are trying to pull off something huge." Earlier today we learned that the Sox were talking about Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez with the Indians.
• Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review asked Pirates team president Frank Coonelly about the possibility of re-opening extension talks with Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson should they remain with the team past Friday's trade deadline, to which Coonelly responded "At this juncture, I wouldn't say anything is definitely closed. We'd have to see where we are. But, developments in the organization could create a situation that could make it less likely, or more likely, we'd want to extend Jack or Freddy."
• Scott Kazmir's agent, Brian Peters, reached out to Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman about recent trade rumors involving his client. Friedman indicated the rumors were "merely speculative," according to MLB.com's Zach Schonbrun.
• Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times writes that Jarrod Washburn has "let it be known he is open to a contract extension to stay in Seattle," but indicated that there has not been much discussion.
• Bruce Miles of The Daily Herald said he expects the Cubs to look for bullpen help before anything else. He names Joe Beimel and George Sherrill as players of interest.
• The Cubs have signed third round pick Austin Kirk according to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat, while Bill Ladson reports that the Nats have signed seventh rounder Andrew Weaver.