Blue Jays starter Brandon Morrow is likely out for the season due to an entrapped radial nerve in his right forearm, a source told Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca last night. The issue is likely to be treated with extended rest rather than surgery, Davidi adds. The Blue Jays have since announced that Morrow will be out for approximately six weeks. Morrow, who turns 29 tomorrow, is under contract for $8MM next year and has a $10MM club option for 2015. The Blue Jays are finished this year, as a seven-game losing streak has dropped them to 11 games out in the wild card. Elsewhere in the AL East…
- The Red Sox appear "just as likely to stand pat as they are to add another reliever," writes Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald. He says the team has not stepped up its search despite losing Andrew Bailey for the season, though they continue to monitor the market.
- "We explained to him that this is financial lunacy," agent Seth Levinson said in reference to Dustin Pedroia wanting to approach the Red Sox as early as 2011 about spending the rest of his career in Boston (WEEI's Alex Speier reporting). "Money was never really a factor," explained Levinson, who also said Pedroia chose years over salary partly to avoid becoming a contract albatross.
- Contract offers of more than five years are hard to come by, Rays third baseman Evan Longoria told Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal, and he understands why Pedroia left "a few extra dollars lying on the table." Longoria did so himself in a pair of contract extensions.
- "There's no glaring place to be doing anything," Rays owner Stuart Sternberg told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times in regard to his club's needs. Still, the team is always looking to upgrade for the present and future.
- Along with the Yankees, the Red Sox are also still intrigued by Phillies third baseman Michael Young, a Major League source tells Andy Martino of the New York Daily News. Having dropped four in a row, the Phillies are eight games out in the NL East and worse off in the wild card.
- Cubs left fielder Alfonso Soriano "asked for a couple days to think about" a potential trade to the Yankees, president Theo Epstein told reporters including Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune yesterday. Adding Soriano would be a "good first step" for the Yankees, writes Mike Axisa of River Ave. Blues, but the team still has to address needs at third base and behind the plate.
- Cuban outfielder Dariel Alvarez, who recently signed with the Orioles for $800K, "struggles against live pitching," according to scouts who spoke to Baseball America's Ben Badler.
