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AL East Notes: Orioles, Red Sox, Crawford, Yankees

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A look at a few items out of the AL East as the Blue Jays take on the Orioles in Baltimore..

  • The Orioles are still looking for ways to improve defensively and the club has some interest in Brandon Inge, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com.  Inge was let go by Detroit earlier today but made it clear that he wants to continue playing.
  • There hasn't been any talk of Will Middlebrooks being promoted in support of the struggling Kevin Youkilis, a Red Sox source told Alex Speier of WEEI.com.  So far this year, the veteran is hitting just .204/.267/.296 as Middlebrooks has looked solid for Triple-A Pawtucket.
  • Peter Gammons of MLB.com tweets that the lesson to be learned from the Red Sox's Carl Crawford "debacle" is that the club should have had his agent work with the club to help with his adjustment to a new market.  Crawford hit just .255/.289/.405 for Boston in 2011 and could now miss three months after undergoing elbow surgery.
  • Former pitcher Curt Schilling suffered the same torn anterior labrum in his throwing shoulder as Michael Pineda and believes that he could bounce back better than ever and return in less than a year, writes Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com.  Yesterday we learned that the Yankees pitcher is likely going to be sidelined for a full year.

Outrighted To Triple-A: Nate Spears

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Let's keep track of the day's outright assignments right here…

Red Sox Notes: Mike Gonzalez, Aaron Cook

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Carl Crawford had his strained left elbow examined in Boston today, though the team is still "gathering information" according to manager Bobby Valentine. Crawford had been expected to rejoin the team in early-May, but the results of these latest tests are not available yet. Here's the latest from Beantown…

  • The Red Sox are not interested in Mike Gonzalez, reports Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe (on Twitter). Yesterday we heard that the left-handed reliever could sign within ten days.
  • “I’ll make a decision when I feel like it’s time to make a decision,” said Aaron Cook to WEEI.com's Rob Bradford. Cook is pitching well in Triple-A and can opt out of his contract with Boston on May 1st. “I haven’t made a decision yet," he added.
  • In an Insider-only blog post, ESPN's Jim Bowden listed five moves that could fix the Red Sox, including trades for Miguel Montero and Huston Street.

Minor Moves: Rivera, Miller, Wolf, Thurston

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Keeping track of the day's minor moves…

  • The Red Sox signed catcher Mike Rivera, according to the Long Island Ducks' official website.  Rivera had been playing with the independent team after being released by the Brewers during Spring Training.  The 35-year-old catcher has 605 plate appearances over nine Major League seasons, mostly with Milwaukee.
  • The Rangers released Justin Miller, Anthony Andro of FOXSportsSouthwest tweets. The right-hander has a partial tear of his right UCL.
  • The Orioles released right-hander Ross Wolf, MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli tweets. Wolf, 29, posted a 4.76 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 73 2/3 innings of relief for Houston's top affiliate last year. 
  • The Phillies released Joe Thurston, Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. Thurston signed with the Phillies last month after the Astros released him late in Spring Training. The 32-year-old has a .226/.305/.323 line in 384 MLB plate appearances with the Dodgers, Phillies, Red Sox, Cardinals and Marlins. He has appeared in one MLB game since 2009.

AL East Notes: Byrd, Bowden, Hall, Valentine, Pettitte

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In lieu of their game tonight, here's a look at items on the Yankees and Red Sox..

  • With the Cubs in rebuilding mode, Marlon Byrd expected to be traded but was surprised by the timing, writes Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe.
  • Former Red Sox pitching prospect Michael Bowden might be able to find his groove with the Cubs, writes Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal.  Bowden was sent to Chicago as part of the Byrd deal and should finally be given the chance to pitch consistently at the major league level.
  • Veteran Bill Hall told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that teams assume that he will not play in Triple A because he elected free agency after failing to make the Yankees’ Opening Day roster.  In actuality, the utility man says that he opted out because of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's strange schedule in 2012.  Because of ballpark renovations, they will be playing "home" games in six different cities this season.  The 32-year-old says that he's willing to play in the minors and get started right away.
  • Buster Olney of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd) writes that manager Bobby Valentine is not to blame for the Red Sox's poor start.  Olney expects the club to comb the trade market early and wouldn't be surprised to see pitcher Aaron Cook called up to the varsity squad prior to his opt-out date.
  • Meanwhile, Valentine is rather critical of his own performance, writes Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe.
  • Andy Pettitte's comeback quickly went from an interesting story to a necessity for the Yankees, opines Mike Bauman of MLB.com.  

Quick Hits: Rays, Inge, Red Sox, Indians

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On this day in 1997, the Yankees traded Ruben Rivera, Rafael Medina, and $3MM to the Padres for players to be named later, Homer Bush, and minor leaguer Gordon Amerson.  A little more than a month later, the Padres later sent Hideki Irabu to the Yankees as one of the PTBNLs to complete the deal.  Here's a look at today's links..

Red Sox Notes: Cherington, Valentine, Bard, Cook

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A look at the Red Sox following last night’s ugly loss to the Yankees..

  • Saturday was the symbol of an organization that has made too many poor decisions in recent years, both under Epstein and new GM Ben Cherington, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  The club shouldn’t be blamed for failing to match the Phillies’ offer for Jonathan Papelbon, but they can be faulted for failing to find adequate replacements for him and Daniel Bard, knowing that they planned to make Bard a starter.
  • After last night’s game, Cherington, president Larry Lucchino, and principal owner John Henry met with Bobby Valentine.  Not much was said after the meeting but in a brief phone interview with Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com, Henry said “This is not a 14-game problem, this is 41-game problem (including the Red Sox’ 7-20 mark last September). Our pitching has been terrible over the last 41 regular season games.”
  • Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe thinks that the Red Sox should put Bard in the role of closer and recall Aaron Cook from Triple-A to fill in the back of the rotation.  Cook can request his release if he’s not on the 25-man roster on May 1st and again on June 1st.
  • Cherington hopes that Marlon Byrd will turn over a new leaf in Boston, write Peter Abraham and Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. “He’s been a good major league center fielder for a long time and is off to a tough start,” the GM said. “But our hope is that a change of scenery and maybe a new environment may get him going.”

Cafardo On Peavy, White Sox, Twins, Liriano, Rays

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The Red Sox are struggling early on in the season, but no one in the American League East seems to be off to a hot start, writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.  However, as one American League GM said, "I will never comment on any team or even my own based on April. You just don’t get a fair assessment. You may get a snapshot of what you may be short on, or what you may have overevaluated. But even then, you have to be careful about making hasty decisions in April because there’s a long way to go." Here's more from Cafardo..

  • White Sox right-hander Jake Peavy is back on some teams’ radars as a midseason acquisition after a strong start to the year.  Scouts have been impressed with Peavy’s overall stuff and the fact that he is notching strikeouts and throwing 92-93 m.p.h.  Peavy, 30, earns $17MM this season and the White Sox would likely have to take on a portion of what’s remaining if he’s dealt.  However, he has a partial no-trade to eight teams and the White Sox may not part with him if they're still relevant in July.
  • The Twins had some bites on Francisco Liriano this winter but didn’t pull the trigger.  Because Minnesota probably won’t re-sign him, they're hoping to land a prospect or two for him at the trade deadline.  He'll have to pitch better for that to happen, however.
  • If the Rays pitching is clicking as expected, Wade Davis will be trade bait at some point this season.  So far though, in his current role as long man, scouts love what they see.
    A longtime National League scout who has been keeping an eye on the Rays this season says that the club could use another bullpen piece.
  • There has been some questioning of Blue Jays manager John Farrell’s pitching moves at times, according to a major league source.
  • Cafardo asked Pedro Martinez whether he could pitch right now and he responded, "Not right now. I would need about 20 days."
  • Cafardo is surprised that Ivan Rodriguez is retiring and one National League GM said that the veteran, "is probably better defensively right now than 75 percent of the catchers in the league."

Quick Hits: Red Sox, Angels, Garcia

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A few odds and ends as a rather eventful Saturday in MLB winds down …

  • Red Sox GM Ben Cherington offered embattled manager Bobby Valentine a vote of confidence following this afternoon's disheartening loss. Cherington told reporters, such as CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler, that he's "very satisfied" with Valentine's performance, noting that the skipper is doing the best he can with the current roster (Twitter link).
  • To that end, Cherington did allow that the team's sluggish 4-10 record "does increase the urgency" to find solutions for a battered pitching staff, tweets Alex Speier of WEEI.com.
  • The money saved in the acquisition of Marlon Byrd will not affect the Red Sox's luxury-tax calculation, according to Speier, a loophole MLB recently closed (Twitter links).
  • Touted Angels infield prospect Jean Segura's future with the club may be in question now that the Halos have locked up shortstop Erick Aybar and second baseman Howie Kendrick to long-term contracts, writes Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com.
  • The Halos have not fared particularly well in signing relievers to multiyear contracts of late, writes Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, a trend that GM Jerry Dipoto is trying to rectify by piecing together a cheap but effective bullpen of undervalued types. The Angels' list of relief flops includes the likes of Brian Fuentes, Justin Speier and Fernando Rodney.
  • Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he still has faith in Freddy Garcia when asked whether the right-hander was "running out of time," according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. Garcia has gotten off to a poor start, including an ugly outing today, and is a candidate to be moved (either to the bullpen or perhaps elsewhere) when Andy Pettitte is called up from the minors.

Red Sox Acquire Marlon Byrd From Cubs

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Cubs outfielder Marlon Byrd confirmed that he has been traded to the Red Sox, tweets Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com. The Cubs will receive Michael Bowden and a player to be named later in exchange for Byrd while paying all but roughly $400K of his $6.5MM salary (the prorated minimum), according to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com (via Twitter).

The Red Sox designated infielder Nate Spears for assignment to make room for Byrd on the 40-man roster, the club announced. Spears, 26, appeared in four games with Boston this season, including today's loss to the Yankees.

Meanwhile, the player to be named will not be left-hander Andrew Miller, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com. 

Byrd, 34, has just three singles and one walk in 47 plate appearances this season, resulting in a .070/.149/.070 batting line. He hit .276/.324/.395 in 482 plate appearances last season while missing time with multiple fractures after taking a pitch to the face, an injury that occurred in Fenway Park. Byrd is in the final season of his three-year, $15MM contract and will earn $6.5MM this year. He is not in Chicago's lineup this afternoon.

Ellsbury's subluxed his right shoulder last week and there is still not timetable for his return. Carl Crawford is also on the shelf with wrist and elbow problems, leaving the Red Sox with an outfield of Jason Repko, Ryan Sweeney, Cody Ross, and Darnell McDonald. Byrd has played center field exclusively during his time with the Cubs, though he has experience in all three outfield spots.

Boston has been actively exploring the outfield market following Jacoby Ellsbury's shoulder injury.  The deal will be announced after today's Red Sox game, according to Levine's tweet.

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

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