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Odds & Ends: Beckham, Bedard, Bonds, Mulder

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Lots of high profile players in today’s Odds & Ends:

  • The Rays have opened contract discussions with first overall pick Tim Beckham, says Marc Topkin.
  • Phil Rogers of the Chicago Sports Tribune suggests we add Erik Bedard to the list of starting pitchers who may be available at the trade deadline.  More appropriately, Rogers also notes the M’s will most likely hold on to Bedard through 2009, a far more likely outcome.
  • Also in the longshot rumor department, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle speculates on Barry Bonds playing for the Red Sox.  Personally, I would predict there’s a 0.0% chance Bonds plays in Boston.
  • In that same piece by John Shea, Mark Mulder could be done.  He’s rejecting the idea of a third surgery and attempting to alter his delivery to remain effective and pain free.
  • Will Carroll reports Jeremy Bonderman has undergone surgery to overcome Thoracic Outlet Syndrome – as I understand it, a pinched vein causing a blood clot – and will need a minimum of 6 months to a year of recovery time.  This should keep Armando Gallaraga and Dontrelle Willis in the rotation.

By Nat Boyle

Red Sox Not Interested In Bonds

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According to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald, a club source said Barry Bonds is "not a fit" for the Red Sox.  David Ortiz may be ready to play in July, anyway.

Bonds will continue to wait for a phone call.  I believe he would’ve put aside negative feelings for Boston, had the Red Sox come calling.  Just for the fun of it, the following contending teams have gotten below-average production out of the DH spot: Indians, Tigers, Angels, Twins, Blue Jays.  You could probably find a reason for each of these clubs to pass on Bonds, however.

Will Ortiz Injury Lead To Acquisition?

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11:21pm: Terry Francona says surgery for Ortiz is "very unlikely."

9:28pm: Bad news for the Red Sox – DH David Ortiz will miss a significant chunk of the season with his wrist injury.  There’s even a chance Ortiz could need season-ending surgery.

An open DH spot in Boston is sure to light up the rumor mill.  Keep in mind, though, that the Sox could fill the vacancy internally.  For example, Manny Ramirez could DH and Brandon Moss could play left.

Plenty of bats are out there if Theo Epstein does look for outside help.  The following players may be available: Barry Bonds, Adam Dunn, Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, Brian Giles, Raul Ibanez, and Milton Bradley.

Odds and Ends: Posada, Uribe, Wise, Red Sox

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Today’s links…

  • Jorge Posada could rejoin the Yankees as early as Wednesday (a few reports suggested Tuesday). Kat O’Brien of Newsday says the Yanks will hold on to both Jose Molina and Chad Moeller for "a while" after Posada returns, but as Peter Abraham points out on the LoHud Yankees blog, the Yankees have a real need for a set-up man now that Joba Chamberlain is starting.
  • Juan Uribe has been activated from the 15-day DL, and although Ozzie Guillen said he wasn’t guaranteed  playing time, they had to make room on the roster nonetheless.  DeWayne Wise was designated for assigment. 
  • The news that Clay Buchholz has been optioned to Pawtucket comes as a shock to yours truly, but it underscores just how much starting pitching the Red Sox have right now, even with Daisuke Matsuzaka currently on the 15-day DL. Free agent pickup Bartolo Colon has worked out so far as a low-risk, high-reward signing. They’ve also got a good spot-starter in Justin Masterson, currently in Double A. And as if that weren’t enough, Curt Schilling could start throwing off a mound June 6. The odd man out could bring something useful in a trade. Just idle speculation, and I know there’s no such thing as too much pitching…but the Red Sox do have some holes to fill.

Sarah Green writes for UmpBump and the Boston Metro. She can be reached here.

Gammons On Available Pitchers

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ESPN’s Peter Gammons names ten starting pitchers who could be available in the coming months.  We’ll try to devise a comprehensive list when we get to the position in our Trade Market series.

Gammons’ trade possibilities: Paul Byrd, Jeremy Sowers, Derek Lowe, Rich Harden, Odalis Perez, Brett Tomko, Jarrod Washburn, Zach Duke, Vicente Padilla, and Kevin Millwood.  Byrd, Lowe, Perez, and Tomko will be free agents after the season.  Sowers and Duke are the kids.  Harden is the oft-injured ace.  Washburn, Padilla, and Millwood bring burdensome contracts.

Gammons also five "unlikely, but not impossible" scenarios.  He suggests A.J. Burnett, Bartolo Colon, Joe Blanton, Greg Maddux, and Ben Sheets could be moved under the right circumstances.

Julian Tavarez To Sign With Brewers

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MONDAY: Tom Haudricourt reports that the Brewers are set to sign Tavarez for bullpen depth.

SUNDAY: The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo writes that Bartolo Colon, a close friend of Julian Tavarez, said Tavarez told him that he would prefer to pitch for the New York Mets. Tavarez was recently DFA’d by the Red Sox and elected free agency rather than accepting an assignment to Triple A Pawtucket.

Tavarez could make sense for the Mets in many roles. Jason Vargas and Matt Wise have been ineffective in limited use, while Mike Pelfrey has been very inconsistent over the first two months of the season. The Mets, however, have yet to indicate whether they have interest in the veteran right-hander.  Baseball Prospectus’ John Perrotto has the Orioles and Brewers as the top suitors; I hadn’t heard Baltimore in the mix until now.

Odds and Ends: Pokey, Lowe, Boss

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Before you fire up the grill, check out these links.

Perrotto’s Latest: Atkins, Holliday, Howard

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Baseball Prospectus’ John Perrotto has a new column up; let’s discuss the hot stove tidbits.

  • Perrotto wouldn’t be surprised to see Clay Buchholz rejoin the Red Sox as a reliever, though some have suggested he’ll just remain in Pawtucket.  The Red Sox have an embarrassment of starting pitching right now.
  • The Indians are "bringing up Garrett Atkins and Matt Holliday in trade talks."  Holliday just hit the DL, but there’s plenty of time before the deadline.
  • Perrotto’s sources suggest the Phillies may deal Ryan Howard before the ’09 season, to avoid his probable large salary.  Can you think of any reasonable fits for him?

No Santana, No Regrets for Red Sox

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Earlier this morning, MLBTR noted how Ken Rosenthal doesn’t think the Yankees have regrets over not landing Johan Santana despite their would-have-been trade pieces now struggling or injured.  Today’s Boston Globe discusses the Red Sox similar feelings.

Chad Finn not only brings us an amusing baseball card of a young Lou Pineilla, but also shares his relief that Boston did not give up Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester, Justin Masterson, and/or Jed Lowrie for Johan (consequently setting the record for a trade involving the most players with first names beginning with the letter "J").

Referencing Buster Olney’s blog, Finn concedes to Olney that this years version of Santana is still better than 95% of the starters in the bigs.  Still, he harkens back to this piece from November in which he suggested Santana was beginning to decline and should be dealt for a monstrous booty (as he was) and feels he may have been right with recent grumblings from scouts as reported by Olney:

"Sources say his shoulder showed some wear and tear, which is not unusual for a pitcher of Santana’s age. This is not to say Santana is not an effective pitcher now, but all of this information makes you wonder how effective he will remain during the course of his multiyear deal... Said an AL scout who has seen Santana this month: ’His stuff isn’t even close to what it was [with the Twins].’"

No hot stove news here, but it’s still a much-discussed topic in rumorland.  And as it stands, it seems all three teams (Mets included) have, so far, made good in this situation.  In his NL conquest Santana, known for stronger second halves, has a 3.36 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, yet a 7.8 K/9 down from a career 9.4.

By Nat Boyle

Odds And Ends: Ramirez, Tavarez, Brewslow, Pena

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Thankfully, the calendar will soon flip to June, and trade rumors will start to heat up. To tide you over until then, here are a few notes from around the league.

  • Sean McAdam wonders if Manny Ramirez’s current slump will affect the team’s decision to exercise his $20MM option for 2009. Manny sounded rather confident last month that the team would pick it up. And while it’s nearly a given that he’ll recover from this month, the Red Sox could read it as a sign of decline. Still, the chances of the option being picked up are still high.
  • A few days after accepting an assignment to AAA Pawtucket, Julian Tavarez has instead opted for free agency.
  • Couple of transaction notes. Braves C Brayan Pena has been activated from the DL, and immediately designated for assignment. Indians reliever Craig Breslow was also DFA.

Posted by Joe Pawlikowski, who writes for River Ave. Blues, a Yankees blog, and can be reached here.

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