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Jon Heyman of SI.com has seven trades that need to happen.  Some of them we’ve seen in speculation many times before.  But Heyman does identify interesting landing spots for Jon Rauch and Al Reyes.  As far as Chad Cordero to the Tribe…I think Mark Shapiro will pass on that one.

I am not one to get up on a pedestal and preach about steroids.  If you offered me fame and riches beyond belief, I might try give ’roids the old college try, consequences be damned.  I understand why Barry Bonds did what he did, and don’t hate him for it.  Nonetheless, you have your head in the sand if you act like 1)there’s any doubt Bonds took steroids and/or 2)his home run record will be on equal footing with Hank Aaron’s.

I know it’s really hard to hit a baseball no matter how jacked up you are.  I know that Babe Ruth faced watered down pitching with no minorities.  But Barry Bonds injected himself with many, many PEDs for years.  If any advantage deserves an asterisk, it’s blatant cheating.  Check out this quote from Cal Ripken on Bonds:

"I’d like to think that until there is evidence or proof that he’s done something wrong, you would give him the benefit of the doubt."

Seriously?  Sit down, read Game Of Shadows Cal.  There is overwhelming, staggering evidence that Bonds used PEDs.  For former and current players to deny it is ludicrous and insulting to fans.  I can respect a "no comment" on the issue, but not denial.  You can call Curt Schilling a blowhard, but at least he’s honest.  Said Schilling on Bonds: "There’s no gray area."  Exactly!  With, say, Jay Bell or Brady Anderson, there’s plenty of gray area.  We need some evidence beyond a home run spike.  Fluke home run spikes can happen without PEDs. 

With Bonds, there was a well-researched book written and even his own grand jury testimony.  To act like there’s any question here is sillier than presuming O.J. innocent.  I am not calling for Barry’s head but let’s call a spade a spade.

Please forgive me for the rant; I try to keep MLBTR mainly steroid-free.

Tuesday marks my 25th birthday, the big quarter century mark for me.  To celebrate I decided to take a breather from both my 9-5 job and blogging for one day.  Guess who else turns 25 on Tuesday?  Yep, my boy Adrian Gonzalez.  Oh and also Enrique Iglesias turns 32, good times.

Anyway, you may remember Jeff Sackmann from such websites as Brew Crew Ball and Minor League Splits.  And a million other outlets – that man is prolific.  Jeff also covered here at MLBTR during my honeymoon, and he’s kindly taking the reins on Tuesday.  He’ll write a few posts in the early morning, and a few more in the afternoon.  Enjoy! 

Nick Cafardo gave his rundown yesterday; now it’s Ken Rosenthal’s turn.  His thoughts on the current market for starting pitching:

• He mentions that the Yankees inquired about Paul Byrd, I imagine prior to the Clemens signing.  Rosenthal doesn’t seem to think Byrd will be dealt unless a major need surfaces for the Tribe.
• The old Jon Lieber for Kyle Farnsworth idea is bandied about again; Rosenthal adds Freddy Garcia as a possibility there as well.  He even goes so far as to say that a healthy Tom Gordon could prompt the Phillies to trade a right-handed reliever like Ryan Madson.  That, I don’t see – is Flash ever going to receive a clean bill of health again?
• The Angels have the depth, but Bill Stoneman doesn’t have a strong desire to trade young starting pitching.  Can’t blame him.  Hmm, Stoneman would make a good GM Trade Profile now that I think about it.
• The Twins have depth…but not really.  Ramon Ortiz and Sidney Ponson don’t contribute to any concept of depth, even when the team’s Triple A rotation is better than several Major League rotations.  That situation will sort itself out, with Matt Garza and Kevin Slowey playing major roles.
• Rosenthal also adds (off this topic) that the Padres could revisit Mike Cameron extension talks if he shows some signs of life.  Any time now would be good, Mike. 

While it was written BR (Before Roger), Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe had a good article yesterday discussing attainable starting pitchers.

• On the topic of Rich Harden, Cafardo quotes some GMs saying he is indeed available if a team will give up a bonanza of young talent.  The A’s have publicly denied shopping him, but I’ve heard otherwise and Cafardo’s sources agree.  As we keep repeating, Harden will need to come back strong for at least a few weeks before anything gets done.
• As we discussed earlier, the Giants might find Matt Morris or Noah Lowry expendable if Tim Lincecum settles in.  Peter Gammons believes Brian Sabean wants a young position player in return, though any kind of Melky Cabrera deal is probably off the table now.
• Casey Fossum and his $2.2MM salary are certainly available.  I’ve heard the same in chatting with RJ of Drays Bay.  Hard to find much to like in Fossum’s performance the last couple of years, though.  And if you want more expensive junk, Eric Milton makes $9MM this year.
• With the way Fausto Carmona and Adam Miller have pitched, the Tribe wouldn’t mind trading Paul Byrd.  Byrd makes $7 mil this year.  He’s walked just three in 24.2 innings and has a 2.92 ERA so far.  I’d be surprised if he’s not traded this year.
• We’ve also talked about the extra arms the Royals have right now; Odalis Perez is the most likely to go.  Cafardo throws the inconsistent Zack Greinke in there too.
• The Phillies need bullpen help, yes.  But right now they also need Jon Lieber in their rotation until Adam Eaton and Freddy Garcia show something.
• If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, right? The Brew Crew has at least six Major League quality starters right now though, considering what Yovani Gallardo has done.  Claudio Vargas at $2.5MM or Dave Bush at only $450K both have plenty of service time left. The Brewers really don’t need any kind of upgrade right now though.
• The Cards might abandon the Kip Wells experiment, especially once Mark Mulder comes back.
• A White Sox fire sale could be in order, with Mark Buehrle the first to go because of his impending free agency.
• The Rockies keep trying to peddle Josh Fogg or Byung-Hyun Kim on someone.  Kim should be gone soon, with the Tigers, Orioles, and Mariners considering him.
• I can see the Jays shipping Tomo Ohka back to the NL; he’s at least taken the ball when asked.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that with injuries to Howie Kendrick and Garrett Anderson and poor performance by Shea Hillenbrand, the Angels are stepping up their efforts to improve their anemic offense via the trade market.  Reportedly, the Angels are kicking the tires on several players, including "Colorado third baseman Garrett Atkins and outfielders Brad Hawpe and Jeff Baker, outfielders Kevin Mench (Milwaukee), Jacque Jones (Chicago Cubs), Pat Burrell (Philadelphia) and Emil Brown (Kansas City), and third basemen Morgan Ensberg (Houston) and Edwin Encarnacion (Cincinnati)."

The Angels are hoping to deal from a starting rotation that goes seven deep, dangling Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders and Dustin Moseley, and the hope is that whoever they obtain, the player can first fill in for Anderson in left field and then move to designated hitter when Anderson returns in a month or so.

In this scenario, Pat Burrell would be a great fit for the Angels, however its hard to see how the deal could work for the Phillies.  The Phils need relievers, not starters, and Burrell is one of the few hitters on the team that can provide power from the right side of the plate.  Perhaps if the Phillies knew that Aaron Rowand and Shane Victorino would stay hot or that Wes Helms would get hot, they would be more willing to deal, or, if what the Angels were offering was the type of reliever the Phillies need, then perhaps something could be worked out.

But as it stands, those are probably too many "ifs" to overcome.

Tom Goyne is the author of Balls, Sticks, & Stuff, a Phillies-centric site, and maintains the Phloggers’ Pheeds page, a source for the latest commentary from around the "phlogosphere". Recently, he teamed up with his brother to launch Roto Front Office.

Injury expert Rick Wilton has an interesting analysis of April data in terms of injuries.  He found DL moves to be up 14.4% compared to last year.  It seems like something more than random fluctuation, and could be related to the weather.  Check out his article over at Baseball Injury Report.

What qualifies as the nastiest pitch in all of baseball?  Johan Santana’s changeup?  Brad Lidge’s slider?  How would you measure this?  STATS Anaylst and friend of MLBTR Tom Koch-Weser has the answers in a new article.  This is a must-read.

Speaking of nasty pitchers, RotoAuthority talks Tim Lincecum today.

Ken Rosenthal has recent columns up here and here, as always they are excellent reads.  Ken always manages to get some intriguing quotes from scouts and provide his own insight.

• Rosenthal makes a strong case for Roger Clemens joining the Red Sox.  He describes a Catch-22 – a team’s need for Clemens increases as its pitching struggles, but Clemens doesn’t want to join a struggling team.  If he really wants to play for the team most likely to win a World Series, the Astros might be out.
• Although Eric Gagne looked strong in his inning against Seattle, it’d take a lot to pry away Akinori Otsuka from Texas.  Otsuka is signed through 2009.  Rosenthal thinks the Rangers would only deal him for a young center fielder.  Not too many teams have young center fielders to spare.  The Devil Rays, maybe, but they don’t need Otsuka right now.
• Rosenthal doesn’t see the sense in a Brad Lidge to the D-Rays type of deal, and expects the Astros to try to restore the reliever’s confidence somehow.
• One of Rosenthal’s scout friends contends that Chad Cordero would not hold up in the American League.  Fantasy leaguers, take note.
• The two April trades that seemed likely to go down, involving Jose Capellan and Byung-Hyun Kim, seem unlikely currently.  I’m surprised about Capellan…maybe Doug Melvin’s demands are too high.

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