Wilson adds that the Rangers were one of the teams that watched Oswalt throw last Friday near his home in Mississippi. “We’ll consider all our options, whatever’s best for the team going forward,” General Manager Jon Daniels said. “He [Oswalt] is still out there. He hasn’t faced hitters yet. He’s not an immediate option.”

Oswalt wants to sign as soon as possible, probably within this week. He expects to be pitching by “mid- to late June.” In 2011, Oswalt went 9-10 while posting a 3.69 ERA in 139 innings with the Phillies. He did average a career low with 6.0 strike outs per 9 innings and is coming off a series of injuries.

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– The Tampa Bay Rays designated left handed pitcher John Gaub for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster reports Joe Smith of the St. Petersburg Times.

– The Arizona Diamondbacks designated infielder Cody Ransom for assignment and recalled infielder Josh Bell from Triple-A according to the D’backs official Twitter account.

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The Orioles released the 30-year old started back in April. Last season, Galarraga went 3-4 with Arizona while posting a 5.91 ERA, 2.1 HR/9, 4.6 BB/9 and 5.9 SO/9 in 42.2 innings with the Diamondbacks.

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Lets face it, Rodriguez is having a rough season because his abilities have declined, not because he’s not closing games for the Brewers. That doesn’t mean though, that he will never be the dominant pitcher he once was. He can overcome his problems and become an elite reliever once again.

Now lets break down those numbers. One of the first things you notice with Rodriguez is how his velocity has dropped since his arrival to the Majors. In 2002, the average velocity of his fastball was 94.4 MPH. Now, his fastball sits at 91.2 MPH. His famous curveball has also dropped from 81.3 MPH to 76.4 MPH.

Looking at the batted balls column we have that 18.9% of the balls hit off Rodriguez, in 2012, are line drives, 49.1% are ground balls and 32.1% are fly balls. His career averages are 17.8% (LD), 43.1% (GB) and 39.1 (FB). That tells us that he is close to his standards, although the 18.9% of line drives is his highest mark since 2008 (19.8%).

The biggest problem Rodriguez is experiencing right now is in the SO/9, BB/9 and HR/9 columns. Rodriguez is a career 11.1 SO/9, but this season he has accumulated only 7.3 SO/9. His career BB/9 is 3.9, and this season he has 4.2 BB/9. And his career HR/9 is 0.7, but this season he has accumulated a 1.0 HR/9. So far, the SO/BB for this season is the lowest in his career (1.75), although he is projected to finish with a 2.48 SO/BB. That would be his worst mark since 2009 (1.92).

Rodriguez is projected to finish the season with 9.09 SO/9, career worst, 3.99 BB/9, worst mark since 2009 (5.03) and 0.96 HR/9 his worst mark since 2003 (1.26). His BABIP is projected to finish at .310. That would be the second time in his career, without including his rookie season, that he finishes with a BABIP higher than .300 (.321 in 2011). And his WHIP, projected at 1.36 at the end of the season, would be his worst mark in his career.

After taking a look at his numbers, we can conclude that his abilities are declining, and that he has to find his way back to the top. But I don’t think this has anything to do with not being a closer. His velocity has dropped, he’s having trouble striking out players and hitters are getting on-base more often against him. This has nothing to do with your role on the team, and I refuse to believe he’s not pitching his heart out just because he’s not comfortable with his role.

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– The St. Louis Cardinals placed first baseman Lance Berkman on the 15-day Disabled List with a right knee injury according to the team official Twitter account. Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch adds that Berkman could consider retirement if he has re-torn his ACL or suffered another Major injury.

– Center fielder Jordan Schafer is going to be out until at least Wednesday with a leg strain according to Astros’ manager, Brad Mills (via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com).

– Mark Ellis “had blood and fluids drained from his left leg” and will be out for at least six weeks L.A. Times’ Dylan Hernandez reports. Ellis was injured after Cardinals’ Tyler Greene “slid into him at second base.” Hernandez adds that Ellis will remain in the hospital until Tuesday.

– The Oakland Athletics placed right handed pitcher Brandon McCarthy on the 15-day Disabled List with a strained right shoulder according to the A’s official Twitter account.

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Last week, we wrote about the possibility of a trade involving Youkilis, given the fact that his replacement, Will Middlebrooks, is having a great season and the team is “presumably going to want to find a way to keep Middlebrooks in the big leagues.”

Youkilis is projected to hit .255/.355/.443 with 16 HR’s and a .349 wOBA (ZiPS Updated data), but he’s still a good player that could interest any team in the majors looking for an offensive boost.

Middlebrooks, who is nine years younger than Youkilis, is projected to hit .256/.290/.446 with 17 HR’s and a .321 wOBA.

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In 2011, Sutton hit .315/.362/.444 with 7 RBI’s and a 116 OPS+ in 54 AB’s with the Red Sox. This season, the 28-year 9ld infielder is hitting .270/.374/.372 with 15 RBI’s and a .746 OPS in 137 AB’s with the Braves’ Triple-A team.

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The 34-year old second baseman was hitting just .211/.260/.317 with 1 HR, 11 RBI’s and a 63 OPS+ in 123 AB’s for the Padres this season.

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Hill hit .194/.268/.276 with 2 HR’s, 9 RBI’s and a 51 OPS+ in 134 AB’s for the Cubs in 2011. This season he was hitting .195/.250/.341 with 1 HR and 5 RBI’s in 41 AB’s for the Reds’ Triple-A team.

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Penny will head to extended Spring Training next week and is considered a bullpen option. He will also make the pro-rated portion of $500K while with the big league club. There is no set opt out date, but the target date for Penny to be with the club is May 30th.

Penny posted a 5.30 ERA in 31 starts for the Tigers last season. During the offseason, Penny signed a one-year in Japan with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks before asking for his release after one start as he suffered from shoulder pain which sidelined him and he also appeared to have trouble adapting to Japanese baseball.

Oswalt wants to sign as soon as possible, according to a source close to Rosenthal, “within next week.” He expects to be pitching by “mid- to late June.”

Back in March, we learned that the right hander was willing to play anywhere. In 2011, Oswalt went 9-10 while posting a 3.69 era in 139 innings with the Phillies. He did average a career low with 6.0 strike outs per 9 innings and is coming off a series of injuries. Oswalt earned $16mm last season and made $1,777,777.78 for every win or $172,043,01 for every strikeout.

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Wood, 34, was 0-2 with a 8.64 ERA, 1.1 HR/9, 11.9 BB/9, 5.4 SO/9, and a DL stint in 8.1 innings with the Cubs so far. The right hander left a career 86-75 record with a 3.67 ERA, 1.0 HR/9, 4.3 BB/9 and 10.3 SO/9 in 1,379.2 innings with the Cubs, Indians and Yankees. He began his career as a starter, but then he made the transition to the bullpen where he finished his career.

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The 26-year old pitcher is off to a rough start with the Rockies in 2012 with a 0-2 record, 8.66 ERA, 1.0 HR/9, 6.6 BB/9 and 10.7 SO/9 in 17.2 innings.

In 2011 he went 6-6 with a 7.05 ERA, 1.5 HR/9, 5.1 BB/9 and 6.8 SO/9 in 83.0 innings.

Right now, he’s projected to finish the season with a 4-9 record, with a 5.85 ERA, 1.09 HR/9, 4.35 BB/9 and 7.27 SO/9 while pitching 107 innings.

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Today, Buster Olney of ESPN (via Stephen Hewitt of WEEI.com) said that the team will actually “look at possible trade situations for Youkilis as he makes his return.”

“I’ve talked with a number of executives at other teams this week, because this looks like it’s headed down that path,” Olney said. “Unless there’s an injury to a David Ortiz or to an Adrian Gonzalez, eventually you’re going to have a situation when the Red Sox, who are presumably going to want to find a way to keep Middlebrooks in the big leagues, they’re going to have to figure out what to do with Youkilis.”

Olney added that other General Managers need to see about three “productive and healthy” weeks from Youkilis to gauge his trade value. “They think then, that’s when you can get a little something in return,” Oleny added. “Not great, they’re not going to get a Grade A prospect, they’re probably not even going to get a Grade A-minus prospect because of the amount of money owed to him.

“But there’s clearly a lot of places where he could land. The Dodgers, I think are in an evaluation period now with their first baseman James Loney, because he’s gotten off to a terrible start. … I think the Chicago White Sox potentially are a fit for Youkilis as a third baseman, and potentially in his hometown of Cincinnati would be a great fit for him because they need a right-handed hitter who can play third base especially now that Scott Rolen’s career might be over.”

Youkilis is projected to hit .255/.355/.443 with 16 HR’s and a .349 wOBA (ZiPS Updated data), but he’s still a good player that could interest any team in the majors looking for an offensive boost.

Middlebrooks, who is nine years younger than Youkilis, is projected to hit .256/.290/.446 with 17 HR’s and a .321 wOBA.

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The 34-year old second baseman was hitting just .211/.260/.317 with 1 HR, 11 RBI’s and a 63 OPS+ in 123 AB’s for the Padres this season.

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Romak, 26, was hitting .147/.216/.206 with 2 RBI’s and a .422 OPS in 34 AB’s for the Royals’ Triple-A team at Omaha.

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– The New York Yankees have claimed infielder Matt Antonelli of waivers from the Baltimore Orioles according to Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledger. Antonelli was hitting .204/.357/.280 with 1 HR and a .636 OPS in 93 AB’s with the Orioles’ Triple-A team.

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– The Oakland Athletics have placed third baseman Brandon Inge on the 15-day Disabled List with a groin injury according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. He’ll be available to come off the DL on May 28.

– The Minnesota Twins placed right handed pitcher Nick Blackburn on the 15-day Disabled List with a a strained left quadricep muscle according to Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune.

– Mariners catcher, Miguel Olivo will join the team in Colorado this weekend for some workouts before going out on a rehab stint according Greg Johns of MLB.com.

– Austin Jackson is not on the Tigers lineup today due to an ab strain according to Jason Beck of MLB.com.

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Carrasco, 35, went 0-0 with a 7.36 ERA, 4.9 HR/9, 0.0 BB/9 and 7.4 SO/9 in 3.2 innings this season with the Mets.

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The 32-year old lefty went 0-0 with a 2.70 ERA, 0.0 HR/9, 5.4 BB/9 and 5.4 SO/9 in 6.2 innings with the White Sox this season.

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Blackley went 0-0 with a 9.00 ERA, 0.0 HR/9, 3.6 BB/9 and 3.6 SO/9 in five innings this season with the Giants.

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MacDougal, 35, went 0-0 with a 7.94 ERA, 0.0 HR/9, 9.5 BB/9 and 6.4 SO/9 in 5.2 innings pitched with the Dodgers in 2012.

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Back in March, I speculated that Hamels could ask for a C.J. Wilson’s type deal with the Angels (5-year $77.5 million), and that I wouldn’t go beyond five-years and $95 million, but apparently Hamels and his agent think he deserves better than Sabathia, Wilson, Matt Cain (five-year, $112 million) and Cliff Lee (five-year, $120 million).

In 2012 Hamels is 5-1 with a 2.28 ERA, 0.6 HR/9, 1.7 BB/9 and 9.3 SO/9 in 47.1 innings.

In 2011, he totaled 216 innings and walked only 44 batters for a solid 1.8 BB/9. He struck out 8.1 batters per nine innings which is good, although he lowered his mark by exactly one batter compared to 2010 (9.1 K/9). He also lowered his HR/9 from 1.1 to 0.8 in 2011. The lefty also had a 31.2 VORP, which translates to a 3.1 WARP.

Lee is 0-1 with a 2.17 ERA, 0.6 HR/9, 0.9 BB/9 and 7.4 SO/9 in 29.0 innings this season. In 2011, he walked one less batter (43) in 16.2 innings more than Hamels (232.2 innings in 2011), for a 1.6 BB/9. He reached a career high in K/9 with 9.2, and improved his HR/9 by 0.2 compared to 2010 (0.9 in 2010 and 0.7 in 2011). His VORP was 49.5 which translates to a 5.2 WARP.

This season Sabathia is 5-0 with a 3.51 ERA, 0.9 HR/9, 1.8 BB/9 and 9.3 SO/9 in 51.1 innings. Last season he went 19-8 with a 3.00 ERA, 0.6 HR/9, 2.3 BB/9 and 8.7 SO/9 in 237.1 innings. Sabathia’s VORP was 39.2 and his WARP 3.9. Again, Sabathia outperformed Hamels in SO/9 and HR/9, even though Sabathia’s home park is Yankee Stadium. He also pitched 21.1 innings more than Hamels.

Now, I’m not saying Ruben Amaro Jr. won’t give him what he’s asking for, or any other GM in free agency, but I do believe that he does not, under any circumstances deserve a contract higher than Sabathia’s and Lee’s contract.

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This makes a lot of sense, because as Costa points out, if they can’t reach an agreement with Wright before next winter, they’ll probably have to consider trading him during that time. Back in April we discussed the possibility of Wright staying in New York.

I said that the team should let Wright play the season and determine whether he’d prove value to the team or not, beyond being the face of the franchise. So far, Wright is making a hell of a case for himself batting .400/.489/.591 with 4 HR’s, 21 RBI’s and a 204 OPS+, so no wonder why the Mets have decided to prepare an offer to him.

The problem for the Mets right now is that Wright’s leverage is really high, given his numbers, and a new deal for the third baseman could be pricey for them. But if they can’t reach an agreement with him, and he keeps playing the way he’s been playing, the asking price for Wright in a potential trade would be really high too.

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