“The Rays’ bullpen has been a work in progress all season long, as injuries and command problems have forced Joe Maddon to shuffle roles and usage patterns. He seems to have settled upon J.P. Howell as a traditional closer, although that may change down the stretch.”

I did not read that as saying the bullpen is a mess but rather that Maddon has had to move pieces around to keep it effective. If my reading is correct, then I think Sheehan has a point. There have been injuries, and at times some of the relievers have been unsteady, particularly Nelson and Balfour and recently Bradford. It has led to some improvisation rather than clearly assigned roles at times.

I thought his Iwamura comment was probably untrue. As I understand, Zobrist has been fine defensively, better than Iwamura in fact.

I also think that any suggestion to trade Price is off base.

I don’t think he suggests the Rays might deal for Halladay with an eye to next year. I think his point is that in the time left this year, his impact (to overcome a 4 game lead for the wild card) is likely insufficient to do it while given a full year in 2010, the Rays could be a juggernaut. I interpret his comment to mean that the Rays have enough on hand as is to overcome that lead and should not trade away pieces that would allow them to remain competitive for a few years to get an upgrade over 64 games this year. Given their financial situation, the more significant impact of Halladay in 2010 is still probably not worth it.

As for the Red Sox recent offensive slump, it may suggest some fading, but their overall performance and the construction of the team remains impressive enough that it is more likely a slump than an indication of serious trouble. And I think the key phrase is not so much that as that both have the means to improve themselves. That may suggest that the Rays should upgrade to keep pace, but I think the leaders are more likely to be successful in fortifying themselves to avoid collapse than the trailing team to catch up by upgrading. Better to rely on the talent on hand to assert itself than to deal away the very essence of your success, your depth, in an effort to catch up.

Finally (phew), I remain on the fence about the whole question of dealing now. I simply think that Sheehan offers an interesting perspective on the options. I guess that is a supersize waffle, but it seems to me that the bandying about of big name stars to acquire is somewhat like off-season hype about free agents, often more flash than substance.

throwing some terrific curves. The first two batters hit weak pop flies short to the outfield. Neither got good wood on the ball. In fact, nobody did in any at bat. He then hit the next batter. To that point, he had thrown mostly strikes and about 10 pitches. A hit followed, also a hump backed flair into no-man’s land in short CF. He then struck out the next batter on about as good a change-up as I have ever seen. It was the only swing and miss I remember, but it was quite something to see. As I recall, he went to 3-1, got at least 2 foul balls and then the K.

It took 20 pitches to get the 3 outs. Seemed to me he was a more careful after the hit batter and was missing high and away with his fastball which I thought looked ok. I have since read that it was in the 89-90 range.

In one AB, he threw a hellacious curve that just missed the outside corner and followed that up with the same pitch that got the call on the black. He got a number of called strikes on the curve.

He threw just 4 pitches in the second inning getting the first batter on 1 pitch (I think another routine fly ball) and going 2-1 on the next when the rains came.

All in all, not enough to make real judgments, but he seemed perfectly in charge on the mound, pitching quickly and using a variety of pitches early, moving the ball in and out, up and down and away from the center of the plate. I have no idea what major leaguers would do with his pitches, and 4 outs at A+ ball is hardly a test, but I saw nothing to suggest he cannot succeed.

Keep in mind that 1) I am not a scout and make no claims to any expertise 2) Pedro is my all-time favorite pitcher, so I may be biased even when he is with the Phillies. Heck, I even loved him when I was a Yankee fan and he was in Boston.