"I'm going to do the same thing until I can't offer anybody anything, until I can't bring anything to the table," Byrd said. "So I think this year is really important to prove that."

Byrd was able to spend time with his family and preserve his health before joining the Red Sox in time for the stretch run. Given the recent success of older pitchers like Jamie Moyer and Tim Wakefield, it's not hard to imagine Byrd pitching again next year, especially if he finishes the season with a stretch of effective starts.

• Joel Sherman of the New York Post argues that the Yankees were smart to spend on elite free agents last offseason. Mark Teixeira and C.C. Sabathia have contributed to the Yankees' dominance this year. 
• Johnny Damon repeated to Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News that he wants to return to the Yankees next season.
• The Toronto Sun notes that Mike Hampton won't pitch again this year.
• Billy Wagner didn't expect his Red Sox debut to go as smoothly as it did, according to Julian Benbow of the Boston Globe.
• As Alex Speier of WEEI.com notes, Paul Byrd earns incentives for every start he makes with the Red Sox.
• Carl Steward of the San Jose Mercury News says Barry Zito and Edgar Renteria, whose contracts have often been criticized, have helped keep the Giants in the race.

• As noted by Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, new Angels hurler Scott Kazmir is already falling in love out West.  "It kind of feels like a playoff atmosphere every time you're here," Kazmir said Sunday. "You have the Rally Monkey, the whole thing going on."  He's under team control until 2012 and will make his Angels debut Wednesday.
• Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com spoke Sunday with A's manager Bob Geren, who revealed his plan for September's roster expansion.  It has already been confirmed that Brett Wallace will not see major league action this year.
• Paul Byrd told WEEI.com's Rob Bradford that he wasn't guaranteed a call-up by the Red Sox when they signed him to a minor league deal in early August.  The 38-year-old made his 2009 debut Sunday afternoon, tossing six shutout innings against the Blue Jays.
• John Lackey earned his 100th career win Sunday with eight innings of five-hit ball against the Athletics.  He heads an intriguing 2010 free agent class.

• ESPN's Keith Law feels the Rays received "a tremendous return for a pitcher whose value had really nose-dived over the past 10 months" when they dealt Scott Kazmir to the Angels late Friday evening.
• Manager Joe Maddon says that the team feels they have the depth to cover the loss of Kazmir, and that it won't hurt their chances of getting back to playoffs this year. The depth Maddon speaks of comes in the form of Andy Sonnanstine and prospect Wade Davis, though Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times says Sonnanstine will get the call against the Red Sox on Tuesday.
• Topkin was all over the Kazmir saga yesterday, and now that the dust has settled he says the team can use the savings to keep it's core intact. Several veterans, such as Carl Crawford, have raises built into their contracts, and several of the club's young players will be due big raises in arbitration.
• When asked if closer Trevor Hoffman might go to the Giants after being claimed on waivers, Brewers GM Doug Melvin said "probably not," according to Tom Haudricourt of The Journal Sentinel.
• Boston reportedly agreed to give Paul Byrd a September callup, but it looks like his shot may come sooner than that. With Tim Wakefield's back acting up again, the Sox will send Byrd to the mound tomorrow night according to John Tomase of The Boston Herald.
• Sheldon Ocker of The Akron Beacon Journal takes an early look at some of the players that could help get the Indians back on track in 2010.
• The Marlins officially introduced first round pick Chad James to the masses this afternoon, writes MLB.com's Joe Frisaro.

• The outcome of this weekend's games could determine which team the recently released Brad Penny signs with. The Giants and Marlins are the two teams pursuing him the most, but the Giants are in a better position in the NL Wildcard standings.
• The Yankees, Twins, and A's are also expressing interest in the righthander, but "what pitcher in his right mind would want to stay in the American League?"
• The A's and Padres have even "floated the idea" of signing Penny beyond the rest of this season, but Penny's best bet might be to go to a team like the Giants and reestablish himself in a pennant race, then go back into the free agent pool this winter on a high note.
• The Cubs are more open to dealing Rich Harden to the Twins than you might think. The Cubs could receive two high draft picks if they offer Harden arbitration after the season and he signs elsewhere, but that's a risky strategy. Given his injury history, the club might not want to take a $10MM or so hit if he accepts, even for only one year.
• The bigger question with Harden may be how aggressive the Twins will be in trying to deal for him. Remember that stars Justin Morneau and Joe Nathan have said the team needs more to contend, with Morneau mentioning that the team needs to impress Joe Mauer since he's due to become a free agent after next season.
• Yes, the Yankees were messing with the Red Sox when they claimed Chris Carter off waivers, but Boston's 40-man roster only has 38 players on it at the moment. Daisuke Matsuzaka will assume one of those spots when he comes off the 60-day DL, and the other is reserved for Paul Byrd.
• People might need to relax when it comes to Brad Lidge's struggles. His recent blown save against the Pirates might be the result of overuse, as Lidge was pitching for the fourth straight day. He had done it twice before this season, but he entered game three of that stretch with a four-run lead. Manager Charlie Manuel may need to be more careful with how he uses his closer down the stretch.

• Joel Sherman of The NY Post says that the Yankees negotiated with then-free agent Paul Byrd earlier in the summer, but refused to meet his request of a guaranteed September call-up. Once the Red Sox signed Byrd, Yanks' brass assumed that they had agreed to Byrd's demand, and then claimed Chris Carter off waivers in hopes of creating some 40-man roster havoc for their main rival.
• SI.com's Tom Verducci provides some insight into why the Rays traded (or will trade, since we're still waiting on an official announcement) Scott Kazmir. He notes that while he is still very young, Kazmir's velocity has been dropping and his strikeout rate is declining.
• Alex Torres, one of the players involved in the Kazmir trade, was named one of this week's hottest prospects in Baseball America's Prospect Hot Sheet.

Byrd, 38, was acquired by the Sox from the Indians last year and altogether put up 4.60 ERA and 82/34 K/BB ratio in 180 innings. It was somewhat of a surprise no one had picked him up until now.

It's safe to say the Phillies probably aren't too serious about adding the 38-year-old.  He was 11-12 with a 4.60 ERA last year between the Indians and Red Sox.

• Pedro Martinez is still homeless. While the complication may be in part due to Pedro's salary demands, it is surprising that nobody has signed him. Yes, his ERA was an unsightly 5.61 in 2008, but his 2007 stint was far better-2.57 ERA in 28 innings. His 87 strikeouts against 44 walks in 109 innings also suggests a pitcher who can help a team on the back end of a rotation. Given that it is Pedro Martinez, there is upside well beyond that, of course.
• Odalis Perez remains strangely unsigned after his even stranger signing that wasn't with Washington this spring. Perez turns 32 on June 7, and had a perfectly average 2008, with a 4.34 ERA in 159 2/3 innings. Obviously, those numbers could help any number of teams.
• Paul Byrd did what he always does in 2008-posted an ERA in the mid 4s (4.60 to be exact), struck out around four per nine innings, and kept his team in the game. Yet Byrd has yet to sign with anyone, either.

The lack of movement on these pitchers can't be due to overwhelming performances by all the starters currently employed. After all, there's Jamie Moyer and his 8.15 ERA, Carlos Silva and his 8.48 ERA, Oliver Perez and his 9.97 ERA… plenty of others at sixes and sevens, from Scott Olsen to Scott Kazmir. (Even as I type this, Moyer is giving up another home run. No, really.)

My suspicion is that teams view Martinez, Perez or Byrd as band-aid solutions. And that would be fine, normally. After all, band-aids have a rich tradition of stopping people from bleeding.

But the trade market for pitchers has the most top targets it's had in years. The Padres are already 10 games out, and Jake Peavy will likely hit the market. If Cincinnati fades, Aaron Harang could be available. If Toronto falls back to earth- and the smart money still has them finishing fourth- Roy Halladay could be someone else's ace by August. And Cleveland's Cliff Lee will be a prominent target as well.

There are even second-tier options that can help teams now and in the future, from Baltimore's Jeremy Guthrie to Seattle's Erik Bedard.  And in the current economic climate, teams that fall out of the race may have even greater incentive to shed salary as soon as possible.

So it may well be that for veteran free agents, the market will only pick up once the trade deadline has come and gone. And with so many targets out there, once the deadline deals are made July 31, there may not be any place for Martinez, Perez or Byrd to land.

• Paul Byrd never received a call from the Angels, so he'll continue to wait until later this summer to see what's available.
• Frank Thomas is working with hitting coach Mike Easler, who believes "Frank might give it to the All-Star break."  Easler says another client of his, Jacque Jones, could help a club.
• Jim Edmonds would play in the right situation, but his agent Paul Cohen doesn't know if there will be an offer.  Damion Easley, another Cohen client, would also like to continue his career.
• A friend of Orlando Hernandez's tells Davidoff he's considering a comeback.  El Duque didn't pitch in the Majors last year.
• In my opinion, these free agents are better served playing independent league ball than working out privately.

• MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince says the Indians signed 31 year-old reliever Blaine Neal to a minor league deal.  Here's a look at Neal's minor league work – nice job for the Tigers' Triple A club last year.
• Masahide Kobayashi explains why he's struggled in the U.S., talking to Dennis Manoloff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
• MLB.com's Joe Frisaro wrote on Thursday that free agent pitcher Paul Byrd has a $3MM asking price.
• It might be time for Chad Fox to hang up the spikes.  He owns a 3.79 ERA in 228 career innings.  Would've been 3.45, without his Cubs career.
• Michael O'Keefe of the New York Daily News runs through the list of Scott Boras clients linked to performance-enhancing drugs.
• Rany Jazayerli likes Pedro Martinez as a comparable for Zack Greinke.
• A.J. Hinch's contract runs through 2012.
• RotoAuthority looks at the pitchers who have improved their walk rate the most this year.
• MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo gives an overview of this year's draft.
• Current members of the Newark Bears: Rob Mackowiak, Keith Foulke, Shawn Chacon, Abraham Nunez, Carl Everett, Jay Gibbons, and Michael Tucker.