Joe Blanton is not definitely on his way out of Philadelphia yet.
As NESN.com is reporting, a team source said “(I) don’t know where this is coming from,”
As Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal suggested via twitter, the Phillies might want to keep him as a backup plan: “Some with Phillies want to keep Blanton. 2 yrs left. Safety valve in event of injury or Oswalt exit after ’11. Payroll the issue.”
The Red Sox may have improved their lineup tremendously, by adding Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, but there remain some questions about their rotation. Josh Beckett is coming off an injury plagued 2010 and John Lackey had a disappointing season, so there is naturally some interest in enhancing the rotation, especially since Daisuke Matsuzaka has struggled with injury and inconsistency lately.
If the club can somehow move Matuzaka and his huge contract Blanton would be a great replacement. But if that doesn’t happen (and it’s unlikely that a team would want to pick up the $8.3 milliion contract of a play whose went 13-12 the past two seasons), Blanton might be headed elsewhere.
For more on the MLB offseason, see MLB Free Agents: The Latest on Cliff Lee, Adrian Beltre and Others