Colon impressive in first start with Red Sox

Bartolo Colon apparently does have something left in the tank after all. In his first start for the Boston Red Sox on Thursday, Colon was hitting 94 MPH on his fastball, 84-88 on the slider and 81 on his changeup.

He did only go 2 innings in a 3-3 tie against the Rays, but it was a promising 2 innings. Colon could factor more into the Red Sox plans than they had previously thought, especially with Schilling out until at least the All Star Break and Josh Beckett suffering from back spasms.

Colon to sign with Red Sox

After the Boston Red Sox announced the contract extension of manager Terry Francona, the Sox made another, even surprising, annoucement.

The Boston Red Sox announced that they have signed former AL Cy Young Award winner, and former Angel, Bartolo Colon to a minor league contract.

A minor league contract is minimal risk to the Red Sox. If he shows he's healthy and ready to go, then he adds to an already strong pitching rotation. If not, they release him towards the end of spring training and they move on.

Weaver returning to St. Louis?

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the St. Louis Cardinals are considering right-handers Jeff Weaver and Bartolo Colon, especially with Matt Clement looking more and more like he won't be ready for Opening Day.

For Weaver, this would be his 2nd tour of duty with the Cardinals, his first tour was capped off with a World Series Championship. I wasn't sure why the Cardinals didn't bring him back in the first place, especially seeing how well he pitched for them down the stretch.

As for Colon, pitchers and catchers have already reported to their respective camps and the former AL Cy Young Award Winner is still without a job. A lot of teams have been interested, but have been turned off by his medical reports on his injured right shoulder.

Huh..turned off by Colon's medical reports but they signed Matt Clement. I guess it wouldn't surprise me if the Cardinals took a chance on another injured pitcher.

Rangers eyeing Colon?

Richard Durrett of the Dallas Morning News weighs in on Bartolo Colon. He's of the opinion that if Colon takes an incentive laden contract, that he may be worth the risk.

Respectfully, I don't know if I agree. Colon pitching in one of the biggest hitter's parks in all of baseball wouldn't help the Rangers much, especially if he can't stay healthy.

On the flip side of the coin, if Colon comes back firing bullets and reverts back to his better self, then the Rangers got the best out of him for a cheap deal. I think Colon and Mark Prior are the same boat, they both want to prove they're on the comeback trail, but they're both high risk signings.

Phillies interested in Clement, Benson, Jennings

After the Phillies took a run at Randy Wolf, though he's fresh from shoulder surgery, have their eyes on a few other pitchers who are also coming off shoulder surgeries. They could make runs at Matt Clement, Kris Benson or Jason Jennings during the Winter Meetings.

They could also kick the tires on Bartolo Colon, but it's likely they'll see how talks progress for the first 3 before turning to Colon.