Buster Olney now reports that Phillies closer Brad Lidge will miss from three to six weeks following an upcoming surgery tommorow on the knee he hurt throwing his first pitch of batting practice.

The pitchers injury bar is raised Mike Hampton, call or fold?

Olney believes the Phils will use Tom Gordon to fill Lidge’s spot till he can return, most likely in late April.

A quick blow already to Philly, that struggled with injuries all of last season, especially in their bullpen.

Ahhh, nothing goes with the smell of burning Hot Stove logs quite like the stench of another Buster Olney report.

In his latest column for ESPN Insider, Buster Olney is claiming a possible shoulder injury to Johan Santana could be the major factor in trading the lefty before spring training.

Olney recently spoke with a “talent evaluator” recently who “thinks that if the Twins are intent on swapping Santana for a relatively modest package of prospects before the start of spring training, this may reflect some concern over the pitcher’s physical condition. In the aftermath of Santana’s 17-strikeout game against the Rangers on Aug. 19, there was some evidence of diminished velocity in the left-hander, and it was noted by at least one scout that he used his slider much less often — and in his final seven starts after that 17-strikeout game, Santana compiled a 5.11 ERA, allowing nine homers in 44 innings.”

Nice job finally providing statistical references Buster, but one look at another dominant AL lefty’s career will tell you that perhaps switching leagues would benefit Santana stats, and shines some light on the situation more than this “arm trouble” speculation. But that’s what we do Buster, we dig a little deeper.

We remember Randy Johnson had similar arm questions surface in 1998, his last year in Seattle and a 4.33 ERA was decent evidence that his dominant days were behind him. Too many fastballs and sliders must have taken their toll, right?

Well, not so much. A trade to the NL followed by four consecutive Cy Young Awards and his “shoulder problems” were just fine thank you.

Granted, it turned out that similar Pedro Martinez questions turned out to be a reality, resulting in major surgery, but not before two years of NL dominance after the age of 34.

Johnson was 35 at the time of the deal and spent years baffling AL hitters, widely considered the stronger offensive league. Historically the arms of fastball/change up pitchers like Johan have held up well. Not to mention Santana turns just 29 in March.

Needless to say that speculating about arm problems is a sensational journalistic tactic at best. So allow us to speculate that Buster’s “talent evaluator” is either Mr. Hanky or Linda Cohn.

Rangers GM Jon Daniels said he is “cautiously optimistic” that his club will re-sign P Vicente Padilla.

The Braves and Orioles could be discussing a Tim Hudson for Hayden Penn/Adam Lowern trade.

White Sox GM Kenny Williams denied reports that P Freddy Garcia was on his way to Anaheim for P Ervin Santana.

The A’s might not offer a contract to OF Barry Bonds.

The Angels view OF J.D. Drew as a fallback option for OF-2B Alfonso Soriano.

The Dodgers, yet again, remain close to re-signing 1B Nomar Garciaparra.

The Phillies #1 priority if the club fails to re-sign P Randy Wolf is to sign P Adam Eaton, not Soriano.

Buster Olney suggest the Mets build their staff this offseason as if Pedro is not even returning next year, he writes on his ESPN blog…

If Pedro comes back in July and is ready to make an impact, he could
be, in effect, the best acquisition any team makes before the deadline.
But very few pitchers come back quickly from the type of surgery
Martinez had, and his brother, Ramon — who threw with the same kind of high-torque motion as Pedro — never came back.

Buster Olney in his ESPN blog suggest the Mets use whatever prospects they have, outside of Lastings Milledge, to get another arm in the rotation…

The question is, who is available? Doesn't seem like Dontrelle or Zito will be. Is whats left worth the cost? Livan Hernandez has been awful. Theres not much left beyond that.