There's rumors floating around that Atlanta Braves pitcher and future Hall of Famer John Smoltz will announce his retirement at an 11:30am press conference at Turner Field.
Smoltz returned from the disabled list Monday and blew a save, he apparently re injured his arm and now faces season ending surgery.
Smoltz appears content to ride off into retirement instead of working the long road back from surgery again.
The Boston Herald is reporting that season ending surgery could be a real possibility for David Ortiz if it doesn't heal while in a cast for the next month.
Should Ortiz have to have surgery, Boston will be left with a huge hole in their lineup. They will likely need to find someone on the trade market which could require giving up a combination of Jed Lowrie, Jon Lester or Justin Masterson, all of whom have raised their value in the opening months of the 2008 season.
Who could Boston look at as replacements?
Barry Bonds would immediately enter discussions and while he would come without losing prospects, he would be unlikely to land in Boston.
Mark Teixeira will be a name mentioned often and Boston has the talent to pry him away from Atlanta, but Boston would need to get him signed to an extension as part of a deal or they wont give up the names needed to land him.
Jim Thome will also be a free agent at seasons end and could probably be had for less the Teixeira and Chicago may look to move him especially if they begin to falter in the Central.
They could try options within the system possibly with Chris Carter who has a decent bat, but is labeled a DH type who was blocked by Ortiz at the major league level. He started off slowly power wise but has come on of late.
Boston could also recall Brandon Moss and use a combination of Moss, Coco Crisp, JacobyEllsbury and JD Drew in the outfield while putting Manny Ramirez at designated hitter while Manny is out.
