AL East Notes: Rays, Red Sox, Orioles

I’ve mentioned it before, but the best division in baseball has to come down to the American League East or National League East. With that being said, here are your AL East notes and rumors:

The Tampa Bay Rays may be scouting left handed pitching.

Tom Krasovic of Inside the Padres

noted that Bob

Cluck, a scout for the Rays attended a recent Padres verse Giants game. Krasovic speculated that Cluck may have been scouting Joe Thatcher.”Bob Cluck, a Tampa Bay Rays scout, worked the recent Padres-Giants series. I don’t know if Cluck was scouting the Padres, Giants or both for trade purposes, but Tampa Bay, like several other teams in playoff contention, could have a need for right-handed power and left-handed relief.”

Joe Thatcher would bolster a Rays bullpen that could use some lefty help. Thatcher is 0-1 with a 2.35 ERA. He is striking out 9.4 batters per nine innings of work. At 30 years old and under team control until 2015, Thatcher may be another viable trade candidate coming from San Diego. Carlos Quentin is obviously the top candidate.