Odds & Ends: Smoltz, Nationals GM, Chapman, Orioles

A couple of links on a lazy Sunday... ESPN's Buster Olney reports that the Texas Rangers and several NL teams have expressed interest in acquiring John Smoltz. The 42-yr old is mulling his options at the moment, but Olney says it's "highly unlikely that any NL team would be willing to take Smoltz in a trade without some financial adjustment." Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe says that there is lots of "chatter among major league sources in Washington that Diamondbacks director of scouting and player development Jerry Dipoto is the leading candidate to be Nationals general manager." He mentions that Red Sox assistant GM Jed Hoyer has also been mentioned as a candidate, and that the club is also considering giving interm GM Mike Rizzo the job on a permanent basis. This one's a bit old, but Peter Bjarkman balances out some of the hype we've heard about Cuban defectee Aroldis Chapman, citing his lack of control in the strike z...