Odds & Ends: Lowell, Cardinals, Mets

On this date in 2001, the Cardinals acquired Woody Williams from the Padres for Ray Lankford.  Lankford was useful for the rest of that season, but Williams went on to have an excellent Cardinals career.  Links for Monday... WEEI's Alex Speier runs through Boston's options with Mike Lowell. SI's Jon Heyman lists 31 players he expects to clear waivers. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch gathers the opinions of many journalists on the deal that got the Cardinals Jake Westbrook but cost Ryan Ludwick. Joel Sherman of the New York Post describes various types of deals the Mets could have considered. The Pirates are likely to cover $750K in bonuses for traded players, tweets Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  They also chipped in $500K in the Octavio Dotel deal.  Tom Krasovic gives background on pitching prospect Corey Kluber, who the Padres used to facilitate the deal for Ryan Ludwick.