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Here is what's happening around baseball on Thursday Sept. 2, 2010:• Here's an odd thought given the last decade or so: the Red Sox as spoilers. That's likely what they are, though, and count Josh Beckett as someone who is excited about the prospect.
"We've got games against guys that are contenders," Beckett said in a surprisingly expansive media session with reporters. "I don't know about the rest of those guys, I'd rather go to the playoffs, but I don't mind playing spoiler, either. I don't think we've completely folded the tent here."
• Mets manager Jerry Manuel knows his job security isn't exactly ironclad, but that doesn't mean he's pestering his bosses -- the Wilpons and GM Omar Minaya -- for an update on his future, according to the New York Post.
"I don't want to be a distraction for what they need to do," Manuel said.
• Ousted Nationals announcer Rob Dibble made a statement about being let go on his Sirius XM show, and D.C. Sports Bog has the nitty gritty:
"As you may know, I made some statements last week about Stephen Strasburg, and have been called controversial and angered many. In my role as analyst for the Nationals, and [with] the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, I now realize that my comments were inappropriate and disrespectful. I have regret that my time with the team will have to end this way, but have learned from the mistake and look forward to putting it behind me."
• Speaking of the Nats, is the bad blood between them and the Marlins over? Florida's players say yes, but we'll have to wait until Sept. 10-12 when the teams meet for the final time in 2010.
"I know it's over for me," Wes Helms said. "I hope it is for these other guys.
"(Wednesday night) was something we had to do," Helms said. "But we need to be professionals and just play the rest of the season. Unless something else happens there that starts it, then we're going to go there and just play baseball."
• Against what seemed like tall odds, Mike Lowell is set to play out his contract, and maybe his career, with the Red Sox, writes WEEI.com.
Injury Ward
• Alex Rodriguez took batting practice Thursday morning, and there appears to be little that will prevent him returning from the disabled list this weekend when he is eligible.
• Marlins catcher John Baker will undergo Tommy John surgery, the Miami Herald reports. Position players usually recover from the procedure faster than pitchers, but Baker's 2011 season is in serious jeopardy.
Transaction Wire
• The Astros outrighted reliever Chris Sampson off the 40-man roster.
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