AL East Notes: Nick Johnson, Ben Zobrist, Roy Oswalt, Bobby Jenks

Here's the latest out of the American League East:

• Nick Johnson is trying to get on at first base with the Orioles, according to Brit Ghiroli of mlb.com. If his career .401 OBP has anything to do with it, he has a good shot.
• Brian Matsuz talks about competition for the starting rotation in Baltimore.
• The saber guys over at DRaysBay say they should've known Ben Zobrist was about to break out, and point to a couple other unlikely breakouts they won't miss this time around: Reid Brignac and Elliot Johnson.
• Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com says the Rays have a problem that almost every other team in the league wishes they had: "an embarrassment of riches in starting pitching."
• Alex Speier is reporting that Bobby Valentine wouldn't have been "totally comfortable" with Roy Oswalt, though it looks from this vantage point to be something along the lines of excuses and bet-hedging. Let's see how that rotation looks in a few months and where Oswalt lands before we take this too seriously.
• Mike Petraglia of WEEI has some extended quotes from Bobby Jenks regarding his surprise DL stint, noting that Jenks is "just happy to be alive."
• The Yankees made a couple depth moves, signing David Aardsma and Eric Chavez.
• Bryan Hoch of mlb.com suggests that Joe Girardi's managerial impact, with essentially every decisions mostly locked-in, will be limited to fiddling with the bullpen and naming which player will be their final bullpen arm.
• Bryah Hoch is also reporting that Eric Chavez had offers from a few unnamed teams, but Chavez only seriously considered the Yankees.