Bruce Chen doesn't hesitate. Erik Bedard would be his guy.

"If somebody could get him it would be a great pickup," said Chen, who played with Bedard in Baltimore from 2004-06. "He's going to be not only a guy who would help you finish a season but also help you in the playoffs.

"He's tough. He has very good stuff. He's a tough competitor. He knows how to pitch. He isn't afraid to pitch inside. He's definitely an ace when healthy. He's kind of like a [Jon] Lester but doesn't throw as hard."

Jeff Francis is equally as adamant that Ubaldo Jimenez is the choice.

"I'm not a trade-maker, but I think any team would be lucky to have Ubaldo," said Francis, who teamed with Jimenez in Colorado for the entirety of their big league careers until this season.

"His stuff is off the charts, and obviously he has shown what he can do. I think what has impressed us as his teammates was his work ethic. It just comes naturally for him. He's really smart and he's a really well-spoken guy. What we saw him do last year wasn't a surprise. We've seen what he puts in and what he can do."

So, who will it be? Who should it be?

There are other names that have been identified by the Red Sox as potential non-waiver trade deadline targets. The Dodgers' Hiroki Kuroda (whom one Sox player called "the nastiest" pitcher he faced in 2010) is one. Oakland's Rich Harden -- whose five starts this season have been fairly impressive (just one start allowing more than three runs) -- is another.

But it is Bedard and Jimenez who are perhaps the most intriguing, and for distinctly different reasons.

The 32-year-old Bedard represents the two-month rental, a lefty who is living under a one-year, $1 million deal after missing the entirety of the 2010 season with a torn labrum. He hasn't pitched since June 27 due to a strained left knee but is returning to the mound Friday night against the Rays under the watchful eyes of multiple scouts.

The risk that comes with Bedard is the uneasiness when it comes to health. Like Harden, there is a legitimate concern whether or not he can be counted on when needed the most. Performance? Unless the rust of taking the last month off has an effect, that shouldn't be an issue. The owner of the Orioles record for strikeouts per nine innings (10.93 in '07) has been good for the majority of this season — really good.

From April 27 until his last start on June 27, Bedard was one of the best pitchers in baseball, compiling a 1.77 ERA over 11 games, striking out 68 and walking just 15. He held opponents to a .191 batting average and held potential Red Sox playoff foes Detroit and Texas to five runs over 19 innings, winning all three meetings.

His fastball velocity is down slightly from where it lived when he was serving as one of the American League's best and brightest young starters while pitching with the Orioles, but it is still good enough to complement a devastating curveball.

The cost of Bedard for the Red Sox wouldn't figure to put too much of a dent in the Sox' farm system. Seattle -- which had scouts following both Double-A Portland and Triple-A Pawtucket this week -- is in need of a catching prospect, something the Red Sox all of a sudden have in Ryan Lavarnway (.317 with 27 homers between Double-A and Triple-A this season).

And as for Bedard's ability to handle what life in a pennant race -- or the postseason -- might throw his way, Chen suggests that wouldn't be a problem for the native of Canada.

"He pitched in Baltimore and he had to face the Yankees and Red Sox. He's very laid back, so I don't think anything would faze him," Chen said. "I don't think he would feel too much pressure. He's very easy-going. I don't think he would feel the pressure of Boston or New York."

Then there is Jimenez.

Unlike with Bedard, the motivation for acquiring the 27-year-old stretches beyond this season. He is under team control for the next two seasons at an extremely club-friendly rate, getting paid $4.2 million for '12 with a club option for $5.75 million in '13. (His club option of $8 million for '14 is voided if traded.)

While the majority of the Red Sox rotation is locked up through '14, there will be use for the kind of help Jimenez might deliver under reasonable terms over the next two-plus seasons. We are talking about a pitcher who is coming off a 19-8 season in 2010 in which he finished with a 2.88 ERA and claimed an unforgettable first half in which he went 15-1.

This season he hasn't exhibited the same sort of dominance, with Jimenez -- who next pitches Saturday -- totaling a 6-9 mark with a 4.20 ERA in 20 outings, precisely half of which have been quality starts. But there have been enough signs to suggest this is a pitcher who could very well leapfrog his way into a playoff rotation, as was evidenced by a June 24 outing at Yankee Stadium in which he held New York to two runs on four hits over seven innings.

In that game against the Yankees, Jimenez' fastball velocity sat in a familiar place, averaging 94 mph. One month later, in his most recent start, the righty maxed out at 96 mph, averaging just more than 93 mph. 

But as good as the Jimenez heater might seem, we're still talking about a downgrade from what was exhibited during his run in '10. One year ago, exactly, the Rockies ace's fastball maxed out at 99 mph while averaging 96.40 mph in a game against the Pirates. Some of the drop-off might be attributed to an uneven offseason workout program that was altered due to a trip to Europe and perhaps a hip flexor issue in spring training that didn't allow his arm strength to be built as some would hope.

Jimenez still has all the makings of a top-of-the-rotation entity, but that potential (and past) is why a deal might make more of a dent than the Red Sox could stomach. FOXSports.com reported that two of the players the Rockies are eyeing are pitcher Kyle Weiland and third baseman Will Middlebrooks.

Including Weiland (or any of the other top Sox pitching prospects) is a manageable situation. Putting Middlebrooks in a deal is another issue entirely. By most accounts, this is one of the organization's best opportunities to develop an impact position player, and one who could very well conveniently be ready right about the time third baseman Kevin Youkilis' current deal is up after the '13 season.

Jimenez would be a valued backup plan (both short-term and long-term) for the health concerns that reside with current members of the Red Sox rotation. And, as Francis points out, it shouldn't be expected that an amped-up environment might throw the hurler off his game.

"I don't see it affecting him," Jimenez's former teammate points out. "I know how much work he puts into what he does on the mound, and his perspective on pitching. If he doesn't have a good game, he shrugs it off and tries to better next time."

But would it be worth it considering we're entering a time -- and an environment -- when there is little room for shrugging? Is Jimenez' presence as a fail-safe too much of a luxury to allocate the likes of Middlebrooks in any trade? Perhaps there are too many questions.

All we know is that answers aren't going to come easy — or cheap.