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Week In Review: 10/9/11 - 10/15/11

The Rangers officially advanced to the World Series this week, but much of the news on MLBTR centered around front office exchanges, highlighted by Theo Epstein jumping ship from the Red Sox and signing a five-year deal with the Cubs. Here are the rest of the week's stories:

• The Cubs and Red Sox are discussing compensation for Epstein. Meanwhile, Boston has already promoted Ben Cherington from assistant general manager to general manager. Here are some media reactions to the Epstein news.
• The sale of the Astros to Jim Crane is expected to be completed by mid-November, and the team would indeed likely move to the American League West, as has been speculated.
• C.C. Sabathia's agent told Buster Olney that he and Sabathia will "exhaust" all their efforts to work out a new deal to stay with the Yankees. We learned this week though that the Rangers are also gearing up to bid on the big lefty.
• There have been some rumblings that the Reds will listen to offers on Joey Votto, but GM Walt Jocketty said definitively this week that the club has not discussed trading the 2010 NL MVP.
• The Yankees are expected to hammer out an extension for GM Brian Cashman without much difficulty, and they'll have a meeting to discuss the situation in the coming week.
• At least one report has C.J. Wilson seeking $100MM this offseason, and a Rangers source was quoted saying that he wouldn't get it from Texas.
• A new name was thrown into the pool of possible first round draft picks for 2012 when we learned that Fernando Perez, a third baseman/outfielder out of California, will follow the same path that Bryce Harper did by skipping the spring semester of high school and playing for a community college to become draft eligible a year sooner.
• Aramis Ramirez said that he will leave Chicago if the Cubs don't offer him a contract that spans "several years."
• Jimmy Rollins discussed free agency and said that he can't imagine playing for a team other than the Phillies, but noted that it's also about the years and money.
• Another top free agent, Jonathan Papelbon, said that it's not all about the money and he wants to be in an environment where he can succeed and where his family will be safe and happy.
• The Phillies will pursue a free agent closer this offseason if they can't retain Ryan Madson, and manager Charlie Manuel is also in favor of an upgrade at third base.
• The Pirates don't plan on paying Paul Maholm $9.75MM in 2012, but they are still undecided on his option as they look for a trade partner.
• The Padres will decline the options on Chad Qualls and Brad Hawpe, but are still mulling things over on Aaron Harang's 2012 option.
• Magglio Ordonez nearly retired midseason, but now he's hoping to play again in 2012.
• The Twins, White Sox, and Astros all outrighted players to Triple-A this week, clearing up space on their respective 40-man rosters. As shown by MLBTR's 40-man roster count, there are currently 10 teams with one or more 40-man spaces open.

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