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Day In Review: Top Stories From Day 2

By Steve Adams [December 7, 2011 at 6:00am CST]

If you missed anything from Day 1 of the Winter Meetings, here's the rundown from the crack o' dawn yesterday. If you missed anything from Day 2, the good stuff's all down below:

There was literally too much Albert Pujols talk for one post, so we split it up into two. Pujols reportedly has three offers of $200MM+, though one is from the dreaded "mystery team." Conflicting reports have the Angels either in the mix or out entirely, but Pujols does appear to be down to choosing between the Marlins and Cardinals, with some expecting a decision today.
The White Sox are apparently blowing it up and starting over, though GM Kenny Williams kicked the effort off in an odd way by dealing closer Sergio Santos to the Blue Jays in a one-for-one swap for Double-A strikeout machine Nestor Molina. Santos is under team control for the next six years on a very affordable three-year, $8.25MM deal with three team options ($6MM, $8MM, and $8.75MM).
Not everything is rosy down in Miami, as a report surfaced that Hanley Ramirez prefers a trade rather than changing positions to accommodate new teammate Jose Reyes.
The Angels don't want to go six years on C.J. Wilson, whose agent Bob Garber met with the Rangers yesterday and was "pleasantly surprised." The Rangers' first offer was said to be for $60MM over four years.
The Mets remade their bullpen in about as much time as it took me to make the frozen pizza I made for dinner. They signed Jon Rauch to a one-year deal ($3.5MM), inked Frank Francisco for two years ($12MM), and traded Angel Pagan to the Giants for Andres Torres and Ramon Ramirez.
The Giants, by the way, are said to be "far down the road" on another trade as well.
Gio Gonzalez is becoming a hot topic. Late last night word got out that the Tigers were making a strong push for the A's lefty, and then we learned at about 3am that the Phillies are in the mix as well.
With the Phillies' interest fading and the Angels' initial offers on the low end, the Brewers have emerged as the favorites for Aramis Ramirez.
Mark Buehrle is seeking a four-year deal and has narrowed his decision to five teams, although it's not clear as to which five are in the conversation. The Rangers, Nationals, Marlins, and Twins all had offers to the former South Sider on Monday.
The Dodgers are apparently addicted to two-year deals, and who was Aaron Harang to deny them? He got $12MM from L.A.'s NL crew.
The Rockies picked up non-tender candidate Kevin Slowey off the Twins' scrap heap for a player to be named later. The Orioles talked with Minnesota about Slowey, too.
David Ortiz is planning on accepting arbitration to stay with the Red Sox, though he has yet to do so.
Other teams get the feeling that the Braves will indeed move either Jair Jurrjens or Martin Prado this offseason.
The Twins made a three-year offer to Michael Cuddyer, who ironically saw the birth of his own pair of twins yesterday. Is that an omen?