Odds and Ends: Teixeira, Izturis, Gaudin

Links for Thursday…

• Check out this week’s minor league transactions.  Some familiar names were signed.
• The Red Sox officially announced the signing of Junichi Tazawa.
• J.C. Bradbury likes the Dustin Pedroia contract.
• Sox Machine has parting words for Javier Vazquez, whose trade to the Braves was officially announced today.  ESPN’s Keith Law tells you all you need to know about the players involved in the deal.  Tyler Flowers is the key, Santos Rodriguez the wild card.
• The Rockies’ talks for lefty reliever Joe Beimel continue. In another article, Patrick Saunders looks at the team’s wish list.
• Rob Neyer believes teams are starting to figure out defensive evaluation, creating a weak market for lumbering LF/1B/DH types.
• Jesse Spector spoke to Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski.
• T.R. Sullivan says the Tigers’ talks for Rangers catcher Gerald Laird continue.
• Larry Dobrow offers suggestions to fix the Reds.
• Aaron Gleeman says the Twins have already missed several good opportunities to affordably improve their bullpen.
• Viva El Birdos explains why the Cardinals should’ve offered arbitration to Russ Springer and Braden Looper.
• Lee Jenkins provides insight into Mark Teixeira – the perfect baseball player and ideal Boras client.
• Roch Kubatko says Cesar Izturis remains a strong possibility for the Orioles.
• Fred Claire notes that Jack Zduriencik will always remember Russell Branyan as his first free agent signing.  Geoff Baker examines the Branyan signing and the Ken Griffey Jr. idea.
• Paul Sullivan suggests Chad Gaudin is a non-tender candidate for the Cubs.  He’s set to get an arbitration raise on this year’s $1.775MM salary.