Odds & Ends: Ankiel, Moyer, Griffey, Jays

Another round of links, expertly prepared…

• Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch believes the Reds might have interest in soon-to-be free agent outfielder Rick Ankiel.  The Pirates are also thought to have some level of interest in the former pitcher, who's hit 36 home runs in the past two years and boasts one of the best outfield arms in baseball.  (That's looking on the bright side of things, of course).
• As ESPN.com's Jayson Stark notes, Jamie Moyer's season-ending groin injury locks in his 2010 salary at $8MM.  $6.5MM of that is base pay, and the other $1.5MM is available through performance-based incentives.
• Ken Griffey Jr. side-stepped another retirement question when the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser spoke with him Wednesday. "It's not really up to me," he said. "Well, some of it is."  Stay tuned this offseason for more on Junior's future plans.
• According to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com, the Blue Jays have laid off nearly two dozen employees from the business side of their organization.  Cost-cutting in the front office doesn't bode well for any kind of free agency exploits this winter.