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Giants, Cubs Discussed Rowand-Fukudome Swap

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The Giants and Cubs discussed a trade that would have sent Kosuke Fukudome to San Francisco for Aaron Rowand, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (all Twitter links). The bad contract swap appears to be a "long shot," however. If they can't trade Rowand, the Giants may listen to offers for Nate Schierholtz, according to Crasnick.

Cubs GM Jim Hendry pulled off a successful bad contract swap last offseason when he sent Milton Bradley to Seattle for Carlos Silva. Pulling off another such trade will be tricky, though. Rowand will earn $24MM through 2012 and Fukudome will become a free agent after earning $13.5MM in 2011, so the contracts are not perfect matches. Rowand has a limited no-trade clause and Fukudome has no-trade protection, so a potential deal could require the players' approval.

Tigers Interested In Penny, Other Starters

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The Tigers are still trying to upgrade their rotation, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The team is considering veteran starters, including Brad Penny. GM Dave Dombrowski pushed to acquire Shaun Marcum from the Blue Jays before Toronto sent him to Milwaukee, Morosi reports. Carl Pavano, however, does not appear to interest the Tigers.

Penny, 32, posted a 3.23 ERA with 5.7 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 in 55 2/3 innings for the Cardinals last year. However, the right-hander did not pitch after May 21st because of a shoulder strain.

The Tigers have addressed their needs aggressively this offseason and could field a competitive team right now. Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello, Phil Coke and Armando Galarraga are the team's current starters, but it sounds as though they may have some competition by the time Spring Training begins. 

Royals Designate Lance Zawadzki For Assignment

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The Royals designated infielder Lance Zawadzki for assignment and made room for Melky Cabrera on their 40-man roster, the team announced. The Royals had claimed Zawadzki from the Padres in November.

The 25-year-old appeared in 20 games for the Padres in May and June. He spent most of the season in the upper minors, where he played second, third and short and batted .225/.291/.316.  The Padres selected Zawadzki in the fourth round of the 2007 draft.

Nationals To Sign Chad Gaudin

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The Nationals agreed to sign Chad Gaudin to a minor league deal and invited the right-hander to Spring Training, according to the team. Gaudin became a free agent after the Yankees outrighted him off of the 40-man roster last month. Agent Larry Reynolds represents Gaudin.

The 27-year-old logged 56 1/3 innings for the A's and Yankees in 2010, posting a 5.65 ERA. His strikeout (7.3 K/9) and walk (3.4 BB/9) rates were fine, but he allowed 16 homers. Gaudin allowed a career-high 45.6% fly ball rate last year and, improbably, 17.2% of those fly balls left the yard. Only three pitchers saw a higher percentage of fly balls become homers in 2010 (minimum 50 innings).

Tigers To Re-Sign Magglio Ordonez

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The Tigers agreed to re-sign Magglio Ordonez to a one-year deal, the team announced. The contract is worth $10MM, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link). Ordonez, a Scott Boras client, turned down two-year offers elsewhere, according to Heyman.

Before fracturing his right ankle last July, the 36-year-old batted .303/.378/.474 in 365 plate appearances. He'll likely return to right field for the Tigers, which will presumably push Ryan Raburn into competition with Brennan Boesch and Don Kelly for the team's everyday left field job.

The Rangers and Red Sox reportedly had interest in Ordonez, who remained optimistic about returning to Detroit. Over the weekend, 39% of 10,000 MLBTR readers correctly predicted that the Tigers would re-sign Ordonez.

Until Ordonez injured his ankle, it seemed likely that his 2011 option would vest for $15MM. Instead, the Tigers declined arbitration – a good move given the $18MM salary Ordonez made last year – and re-signed him on the open market.

The Tigers entered the offseason with a number of needs, but GM Dave Dombrowski has addressed most of them already. The team re-signed Ordonez, Brandon Inge and Jhonny Peralta and signed Victor Martinez and Joaquin Benoit. If Dombrowski is comfortable with Armando Galarraga and Phil Coke at the back of his rotation, the rest of the winter could be relatively quiet for the Tigers.

Cubs To Sign Kerry Wood

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The Cubs agreed to sign Kerry Wood to a one-year deal, the team announced. The contract will pay Wood $1.5MM, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. The reliever also considered a one-year $3.5MM offer from the White Sox, according to Wittenmyer. David Kaplan of Chicago Now first reported that the sides were close to an agreement. SFX represents Wood.

It appeared earlier in the week that Wood was looking for a two-year, $12MM deal. That's a lot of money, but not an unreasonable asking price in this market. Ten relievers have agreed to multiyear deals this offseason and Mariano Rivera is the only one of them who will definitely be a closer next year. Despite the strong market for middle relievers, Wood clearly wanted to return to the organization he was with from 1995-2008.

And that organization has lots of reasons to want Wood back. After the Indians traded him to New York, he posted a 0.69 ERA with 10.7 K/9 and 6.2 BB/9 in 26 innings. Like Chicago closer Carlos Marmol, Wood walks and strikes out lots of hitters. Wood's walks remain an issue and he did struggle early in 2010, but for $1.5MM, he appears to be a bargain.

Marlins Don’t Appear To Be Interested In Renteria

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FRIDAY, 10:27am: The Marlins have not discussed Renteria, according to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post (on Twitter). Mike Cameron's name hasn't surfaced either, according to Capozzi.

THURSDAY, 12:14pm: The Marlins appear to be interested in bringing Edgar Renteria back, according to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. The 34-year-old has an offer to return to San Francisco for about $1MM, but has said he would like to return to St. Louis or Florida to finish his career.

Renteria has said he's open to playing second base if it helps him land a desirable job. The Marlins could have him back up Omar Infante and Hanley Ramirez up the middle and provide insurance in case prospect Matt Dominguez struggles at third base.

Renteria batted .276/.332/.374 in 267 plate appearances last year, missing time with elbow, groin, hamstring and shoulder injuries before returning to form and winning the World Series MVP. 

Renteria spent the first three seasons of his career with the Marlins from 1996-98. He made one All-Star team while in Florida and helped the Marlins to their first World Series championship in 1997.

Poll: Multiyear Deals For Relievers

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Multiyear contracts are on the rise in general, and one group in particular has benefitted from the trend: relief pitchers. As MLBTR's free agent tracker shows, 11 relievers have signed multiyear deals so far this offseason. Many of these relievers will pick up saves in 2011, but only one of them – Mariano Rivera – is sure to be his team's closer next year. 

Yahoo's Jeff Passan argues that GMs "make the same silly mistake year after year" when they sign relievers to multiyear deals. Dave Cameron of FanGraphs recently explained convincingly that other than Rivera, relievers on multiyear deals have simply not produced.

But if a GM refuses to offer multiyear deals, the best free agents will sign elsewhere. Teams with money can often afford to gamble on relievers, even though their performance is volatile.

Look at the GMs who have signed relievers to multiyear deals: Ned Colletti and Tony Reagins have led their clubs to the League Championship Series in recent years. And every other GM who has signed a reliever to a multiyear deal this winter has led a team to the World Series. It would be overly simplistic to say these executives don't know what they're doing, but we can still ask the question…

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Phillies, Uggla, Carmona

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On this date six years ago, a three-team trade that would have sent Randy Johnson and Kazuhisa Ishii to the Yankees, Shawn Green and Brad Penny to the Diamondbacks, and Javier Vazquez plus prospects to the Dodgers fell apart when Los Angeles backed out. The Big Unit ended up with the Yanks and Green with the D'Backs anyway, but Penny stayed with the Dodgers while Vazquez went to Arizona. Ishii ended up with the Mets in a separate deal.

There's no backing out of these links, here's the best from around the web…

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Mets Like Tom Gorzelanny, Matt Garza

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Mets GM Sandy Alderson is believed to have inquired on Tom Gorzelanny, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post. The Mets like Gorzelanny's ability to strike opponents out and the fact that he would fit into their budget.

Gorzelanny made $800K last year and is set to receive a raise through arbitration. He posted a 4.09 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 in 136 1/3 innings for the Cubs in 2010. He became more hittable as the season progressed, but pitched respectably in his return to the rotation. The Tigers reportedly contacted the Cubs about Gorzelanny earlier in the month, when the Cubs appeared to be shopping him.

The Mets have also discussed Matt Garza internally, according to Puma. However, he's an unlikely fit, since he's about to earn a substantial raise. Garza earned $3.35MM in 2010 and could earn over $6MM through arbitration in 2011.

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