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Orioles Designate Lou Montanez For Assignment

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The Orioles designated Lou Montanez for assignment to make room for Robert Andino on the 40-man rosterm according to the team. Baltimore called up Andino, Brandon Snyder and Nolan Reimold today, now that rosters have expanded.

Montanez, 28, has not played in a game for the Orioles since late June. He has spent much of the season in the minor leagues, but did play all three outfield positions for Baltimore earlier in the year. In 11 minor league seasons, the former first-rounder has a .778 OPS. Montanez has just 266 career plate appearances in the big leagues; his major line of .223/.257/.323 doesn't compare to his minor league numbers.

Odds & Ends: Manny, Garland, Fredi Gonzalez

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Links for Wednesday, as Manny Ramirez finishes a 1-for-3 White Sox debut with a hit-by-pitch…

  • ESPN's Buster Olney feels that a team interested in Manny this winter should dangle an incentive-based contract with a base salary of $1MM or less.  But keep in mind that last offseason Scott Boras got $3.3MM and $2MM guarantees for Xavier Nady and Alex Cora, respectively.
  • The Nationals and Padres were the only teams to pursue Jon Garland during the offseason, the righty told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Garland chose the Padres because he liked the ballpark and felt they were closer to competing.
  • Fredi Gonzalez tops Cubs GM Jim Hendry's managerial wish list currently, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times.
  • Taiwanese news reports indicate that the Yankees determined their deal with Tzu-Wei Lin is invalid, reports the Taiwan Baseball blog.  The 16-year-old shortstop might be able to get more money from another team after he finishes high school. 
  • Mike Napoli puts his chances of being an Angel next season at 50-50, reports Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times.

Dodgers, Lilly To Pursue Extension

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The Dodgers intend to pursue a multiyear deal with Ted Lilly, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that the interest is mutual.  Rosenthal adds that Lilly wanted to sign with the Dodgers in the 2006-07 offseason, but they went with Jason Schmidt.

Lilly, 35 in January, has a 3.29 ERA, 8.5 K/9, and 1.4 BB/9 with six home runs allowed in six starts with the Dodgers since coming over from the Cubs on July 31st.  He made his season debut on April 24th due to arthroscopic shoulder surgery in November.  Lilly projects as a Type A free agent after the season, but it could be a moot point if his agents at Full Circle Sports Management hammer something out with the Dodgers before December.  Lilly's four-year, $40MM deal with the Cubs was signed in December of '06, a more freewheeling time for free agency.  He figures to accept fewer years, but probably won't take much of a salary cut.

Rosenthal also notes that the Dodgers "never engaged in serious discussions with the Padres" after the Friars won the claim on Hiroki Kuroda.

5 Surprises: Los Angeles Dodgers

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Five surprises about the Dodgers I would not have predicted in the offseason…

  1. Zach Lee signing.  Signability concerns dropped Lee to #28 in the June draft, and many accused the Dodgers of purposely taking a player they knew they wouldn't sign.  Instead, they gave Lee a club-record $5.25MM bonus to pass on a baseball and football career at LSU.
  2. Manny Ramirez claim.  It wasn't shocking that the Dodgers let Manny go to save $3.8MM.  It was a surprise that a team that still considers itself a contender felt they'd be better off without Ramirez.
  3. Matt Kemp's struggles.  The .299 career hitter slumped to .255 this year and his defense dropped off too, according to UZR.  The difference from '09 might end up being a matter of four wins or so. 
  4. Jonathan Broxton's struggles.  More than anything, Broxton's batting average on balls in play jumped up.  He's also lost a few miles per hour on his average fastball, bringing him back to his still-respectable '07 level of about 95.  It's been enough to allow Hong-Chih Kuo to sneak into the closer role.
  5. Rafael Furcal's season.  He's missed significant time due to injury, but is having his best season outside of his 36-game '08 stint.

Reverse Standings

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Is your favorite team sitting out the pennant race this year?  Have you lost all desire to follow them in September?  MLBTR has the perfect solution: reverse standings!

Our new reverse standings page will be automatically updated each morning to show the latest projected 2011 draft order for the first round.  Will the Orioles make a "run" at the Pirates for the first overall pick?  Will the Nationals make up ground on the Royals, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Indians, and Mariners to jump from the ninth to the third pick?  Every loss counts!

Yankees To Continue Pushing For Lilly?

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The Yankees "will continue to push to make a deal" for Dodgers lefty Ted Lilly, according to Mark Feinsand, Bill Madden, Anthony McCarron, and Roger Rubin of the New York Daily News.  Furthermore, the writers say the Yankees "believe there is a loophole that because they were awarded the claim before the first of the month, they could use Lilly on their postseason roster."

Joe Pawlikowski of River Ave. Blues can't find evidence of this loophole, nor could ESPN's Keith Law or a big league executive with which Law spoke.  Aside from postseason eligibility, is it plausible for the Yankees to acquire Lilly for the rest of the regular season?  Can the Dodgers place Lilly on waivers again, even after pulling him back the first time the Yankees won the claim?

According to The Biz of Baseball, "Once a player on major league waivers has been claimed and the waiver request revoked, any subsequent request for major league waivers during the same waiver period is irrevocable."  In other words, if the Dodgers put Lilly on waivers again they cannot pull him back if he's claimed.  If the Dodgers had purely financial motives, they could hope the Yankees or another team claims Lilly, allowing the Dodgers to save over $2MM and also keep the $2.5MM sent by the Cubs.  Such a transfer would be one of the bigger September transactions in recent memory.  Still, it's possible the Dodgers simply have no intention of moving Lilly, as ESPN's Wallace Matthews suggests.  ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that the Yankees' original claim of Lilly "never had any traction."

White Sox Designate Clevelan Santeliz For Assignment

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The White Sox designated righty Clevelan Santeliz for assignment, according to a team press release.  The move created a spot on the 40-man roster for Gregory Infante, who was called up along with Alejandro de Aza and Tyler Flowers.

Santeliz, unfortunately, was designated on his 24th birthday.  The reliever has a 4.65 ERA, 8.8 K/9, 5.9 BB/9, and nine home runs allowed in 50.3 Triple A innings this year.  Heading into the season, Baseball America ranked Santeliz ninth among White Sox prospects.  He has a closer mentality and a fastball/slider combo that can be "eye-popping," but clearly has command issues.

Extension Candidate: Francisco Liriano

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Francisco Liriano can be an inspiration to Stephen Strasburg, if the Nationals phenom has patience.  Liriano took the American League by storm for 121 innings in 2006, but went down for Tommy John surgery in November of that year.  In 2010, Liriano is again considered one of the best pitchers in the league. 

The Minnesota lefty was handled cautiously in '08, as Strasburg probably will be in 2012.  Three rough starts in April of '08 earned Liriano an extended stay in Triple A, long enough to prompt his agent Greg Genske to have the players union investigate potential service time manipulation.  Had Liriano spent all of '08 in the bigs, he'd have about 100 extra days of service time and would have been eligible for arbitration after that season and for free agency after the 2011 season.  An extra month or so in the Majors in '08 would've made Liriano eligible for arbitration for '09 as a Super Two.

Instead, 2011 will be Liriano's second arbitration year and he'll be eligible for free agency after '12.  Liriano will be 29 heading into the 2012-13 offseason, and could earn a massive free agent contract.  If there's any lingering bad blood from '08, you have to wonder if he'll continue going year-to-year.

On the other hand, Liriano could seek the security of an extension this winter in the Zack Greinke/Josh Johnson model. Greinke and Johnson were coming off low first-year arbitration salaries a touch below Liriano's current $1.6MM due to similar bumps in the road.  They signed for four years and $38-39MM.

Arbitration Eligibles: Minnesota Twins

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A look at the Twins players who will be eligible for arbitration after the season…

Perkins, Neshek, Condrey, Repko, and Hardy are candidates to be non-tendered due to injuries or poor performance.  Aside from Hardy, our common refrain applies: these guys could be retained cheaply even though they're arbitration-eligible, so some might stay.  In our August 17th poll, only 15.5% of you predicted Hardy will be non-tendered.  A trade is one alternative, if the Twins find a new shortstop.

Slowey, Casilla, Young, Liriano, and Capps should be tendered contracts.  Casilla should remain affordable.  Slowey and Liriano could be in the $3MM range.  Liriano's had his ups and downs, so despite the big platform year I wouldn't expect a huge payday.  Young will be in good shape since he's working off a $2.6MM salary from this year.  It's hard to find a past comparable for Capps, who was non-tendered after finishing a two-year deal, though he and Heath Bell might compare notes.  Perhaps he'll get $6-7MM.

Red Sox Rumors: Overbay, Victor Martinez

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The Red Sox are seven games out in the wild card, with a 6.3% chance at the playoffs according to Baseball Prospectus.  However, keep in mind that BP's report is not aware of the team's injuries.  Still, GM Theo Epstein told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, "It's not all about the math."  The Red Sox aren't quitting on the season, despite trading Manny Delcarmen yesterday. 

According to Cafardo, the Red Sox were close to a deal for Blue Jays first baseman Lyle Overbay.  Overbay cleared waivers several weeks ago, but is now dealing with post-concussion symptoms.

In offseason-related news, Cafardo says the Sox "have at least talked to Victor Martinez about a two-year offer."  Boston's catcher is hitting .309/.350/.505 since May 1st and has reportedly shown improved defense.  He's earning $7.7MM this year, and I doubt he'd forgo free agency without a raise.  He's probably looking for more than two years, too.

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