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Archives for November 2, 2011

Twins Rumors: Nathan, Cuddyer, Kubel, Slowey

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The latest Twins rumors, courtesy of ESPN 1500's Phil Mackey…

  • Joe Nathan's top priority is to pitch for a winning team next year, preferably as the closer.  Last week Nathan's agent said his client seeks a closing job.  "Money won't be the driving force" for Nathan, writes Mackey.  Mackey says Nathan has strong interest in returning to the Twins, who definitely have openings at the back end of their bullpen.
  • Mackey hears that Michael Cuddyer will "listen attentively to all interested parties," even if the Twins make the best offer.  The Twins maintain interest in Jason Kubel as well.  At the least, I expect they'll offer arbitration to both of them later this month.
  • Mackey's hunch says to keep an eye on Clint Barmes, Kelly Shoppach, and Ryan Doumit as potential free agent targets.  I ranked Barmes 35th among free agents on Monday, predicting the Twins as his new team.  Make your picks for Barmes and 49 other free agents by Sunday night for the chance to win cash and baseball-related prizes and bragging rights.  Over 3,000 people have entered so far.
  • There's a very good chance the Twins will non-tender righty Kevin Slowey, wrote MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger on Monday.
  • The Twins' 2012 payroll is expected to decrease slightly, leaving $20-25MM to spend, wrote Bollinger on Saturday.
  • View MLBTR's projected salaries for Slowey and the Twins' other four arbitration eligibles here, and read Ben Nicholson-Smith's offseason outlook for the team here. 

MLBTR Chats

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Every week, MLBTR conducts a live chat with either Tim Dierkes or Ben Nicholson-Smith.  Most of the time, it's me, and the chat is held at 2pm central time on Wednesdays.  That's the plan for today.

All you have to do to participate is visit MLB Trade Rumors at any point during the hour-long chat and click the chat link.  Then you'll have the opportunity to put in your name and submit a question.

With thousands of questions streaming in, I am typically able to answer about 60 of them in an hour.  If you feel like your questions are being ignored, the reason is probably just the sheer volume.  If you'd like to improve your chances of having a question answered, avoid posting it repeatedly, complaining about how your questions or favorite team are being ignored, or asking something that has been well-covered in our articles.  Instead, submit a few interesting questions that can reasonably be answered without research.

To view transcripts of past MLBTR chats, click here.

Marlins Notes: Payroll, Oviedo, Vazquez

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Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest spoke with reporters yesterday; here are the hot stove highlights.

  • The Marlins will raise their payroll to at least $85MM in 2012, writes Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post.  By my calculations they should have over $20MM to spend on '12 salaries, if Juan Carlos Oviedo does not remain with the team.
  • Oviedo, the former Leo Nunez, is in the Dominican Republic working through identity-related legal issues.  Beinfest hopes for clarity on the situation as soon as possible, but has "contingencies in place."  Beinfest noted that there are dates that are sensitive to Oviedo's situation, namely the December 12th non-tender deadline.
  • Beinfest told reporters the Marlins' top priority is to add rotation depth.  In regard to Javier Vazquez, he said, "I haven't talked with Javy since the season ended.  What a great job he did for us, and we will check in with him and his agent.  We'll see where his head is, and where his thoughts are. That door was left open when the season ended to at least explore. Javy's mind is wherever Javy's mind is. He's a veteran guy. We'll at least explore and keep and touch, and we'll see." 
  • Beinfest seems more open to trading young players, saying, "I think we need to become a little more open, just in general.  I think we've been very protective of our zero to three [years of experience] players because we've had to be, given our payroll challenges. I think we can open up a little more now."
  • This is an important offseason for center fielder Chris Coghlan, says Beinfest, after two disappointing seasons.
  • To read my offseason outlook for the new Miami Marlins, click here.

Cubs, Nationals May Have Interest In Buehrle

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The Cubs and Nationals might be among the suitors for free agent lefty Mark Buehrle this winter.  Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune hears from a source that the Cubs "would be interested Buehrle if the price tag and years aren't astronomical."  And Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post wrote yesterday that "some individuals with ties to the Nationals believe they will pursue Buehrle."

Buehrle, 32, has spent his entire career with the White Sox after they drafted him in the 38th round in 1998.  In each of the last 11 campaigns, he's reached a minimum of 201 regular season innings.  Last year Buehrle posted a 3.59 ERA, 4.8 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 0.92 HR/9, and 44.9% groundball rate in 205 1/3 frames.    

Buehrle is a Type B free agent, and SI's Jon Heyman wrote last month that the White Sox are expected to try to re-sign him to a two-year deal.  Buehrle said in September he'd like to play two or three more years.  He considers the NL a potentially interesting challenge, and has talked many times about pitching for his home-state Cardinals.  However, the Cards don't appear to have a rotation opening for him.  Buehrle doesn't seem inclined to play too far from home, yet he may have reservations about going to the crosstown Cubs.  In theory, the Royals could be in play, but we haven't heard anything yet.

I ranked Buehrle 12th on my top 50 free agents list, predicting a return to the White Sox.  Make your pick for Buehrle and 49 other free agents for a chance to win great prizes in MLBTR's new contest.

McCourt Agrees To Sell Dodgers

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WEDNESDAY: McCourt and MLB have agreed to seek approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for an auction of the Dodgers, reports Shaikin.  MLB hopes to have a new owner in place by Opening Day.

MONDAY: Dodgers owner Frank McCourt appears to be nearing an agreement with MLB on a bankruptcy settlement, according to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times. Under the agreement, McCourt would agree to sell the team. At this points negotiations are fluid and talks could fall apart.

McCourt would have some control over the sale, which would likely include Dodger Stadium and surrounding parking lots, according to the Times. Shaikin suggests a sale price of $1 billion is not out of the question. The Dodgers' bankruptcy trial was delayed last week.

It seems unlikely that the Dodgers will be major players for the offseason's top free agents. However, they're expected to discuss extensions for center fielder Matt Kemp and left-hander Clayton Kershaw and it's possible that each player could require a commitment of $100MM or more.

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