Links from the NL Central on the first day that Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder can sign with new teams…
- The Pirates have holes at catcher, first base, shortstop and in the starting rotation, as Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette explains. Tim Dierkes looked ahead to the Pirates' offseason last month.
- Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the Cardinals should hire Terry Francona if he wants to manage in St. Louis. Francona is a candidate for the position, as Joe Strauss reported last night. The Cardinals begin the interview process today.
- One team that inquired about Cardinals third base coach Jose Oquendo heard that he was next in line behind Tony La Russa, according to Peter Gammons of MLB Network (on Twitter).
- The Reds don’t figure to pursue Jose Reyes, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Shortstop Zack Cozart is rehabbing his injured left elbow and should be ready by Opening Day.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Peter Gammons and used to eagerly await his Sunday notes columns, but it seems like he just makes crap up all the time since his stroke
There’s been a sense that Oquendo is the manager in waiting for a few years.
More and more I’m convinced it’s going to be Francona. I don’t have a problem with that. I just think Oquendo deserves the job.
It seems no teams are in on Reyes. He might be in trouble and take alot less from the Mets to come back. Who knows if they are gonna want him back.
why would the mets not want one of the best SS in the league, who is entering his prime, back?
I can see the Nationals making some noise this offseason.
I take it the musicman knows a thing or two about making noise
I can see the Nationals trying to make noise however, no major free agents will end up going there. Mainly because most of the free agents are looking for teams that are ready tow in now and with the Phillies as an impediment, no way the Nationals win now.
JT Reyes is not going to the Yanks. Get over it.
Not saying he will go to the Yanks, but remember anything is possible. They did net three major free agents in an offseason, didn’t they?
Can’t the Pirates just resign Ronny Cedeno for a lesser amount? Chase D’Arnaud will make two errors a day if he’s the starting shortstop.
They want to give the give the kid a real chance before they make any final judgements. Who knows he might be a diamond in the rust.
Don’t you mean “rough”? If you watched the Pirates this year, you could tell he needed alot of work. Cedeno was actually one of the better fielding SSs in the league.
They better go sign someone good with this “extra money”.
Pirates: Ramon Hernandez, Reyes, Pujols, & CJ Wilson, winning! (kidding of course), but seriously with all these teams dropping out of the Reyes bidding could anyone see the Bucs scooping him up?
Highly unliikely… I know there are a lot of teams in need of a SS. It just might take longer for Reyes to land is all. I don’t think the Pirates have a prayer in getting him.
The Pirates can’t commit that much money to him and its not worth it because Reyes is too often injured.