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Central Notes: Twins, Pineiro, Garland, Wood

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The NL Central got a little tougher when the Reds acquired Mat Latos on Saturday, but they're still looking to upgrade their pitching further. Here's the latest from baseball's two central divisions…

Reds Continue To Look For Pitching

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The Reds made a significant addition to their rotation today by trading for Mat Latos, but ESPN's Buster Olney says (on Twitter) that they are still looking for ways to upgrade their pitching staff. They could still add another starter at some point.

Latos figures to join Johnny Cueto, Homer Bailey, Bronson Arroyo, and Mike Leake in Cincinnati's rotation next season, with Travis Wood in reserve as the sixth starter. Cueto finished the season on the disabled list with a shoulder strain though, and Leake was the only other member of the rotation to finish the year with an ERA under 4.40. Plans to move Aroldis Chapman into the rotation hit a snag when a shoulder issue kept him out of winter ball.

The Reds were said to have interest in Jair Jurrjens, Gio Gonzalez, and James Shields recently, but it's tough to see them swinging another trade of that caliber after landing Latos. Unsigned free agents like Zach Duke and Rodrigo Lopez could serve as decent depth pieces on minor league contracts.

West Rumors: Rizzo, Pujols, Dodgers, Shuey

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The Padres made a mini-blockbuster earlier today by trading Mat Latos to the Reds, and now let's recap the latest rumors from out west…

  • Clubs have already started calling the Padres about Anthony Rizzo, and the Rays and Cubs are among those interested according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (Twitter links). Rizzo could be on the market after Yonder Alonso joined San Diego in the Latos trade.
  • Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports provided the details of the incentives in Albert Pujols' contract with the Angels (Twitter link). The slugger will get $3MM for his 3,000th career hit and $7MM for his 763rd career home run, which would break the all-time record. The soon-to-be 32-year-old currently has 2,073 hits and 445 homers.
  • Dodgers GM Ned Colletti has restructured his front office slightly, according to MLB.com's Ken Gurnick. Vance Lovelace was promoted to director of professional personnel after serving as special assistant to the GM and director of pro scouting. Rick Ragazzo replaces Lovelace as director of pro scouting after serving as a special assistant to the GM.
  • The Dodgers are still fighting with Hartford Life Insurance Co. over Paul Shuey's $3.25MM salary for the 2004 season, reports Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times. The team sued the insurance company in 2006, saying they didn't honor their claim when the right-hander did not pitch that season due to injury. 

Winning Darvish Bid Exceeds Matsuzaka’s Record

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It's been three full days since the posting period for Yu Darvish has closed, but we're still waiting to find out which team placed the high bid. That high bid will be a posting process record according to Franz Lidz of SI.com, who hears from Japanese league officials that the winning bid exceeds the $51.1MM the Red Sox paid for the right to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka five years ago. The exact amount is unknown.

Yesterday we heard that the Blue Jays bid north of $40MM, making them the favorites for the 25-year-old right-hander. The Rangers, Yankees, and Cubs also submitted bids for Darvish, while the Red Sox, Nationals, Giants, Athletics, Marlins, Orioles, Mets, Rays, Angels, and Twins did not. Nearly 7,500 MLBTR readers believe he'll land in New York with the Yankees. The Nippon Ham Fighters are expected to accept the high bid just before Tuesday's deadline.

Cardinals Maintain Strong Interest In Beltran

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The Cardinals won't be able to replace all the offense they lost when Albert Pujols left for the Angels, but there are ways to replace some of it. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says the Cardinals did extensive background work on Carlos Beltran this week, and they continue to maintain strong interest in the outfielder. 

Beltran, 34, hit .300/.385/.525 with 22 homers last season, the first time he's played in more than 100 games since 2008. He's mulling over a variety of two and three-year offers according to Rosenthal, with the Blue Jays, Red Sox, and Rays also having interest in the outfielder. Toronto is said to have "significant financial flexibility," but Boston is more focused on pitching and Tampa only figures to get seriously involved if Beltran's market crashes.

Rosenthal says the Cardinals have expressed interest in both Cody Ross and Coco Crisp as well. St. Louis can add an outfielder because Allen Craig figures to miss the start of the season after having knee surgery recently, and also because Lance Berkman will move back to first base, his best position.

Giants Sign Eli Whiteside

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The Giants have signed catcher Eli Whiteside to a Major League contract, reports John Shea of The San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). San Francisco non-tendered the 32-year-old Pro Star Management client this past Monday, and we heard he was close to a return on Wednesday.

Whiteside started playing regularly when Buster Posey's season ended this past May, posting a modest .197/.264/.310 line in 236 plate appearances. Had the Giants tendered Whiteside a contract, he would have been in line for a 2012 salary in the $700K range, according to our projections. He figures to compete with Hector Sanchez and Chris Stewart for playing time behind Posey in 2012.

Reactions To The Mat Latos Trade

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Earlier today, the Reds pulled the trigger on a major deal as they shipped Yonder Alonso, Edinson Volquez, Yasmani Grandal, and Brad Boxberger to the Padres for right-hander Mat Latos.  Here's a look at some reactions to the trade from around baseball and a look at how it will impact both clubs..

  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports likes the deal for both sides and argues that it takes a quality package of talent to land a 24-year-old potential No. 1 starter.   When looking at all of the pitchers available on the trade market, including Gio Gonzalez, Matt Garza, Wade Davis, and Jair Jurrjens, Latos possesses the most upside.
  • If the Reds make the playoffs in 2012 and/or in '13, in a weak division, and Latos helps, this trade will have served its purpose for the club, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.com.
  • One source told Dan Hayes of the North County Times (via Twitter) that the club had "a ton" of concern about Mat Latos' maturity issues.  Latos turned 24 years old last week.
  • The first rival evaluator Olney (via Twitter) spoke with loved the trade for the Padres.  That same evaluator raised concerns about how Latos grows mentally as a pitcher and thinks that his fastball command is the big question mark for him (Twitter link).
  • The Rockies were briefly in the mix for Volquez this week before he was traded to San Diego, tweets Troy Renck of The Denver Post.
  • Even though it's fair to say that Alonso and Grandal were blocked by Joey Votto and Devin Mesoraco, respectively, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter) still feels that the Reds gave up a lot to land Latos.
  • After watching Latos pitch in 2010, John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer (via Twitter) could not have imagined the Padres dealing the talented pitcher.  However, Latos' 2011 wasn't quite as impressive.
  • More from Olney (via Twitter) who thinks the Reds would have been better off dealing Votto for a huge haul of prospects and plugging Alonso in at first base.  However, the Reds want to try to keep Votto and view him as their own Albert Pujols (Twitter link).  Rival executives don't see how they'll be able to hang on to Votto while keeping their payroll under control.
  • The Padres view Boxberger as someone who can eventually be a potential closer, tweets Scott Miller of CBSSports.com.  Baseball America ranked the 23-year-old as the 10th best prospect in the Reds' farm system.

Prince Fielder Rumors: Saturday

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There have been conflicting reports about the Cubs' interest in Prince Fielder, and the market for him has been slow to develop even after Albert Pujols signed with the Angels. We'll keep track of today's Fielder rumors here:

  • The Cubs will continue to be involved in the free-agent bidding for Fielder, two major league sources with knowledge of the negotiations tell Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com.
  • Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets that a well-placed source tells him Chicago's interest in Fielder is nothing more than a smokescreen and that the hefty first baseman may wind up taking a shorter-term deal. In a second tweet, Strauss speculates that the Cardinals could slow-play Carlos Beltran and see what happens with the Fielder market.

Red Sox Inquired On Joakim Soria

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The Red Sox had discussions with the Royals about the possibility of dealing for closer Joakim Soria, multiple sources tell Rob Bradford of WEEI.com.  The talks have failed to progress, however, with Kansas City seeking the type of players that Boston doesn't want to part with for Soria.

Soria is coming off of a down season in which he turned in a 4.03 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 60 appearances.  However, the 27-year-old remains attractive thanks in part to his contract which will pay him $6MM in 2012 and has club options of $8MM and $8.75MM for '12 and '13, respectively. 

It' s important to note that Soria's contract includes a limited no-trade clause in which he can block trades to the Red Sox and five other clubs.  The other teams on that list are the Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers, Rockies, and Braves.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the Royals were willing to listen on Soria but wanted a frontline starter in return.

Byrnes On Latos, Alonso, Rizzo, Surplus

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Some highlights from Josh Byrnes' conference call this afternoon..

  • Padres GM Josh Byrnes said four teams had the right package of young players to make a run at Mat Latos, tweets Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com.  Ultimately, he said, the Padres winnowed it to two teams before deciding on the Reds.
  • Byrnes said that the Padres view Yonder Alonso as a first base candidate and not as a left fielder, Crasnick tweets.  Right now, it appears that Alonso and Jesus Guzman will duke it out for the job in Spring Training (Twitter link).
  • For the time being, it seems that the Padres' current plan is to slot Alonso in at first and have Rizzo go back to Triple-A, tweets Crasnick.  Byrnes admits that the deal will probably be a tough pill to swallow for Anthony Rizzo, tweets Scott Miller of CBSSports.com.
  • The Padres GM says that he won't rule out another trade, but he is comfortable with his team's surplus of offensive players, Crasnick writes (via Twitter).
  • Newcomer Yasmani Grandal will be given more time in the minors, tweets Crasnick.  Byrnes referred to Nick Hundley as the club's "No. 1 guy" and a key part of the team.
For the time being, it seems that the Padres' current plan is to slot Alonso in at first and have Rizzo go back to Triple-A, tweets Crasnick

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