The Indians say they want to keep starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez, Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer writes. The team extended Jimenez a qualifying offer on Monday, although Jimenez is expected to decline it. "We’ve been consistent since the season ended," says GM Chris Antonetti. "We’d like to have Ubaldo back. He played a huge part in our success last year, especially in the second half." Hoynes had previously written that there was "no chance" the Indians would sign Jimenez long-term, however, arguing that Tim Lincecum's contract with the Giants set the market too high for the Indians to be able to keep Jimenez. It would still be surprising, then, if Jimenez wound up staying in Cleveland. Here are more notes from the Central divisions.
- Chris Carpenter's playing career appears to be over, but Cardinals GM John Mozeliak says he and Carpenter have discussed a possible future role for Carpenter with the organization, MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch reports. Carpenter already lives in St. Louis, and might be amenable to continuing on with the Cardinals in some sort of non-playing capacity.
- The Twins are currently focusing on pitching in the free agent market, ESPN1500's Darren Wolfson tweets. They may later turn their attention to finding a hitter, Wolfson suggests, but so far they haven't. The Twins allowed 788 runs in 2013, worse than any team except the Astros, so finding a couple extra arms appears to be crucial for Minnesota this offseason.
