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AL East Notes: Red Sox, Yankees, Orioles

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The Red Sox haven't finished last in the American League East since 1992, when their division rivals included the Tigers, Indians and Brewers. With 21 games remaining the 2012 Red Sox are in last place with a 63-78 record. Here’s the latest from their division…

  • The Red Sox intend to address their pitching issues this offseason, GM Ben Cherington told Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald. “We’ve got to look back and figure out why we were off on that,” Cherington said. The Red Sox are expected to bolster their rotation this winter, though one-year deals seem more likely than mega-contracts. Cherington relied on minor league signings last offseason, but knows more significant additions are necessary this year.
  • Joba Chamberlain, Alex Rodriguez and Andy Pettitte are vital to the Yankees for the final three weeks of the regular season, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. The job security of some executives, coaches and players could diminish if the Yankees miss the postseason, Sherman adds.
  • Rays manager Joe Maddon told Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun that he's pleased to see the Orioles contending for a playoff spot again. "I'm really happy for Baltimore and that organization, having been such a wonderful organization in the past," Maddon said.

Loria On Front Office, Guillen, Third Base

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The Marlins occupy last place in the NL East with a 63-79 record after entering the season with as much hype as any team in recent memory. It’s been a disappointing year, but owner Jeffrey Loria says he expects his team to contend again in 2013, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports. Here are more notes from Loria (via Spencer):

  • Loria declined to discuss any potential changes to his front office staff. He also refused to offer a public assessment of manager Ozzie Guillen. “I just don’t want to get drawn into that until the end of the season,” Loria said. “There’s good and bad with every situation.”
  • Loria acknowledged that the team has holes. “We need to fill them to complement some of the other really good parts that are here,” he added. The Marlins will likely consider upgrades at third base this offseason, Spencer writes.
  • Loria said he’s been thrilled with Jose Reyes’ performance and impressed by Mark Buehrle’s approach. He also mentioned infielder Donovan Solano and outfielder Justin Ruggiano as “pleasant surprises” in an otherwise trying season.

Orioles Interested In Juan Pierre

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The Orioles have some interest in trading for Juan Pierre, but the Phillies aren’t eager to trade him, Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reports. Pierre could replace Nick Markakis, who's out with a broken thumb, and lead off for Baltimore. The Phillies wouldn’t get much in return for Pierre with less than a month remaining in the season, so they’re content to keep him. 

Pierre, 35, signed a one-year deal with a base salary of $800K in January. He's been a bargain, posting a .304/.346/.364 batting line in 385 plate appearances, stealing 34 bases in 40 attempts, and amassing nearly as many walks (20) as strikeouts (21). Pierre wouldn’t be eligible for the playoffs if Baltimore traded for him.

Rosenthal On Farrell, Indians, Nationals

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The Blue Jays shouldn’t part with manager John Farrell unless they are confident they can hire a comparable replacement and make the Red Sox pay dearly for their former pitching coach, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes. The Blue Jays could start by asking for Clay Buchholz again, Rosenthal suggests. Here’s more from around MLB, starting with Farrell…

  • People who know Farrell find it difficult to believe he’d try to force his way out of Toronto, Rosenthal reports. The Blue Jays appear to value Farrell and don’t want to see him leave.
  • Most MLB teams wanted to develop Jurickson Profar as a pitcher when he was an amateur player, Rosenthal reports. The Rangers built a relationship with Profar, who wanted to play shortstop.
  • Scouts following the Indians like the team’s up-the-middle talent, but say the body language of manager Manny Acta suggests he’s resigned to losing. The Indians are expected to consider trade offers for Justin Masterson, Shin-Soo Choo and Chris Perez this offseason and rival teams wonder if they’d listen to offers for Asdrubal Cabrera.
  • Indians officials are “livid” with Perez for his comments about the team’s ownership and top baseball executives, Rosenthal writes. Perez questioned the Indians’ decision making and spending last week in an interview with Jon Paul Morosi. Some executives viewed those remarks as an attempt to get traded, Rosenthal reports.
  • One Orioles person points out that Andy MacPhail traded for many of the Orioles’ key players in a series of successful deals. MacPhail dealt for players such as J.J. Hardy, Pedro Strop, Chris Davis, Tommy Hunter, Robert Andino and Adam Jones before stepping down following the 2011 season.
  • Though the Nationals would like to retain Adam LaRoche, they can rely on internal options if the first baseman’s asking price reaches the three-year, $33-36MM range. Similarly, the Nationals might decide not to pursue Michael Bourn despite the long-standing expectation that they will offer him a competitive free agent contract.
  • The Brewers will need to sign a starting pitcher and fix their bullpen this coming offseason, Rosenthal writes.

Mets Notes: Wilpon, Wright, Payroll

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The 65-75 Mets are heading for a fourth consecutive losing season, but their long-term outlook could improve considerably with a successful offseason. GM Sandy Alderson figures to look for answers in the outfield and ways of keeping David Wright and R.A. Dickey in Queens beyond 2013. Here's the latest on the team from its newest beat writer, Newsday’s Marc Carig (links go to Twitter)…

  • Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon declined to speculate about contract talks with Wright or the team’s 2013 payroll. New York’s payroll is expected to stay in the $90MM range for 2013, but Wilpon said it’s too early to get into detail. "I think it would be premature to talk about it until we have a full conversation," he said.
  • Wright said there’s “nothing new” to report regarding extension talks, according to Carig. The third baseman’s current contract includes a $16MM option for 2013 with a $1MM buyout. He recently told Jon Heyman he’s “extremely optimistic” about signing a long-term deal with the Mets.

Pirates Designate Evan Meek For Assignment

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The Pirates announced that they have designated right-hander Evan Meek for assignment. The move creates 40-man roster space for right-hander Rick VandenHurk, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Indianapolis. Pittsburgh also recalled infielder Chase d'Arnaud and right-hander Bryan Morris in related moves.

Meek, a 2010 All-Star, has been in the Pittsburgh organization since the Pirates selected him in the 2007 Rule 5 draft. He has spent time on the MLB roster in each of the last five seasons, and made 12 relief appearances in 2012. The 29-year-old spent most of this year with Triple-A Indianapolis, where he posted a 2.74 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 5.1 BB/9 in 46 innings of relief work. In five MLB seasons, he has a 3.34 ERA, 7.5 K/9, 4.7 BB/9, a 52.1 % ground ball rate and an average fastball velocity of 94 mph.

MLB Investigating Red Sox Waiver Leaks

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MLB is investigating the unusually high number of waiver wire reports related to the Red Sox, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports. MLB has told the Red Sox that the organization is not under suspicion for leaking information.

In an otherwise quiet month for waiver news, there’s been a flood of Red Sox-related updates. Thanks to various reports we know Aaron Cook, Felix Doubront, and Andrew Miller, Daniel Bard, Mark Melancon, Clayton Mortensen, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Kelly Shoppach, Mike Aviles and Jacoby Ellsbury were all placed on waivers this month. Felix Doubront and Jon Lester were claimed on waivers, and waiver-related news surrounding Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and Nick Punto surfaced before the players were traded to Los Angeles.

Teams and individuals who leak waiver-related information are subject to significant fines. Every team has access to the waiver wire, so any number of club or MLB officials could be responsible for the leaks. This summer’s Red Sox waiver news has been been reported by a number of reporters from various outlets.

Olney On Upton, Young, Wilson

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Buster Posey has a legitimate chance at the NL MVP this year, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney writes. Posey has 20 home runs and a .327/.402/.531 batting line with nearly six wins above replacement (5.8 according to FanGraphs, 5.5 according to Baseball-Reference). Here are more of Olney’s notes from the NL West…

  • Rival executives expect the Diamondbacks to trade Justin Upton this winter, Olney reports. Some team officials believe the Diamondbacks will also trade center fielder Chris Young, possibly for a shortstop. Young earns $8.5MM next year and his contract includes an $11MM club option for 2014, so he'd represent a more affordable alternative to free agents such as B.J. Upton, Michael Bourn and Shane Victorino. Arizona could then enter the 2013 season with a projected outfield of Gerardo Parra, Jason Kubel and Adam Eaton.
  • Olney suggests the Giants will move on from Brian Wilson this offseason. Wilson, who appeared in two games this year before undergoing Tommy John surgery, will be arbitration eligible this coming offseason. He’ll be expensive if the Giants tender him a contract, as he earned an $8.5MM salary in 2012. It’d make sense for the Giants to see if there’s trade interest in the 30-year-old, Olney writes.

Regular MLBTR Features

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If you're a regular MLBTR reader, you'll be familiar with our chats, our Week In Review posts and Mike Axisa's Baseball Blogs Weigh In feature. Here's some more detail on when you'll see our weekly features and exactly what to expect from them:

  • MLBTR Chats - Come by every Wednesday at 2pm CDT to chat about the latest trades, signings and rumblings around the Major Leagues.
  • Baseball Blogs Weigh In - Every Friday morning, Mike Axisa directs you to some of the best writing on baseball blogs around the web. Whether it's opinion, stats or something else entirely, you can connect to the best of the blogosphere once a week on MLBTR. If you want to send Mike a post of yours, reach him at: mike@riveraveblues.com.
  • Week In Review - It's remarkable how much happens in seven days. Every Sunday night, we summarize the week's biggest stories in our Week In Review posts.
  • MLBTR Originals - We gather all our original analysis and reporting in one place every Sunday night.

Outrighted: Ohlendorf, Rodriguez, Chavez, Correa

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The latest outright assignments from around MLB…

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

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