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Red Sox Notes: Rotation, Tazawa, Melancon

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The latest on the Red Sox, via Alex Speier of WEEI.com…

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.

AL Central Notes: Hafner, Verlander, Cabrera

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Every AL Central team except the Royals has won the division at least once since 2007. Here are the latest AL Central links as the Tigers look to win back-to-back division titles for the first time since they won the 1934-35 pennants…

  • The Indians are hoping for modest production from Travis Hafner in 2012, which will probably be his final season with the Indians, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes. "If Travis can be a productive major-league hitter this year, we'll be happy," GM Chris Antonetti said.
  • Justin Verlander and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports discussed the right-hander's newfound celebrity in a piece that's well worth reading. Verlander makes it clear that he loves Detroit, but admitted he’s thought about what playing in a bigger market would be like. “It would be fun, but hopefully I help turn Detroit into a major market,” Verlander said. “Other teams are major markets not just because of their fan base but because of the national fan base.”
  • No talks about a new contract for Verlander have taken place, but he’s “open for conversation” with the Tigers. Verlander, who’s under team control through 2014, is intrigued by free agency.
  • In this FOX Sports video, Morosi said the Tigers are realistic about Miguel Cabrera's limitations as a defender at third base, and seem committed to making the arrangement work.
  • Tigers manager Jim Leyland recently joined Evan & Phillips on Sirius XM Radio and said he's willing to accept that Cabrera won't get to as many balls as Brandon Inge might.

A’s Release Landon Powell

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The A's released catcher Landon Powell, the team announced. Powell had been outrighted off of the 40-man roster in January and was in camp as a non-roster player. The 29-year-old SFX client is now a free agent.

Powell has a .207/.284/.328 line in 406 plate appearances over the course of three seasons with the Athletics. He has played some first base, but spent most of his time behind the plate. Just 60% of stolen base attempts against Powell have been successful since 2009.

The A's had agreed to terms with Powell on a one-year $620K salary via arbitration earlier in the offseason. They owe him one sixth of that figure — approximately $103K — even though they cut him. John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle first reported the news.

Latest On Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner

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It appeared earlier this week that the Giants and Matt Cain had built momentum toward an extension. One person in the know even said there's no chance the 2013 free agent signs for less than $100MM. Here are today's updates on talks between Cain, the Giants and teammate Madison Bumgarner:

  • The Giants agreed to a one-year deal with Bumgarner, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The pre-arbitration eligible starter will earn $575K or so in 2012.
  • There's no hard deadline for talks with Cain, Schulman adds. Cain would like negotiations to be done with by Opening Day.
  • Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com suggests the Giants could work out extensions for Cain and Bumgarner within the week. The sides have been working late and the Giants like package announcements, Baggarly tweets. MLBTR has previewed possible extensions for Cain and Bumgarner this past offseason.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports points out that Kevin Brown, the only right-handed pitcher in history to obtain a $100MM deal, signed his contract 13 years ago and suggests the market is ready for a correction by a present-day right-hander such as Cain. The Giants are privately optimistic that they'll lock Cain up, Rosenthal writes.

Teams With Open 40-Man Roster Spots

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Most teams have full 40-man rosters at this point in the year, but one third of MLB clubs have at least one open spot. These teams could offer free agents Major League deals without having to cut another player (if they have enough money and projected 25-man roster space) or make a waiver claim at some point before Opening Day. Here’s the team-by-team breakdown:

  • Braves – 36
  • White Sox – 37
  • Nationals – 38
  • Yankees – 39
  • Angels – 39
  • Phillies – 39
  • Cubs – 39
  • Cardinals – 39
  • Rockies – 39 

Keep in mind that the 21 teams with full 40-man rosters could create roster space by moving a player to the 60-day disabled list or by releasing, outrighting or designating for assignment a rostered player.

Source: MLB.com and MLBDepthCharts.com.

Duquette: Damon Deal Unlikely

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FRIDAY: Duquette told Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com "maybe" when asked if Damon was a possibility. Another Orioles person said "not yet" (Twitter link).

THURSDAY: Orioles executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette told reporters, including Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com, that he doesn't expect to sign Johnny Damon (Twitter link). Even though the free agent continues to be linked to the Orioles, Duquette doesn't anticipate a deal.

"I don't think so. I already signed Johnny Damon when he was 28," Duquette said in reference to Damon's deal with the Red Sox.

Damon hit .261/.326/.418 with 16 homers and 29 doubles in 582 plate appearances for the Rays in 2011. He was Tampa Bay's primary DH last year, but maintains he could still play the field if necessary. Agent Scott Boras recently suggested the market for his client will pick up within a few weeks.

I'm sure there's a lot of clubs that are looking at youth, and by the time spring training ends they may be looking at it differently," Boras told MLBTR's Tim Dierkes last week.

Oswalt Open To Playing Anywhere

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Roy Oswalt spent most of the offseason telling teams that he'd prefer to sign close to his Mississippi home, but the free agent right-hander will now consider other opportunities. He's telling clubs he'll play anywhere, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (all Twitter links).

Oswalt said last month that he's looking at a possible midseason return and the probable timeline for a deal hasn't changed, according to Crasnick. By June Oswalt's kids will have finished school, and a potential move would be easier on his family at that point in the season. Oswalt's decision may depend on which contender needs pitching depth a few months from now, Crasnick writes.

Central Notes: Perkins, Quade, Luhnow

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Three of the four teams that reached last year's League Championship Series play in MLB's central divisions. Let's check in on the central with less than four weeks to go before Opening Day…

  • Glen Perkins will earn $2.5MM in 2013 and $3.75MM in 2014 and 2015 on his new extension with the Twins, Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune tweets. The deal includes a $4.5MM club option for 2016 with a $300K buyout.
  • Former Cubs manager Mike Quade told Yahoo’s Tim Brown that he may take the summer off, but will coach again eventually (Twitter link). The Cubs dismissed Quade early in the offseason before hiring Dale Sveum to manage the team.
  • Astros GM Jeff Luhnow apologized to Rangers president Nolan Ryan and GM Jon Daniels after saying last week that the Rangers spend on the international market “like drunken sailors.” Luhnow said his remarks were taken out of context, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. “It was not a dig against that organization because they’ve done a great job there,” Luhnow said.

Marlins Have Discussed Extension For Stanton

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11:42pm: The team hasn't yet reached out to Stanton about a potential contract extension, reports MLB.com's Peter Gammons (on Twitter).

8:13am: The Marlins have discussed the possibility of presenting Giancarlo Stanton with a "big, crooked" contract offer, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter). Wasserman Media Group represents Stanton, who isn't yet arbitration eligible.

When MLBTR's Mike Axisa examined the possibility of an extension for Stanton earlier this offseason, he pointed out that Justin Upton ($50MM), Jay Bruce ($51MM) and Carlos Gonzalez ($80MM) signed recent long-term deals that could be relevant to Stanton's case. We can now add Andrew McCutchen ($51.5MM) to the list as well.

Gonzalez, Upton, Bruce and McCutchen had accumulated two or more years of service time by the time they signed long-term, but Stanton has just one year and 118 days of MLB service at this point. He won't be eligible for free agency until after the 2016 season.

Stanton's career power numbers and rate stats are comparable to the ones Gonzalez had when he signed a year ago, so Gonzalez's seven-year, $80MM contract could be a target for Stanton. If he signs long-term, his contract may include an escalator in case he qualifies for super two status following the 2012 season.

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

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