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Orioles Interested In Francisco Cordero

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The Orioles have shown interest in Francisco Cordero, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports. Talks between the free agent closer and the Orioles are preliminary, Connolly notes.

Jim Johnson is the current favorite to close games for manager Buck Showalter. The Orioles are open to trading Kevin Gregg and absorbing some of the $5.8MM he'll earn in 2012, Connolly reports. I find it hard to imagine a team taking on more than $1.5MM of Gregg's salary given the 53K/40BB ratio he posted in 2011 and the availability of other free agent relievers.

The Orioles discussed a Brandon League deal with the Mariners at the Winter Meetings and expressed interest in Seattle starter Jason Vargas at the time, according to Connolly. Jeremy Guthrie and Mark Reynolds also surfaced in the trade talks, Connolly reports. The Angels and Rays have also been linked to Cordero, who probably won't return to Cincinnati now that Ryan Madson is set to join the Reds.

Rockies Offer Jamie Moyer Minor League Deal

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The Rockies are waiting to see if 49-year-old left-hander Jamie Moyer will accept a minor league contract offer, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports. The Rockies would give Moyer the chance to compete for a rotation spot while tutoring younger pitchers on the staff. 

Moyer pitched for the Phillies in 2010 and missed last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He worked out in front of scouts this offseason and appears to have impressed the Rockies. Renck reported earlier today that the Rockies offered a veteran pitcher a contract. 

Moyer owns a 267-204 career record with a 4.24 ERA in 24 MLB seasons. He posted a 4.84 ERA with 5.1 K/9, 1.6 BB/9 and a 44.1% ground ball rate for the 2010 Phillies. 14 of the players on Colorado's 40-man roster were not born when Moyer debuted with the Cubs in June of 1986.

NL Central Notes: Pujols, Beltran, Cubs, Aoki

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The Reds signed a catcher today and the Pirates avoided arbitration with a pair of pitchers. Here are some more notes from the NL Central…

  • Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said this weekend that his team must stay within certain financial limitations to put a competitive team on the field year after year, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The Cardinals would have liked to retain Albert Pujols, but keeping him wasn’t necessarily realistic. “It's how much can I afford to pay one player and put together a team that's going to be competitive? That's the whole jigsaw puzzle that all teams have,” DeWitt said.
  • Carlos Beltran said the Indians, Rays and Giants were among the finalists for his services this offseason, MLB.com's Matthew Leach reports. Beltran said another team offered a three-year deal worth less money, B.J. Rains of FOXSportsMidwest.com tweets.
  • Cubs director of scouting and player development Jason McLeod said he's looking forward to meeting with his scouts this week to find ways of drafting more effectively under the new collective bargaining agreement, according to Carrie Muskat of MLB.com.
  • Tom Haudricourt on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets that there's an expectation that the Brewers will sign outfielder Norichika Aoki. They have until 4pm CDT tomorrow to sign Aoki, or else he’ll be returned to the Yakult Swallows and the Brewers will get their $2.5MM posting fee back.

Prince Fielder Rumors: Friday

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Prince Fielder will sign before Spring Training, but he probably won't agree to a long-term deal with the Dodgers or Marlins, or a one-year deal with the Brewers, according to yesterday's reports. Here are today's Fielder rumors, with the most recent updates up top:

  • An executive tells ESPN's Buster Olney (Twitter link) that the Cubs, Nationals and Rangers could receive a Fielder contract structure of six years and $22-$24MM per season, but with an opt-out clause after three years.
  • The Rangers' pursuit of Fielder may come down to whether they believe Fielder or Josh Hamilton is the better choice for a multiyear contract, writes Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas.
  • Fielder will travel to see several teams in the next few days, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets.
  • The Rangers are meeting with Fielder at a Dallas area hotel today, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. It sounds as though the Rangers don't consider Fielder and Yu Darvish mutually exclusive. Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram hears that the Rangers are interested in Fielder in case they don't sign Darvish (Twitter link).
  • One executive who speaks with the Nationals regularly tells ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark that he’s confident Fielder will end up in Washington. GM Mike Rizzo and the team’s owners won’t sign a nine or ten-year deal and may not offer the first baseman a no-trade clause, however. 
  • The Cubs are not totally out on Fielder, Stark reports. If agent Scott Boras needs a deal somewhere, the Cubs would be open to an agreement on their own terms.
  • One observer tells Stark that Boras and Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria chatted briefly at this week’s owners’ meetings and that reports of a meeting are overblown.
  • Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports explains that Boras has been shut out of the big money so far this offseason and argues that the agent can turn things around by finding a massive deal for Fielder.
  • Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post explains how Boras could represent almost the entire Washington lineup within a couple of seasons if the Nationals sign Fielder.
  • Tom Verducci of SI.com explains that local and national TV revenues can help the Nationals add Fielder while keeping Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman in place even as their contracts escalate.

Red Sox Offer Varitek Minor League Deal

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5:31pm: Ben Cherington tells Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (via Twitter) that the Red Sox have not made Varitek any kind of formal contract offer.

3:31pm: The Red Sox have offered Jason Varitek the chance to come to Spring Training and compete, but they aren’t offering the 39-year-old catcher a roster spot, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. Varitek seems likely to choose between accepting his longtime team’s invitation and retiring. If he does report to Spring Training, he’ll do so with the knowledge that Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Kelly Shoppach are likely to break camp with the Red Sox.

Varitek, a Scott Boras client who earned $2MM in 2011, doesn’t appear to be seeking opportunities elsewhere, Heyman reports. The Red Sox would have interest in hiring Varitek for a non-playing role at some point, but it's not as though he's unable to produce at the Major League level. He posted a .221/.300/.423 line with 11 home runs in 250 plate appearances in 2011, though he stopped just 14% of stolen base attempts against him. "Our hope is that Tek will always be a part of the Red Sox in some way," GM Ben Cherington told reporters last month.

Mets Sign Ronny Cedeno

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The Mets have announced the signing of free agent shortstop Ronny Cedeno.  The one-year deal is worth $1.2MM and includes several incentives.  Peter E. Greenberg & Associates represents Cedeno, who figures to provide depth behind Ruben Tejada in New York.

The Pirates declined Cedeno's option earlier this offseason, after he posted a .249/.297/.339 line in 454 plate appearances. The 28-year-old posted a strong 6.8 UZR/150 at shortstop this past season, though his career mark of -1.6 UZR/150 is slightly below average. The Red Sox and Pirates were linked to Cedeno earlier this offseason, while the Mets had interest in free agents such as Jack Wilson and Ryan Theriot.

ESPN New York's Adam Rubin reported last week that the two sides were close to a deal, with Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com adding the contract details (both Twitter links).

Quick Hits: Playoffs, La Russa, Ordonez, Wood

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On this date in 2005, the Mets signed Carlos Beltran to a seven-year, $119MM contract. Beltran enjoyed some tremendous seasons and endured some difficult moments with the Mets, who traded him to San Francisco last summer. Here are today's links…

  • An extra wild card team is far from a sure thing for 2012, tweets ESPN's Jayson Stark, as "big scheduling obstacles remain" to be worked out before baseball can expand its playoffs for this fall.
  • Tony La Russa has been "informally offered" Joe Torre's old job as MLB's executive vice president for baseball operations, reports USA Today's Bob Nightengale (via Twitter).  La Russa has given no indication that he is interested in the job. 
  • Magglio Ordonez intends to play in 2012, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports. The free agent outfielder is making progress in his recovery from right ankle surgery.
  • Kerry Wood said on the Waddle & Silvy Show on ESPN 1000 that there's "nothing new" to report on his near-deal with the Cubs.
  • Dan Johnson, the unlikely hero of the Rays’ exhilarating comeback in the final game of the regular season, tells Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that he’s still looking for a job.
  • Dodgers scout Carl Loewnstine continues working as he battles bone cancer, Bob Nightengale of USA Today writes. Loewnstine will be honored this weekend at a banquet benefiting the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation in California.
  • Red Sox GM Ben Cherington and David Laurila of FanGraphs discussed the role of information in the decision making process of an MLB front office.
  • The Red Sox don’t expect to offer guaranteed deals to free agent pitchers, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. The asking price for Hiroki Kuroda and Roy Oswalt is dropping, but those pitchers aren’t likely to sign in Boston, Heyman writes.

Brewers, Parra Avoid Arbitration

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The Brewers announced that they avoided arbitration with left-hander Manny Parra. The sides agreed to a $1.2MM salary for 2012, MLBTR has learned. The CAA sports client had a projected salary of $1.2MM, according to MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.

As MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows, the Brewers have five remaining arbitration eligible players: Kameron Loe, Shaun Marcum, Nyjer Morgan, Francisco Rodriguez and Jose Veras. They've already locked up Carlos Gomez and George Kottaras.

Parra, 29, missed the 2011 season with back and elbow injuries, but he has a 5.13 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 in four seasons with the Brewers. He earned $1.2MM in 2011 and was arbitration eligible for the second time this offseason.

Minor Moves: Espino, Rockies, Reyes, Lebron

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The latest minor moves…

  • The White Sox have agreed to sign catcher Damaso Espino to a minor league deal that includes an invitation to MLB Spring Training, MLBTR has learned. The 28-year-old posted a .292/.347/.381 line in 224 plate appearances for the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate in 2011.
  • The Rockies announced that they signed infielder Brendan Harris and catcher Jose Gonzalez to minor league deals (Twitter link). Harris, 31, spent the 2011 season with the Orioles' top affiliate, where he posted a .225/.282/.331 line with ten home runs in 565 plate appearances. The seven-year veteran has MLB experience at all four infield positions.
  • The Indians announced that they signed infielder Argenis Reyes and right-hander Willy Lebron to minor league deals that don't include invitations to big league Spring Training. The club also confirmed the signing of infielder Chin-lung Hu to a minor league deal. Reyes started the 2011 season in indy ball then signed a minor league deal with the Indians in August. The 29-year-old has MLB experience with the Mets. Lebron, 32, posted a 3.02 ERA with 9.9 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 in 65 2/3 innings in the upper levels of the Royals' system last year.

Cubs To Sign Alfredo Amezaga

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The Cubs have agreed to sign Alfredo Amezaga to a minor league deal, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. The Sparta Group represents the 33-year-old utility player.

Amezaga appeared in 40 games with the Rockies and Marlins in 2011, playing short, second, third and both outfield corners. He posted a .182/.247/.195 line in 87 plate appearances, but owns a career line of .247/.307/.333 in nine seasons with the Angels, Rockies, Pirates and Marlins. His most productive years came from 2006-08, when he posted a .675 OPS as a super utility player in Florida.

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