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Twins Pick Up Kubel’s Option, Decline Punto’s

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The Twins exercised Jason Kubel's $5.25MM option for 2011 and turned down Nick Punto's $5MM option, according to MLB.com's Kelly Thesier (on Twitter).

Kubel posted a .249/.323/.427 line this year and his lowest OPS since 2006. He hit 21 homers, spending most of his time at right field and DH. The 28-year-old would have been a Type A free agent, so Minnesota could have obtained draft picks if Kubel had turned down arbitration to sign elsewhere. As we predicted in August, the Twins chose to retain Kubel for another season.

Punto, 33 next month, batted .238/.313/.302 in 288 plate appearances and played short, second and third. As Thesier pointed out earlier this month, the Twins were not expected to pick up Punto's option. He is not a ranked free agent, so the Twins won't get compensation picks if they offer arbitration and he signs elsewhere. An offer of arbitration for Punto seems extremely unlikely. 

Poll: Ozzie Or Stanton

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Ozzie Guillen for Mike Stanton? It's not as outlandish as it sounds. There was some discussion about a trade that would have sent the White Sox manager to Florida for the young Marlins slugger, according to Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Stanton entered the year as the third-best prospect in the game, according to Baseball America. He hit .313/.442/.729 in the minors with 21 homers and followed that up with 22 more long balls and a .259/.326/.507 line in the majors. He's just 20 years old and he's under team control through 2016. They don't come much cheaper or much more powerful than Stanton.

Guillen wouldn't be easy to replace, either. He's charismatic, energetic and vocal – sometimes opinionated enough to make the White Sox uncomfortable. Chicago won the 2005 World Series title under Guillen and the team has a 600-535 regular season record since he took over.

Even if the trade was 'discussed' it doesn't mean both sides seriously considered it, so let's not kid ourselves: this deal isn't going to happen. But we can still ask the question…

Which team would have won the Guillen-Stanton swap?

Click here to vote and here to view the results.

Ortiz Wants Security, Defends Hitting Ability

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David Ortiz says he is still hoping to sign a multi-year deal with the Red Sox and insists that he remains an elite hitter despite the perception that he’s in decline. Big Papi told Rob Bradford of WEEI.com that he won’t be pleased if the Red Sox exercise his $12.5MM option for 2011 instead of offering more security.

"I'm not comfortable coming back just for one year because it's going to be the same roller-coaster that I had this year," he said. 

Ortiz’s representatives will meet with the Red Sox next week and Big Papi may drop in for part of the discussions. Ortiz says he wants to stay in Boston and the Red Sox figure to pick his option up even if they don’t offer a multi-year deal, so he’s not going anywhere for now. 

Ortiz considers himself “one of the best hitters in the game” and you can’t deny that he’s still one of the best designated hitters around. The 34-year-old was among the American League leaders in slugging (8th, .529), OPS (8th, .899), home runs (5th, 32) and walks (9th, 82) this year.

“You tell me, how does a guy who is declining finish in the top 10 best hitter in the league,” Ortiz asked. “How does that happen? Put it this way, the past two years I have 60 homers, and I have over 200 RBI. Is that bad?"

It’s quite good, but it may not be enough for the Red Sox to offer an extension. Even though Ortiz is tired of proving himself year after year, the Red Sox can simply exercise his option and postpone discussions about 2012 and beyond until next winter if they aren't completely comfortable guaranteeing more years.

Mets Rumors: Sanchez, Gibbons, Alderson

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Sandy Alderson will be officially introduced as the Mets' new general manager on Friday afternoon, according to a team press release.  The new GM is already making calls to set up his front office; Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that Alderson has reached out to Paul DePodesta and J.P. Ricciardi to strengthen the Mets staff. Both worked under Alderson in Oakland and went on to become MLB GMs. Here are the rest of the updates on the Mets:

  • Alderson's contract is for four years, reports Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.
  • The Mets and agent Arn Tellem, who represents Hisanori Takahashi, have received permission from MLB and the MLBPA to push back the deadline for signing Takahashi, probably for about a week, according to David Waldstein of the New York Times. Adam Rubin reported earlier today that the sides were considering extending the deadline.
  • The Mets signed 16-year-old third baseman Elvis Sanchez out of the Dominican Republic, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America.
  • Royals bench coach John Gibbons will not interview for the Mets' managerial opening, according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (on Twitter). Phillies bench coach Pete Mackanin could become a candidate, according to Martino. 
  • Alderson "almost certainly will hire a low-profile manager … whose main focus will be to carry out the vision of the new general manager without drama," according to Sherman. 
  • Gibbons, Clint Hurdle, DeMarlo Hale, Bob Melvin, Terry Collins, Don Wakamatsu and Chip Hale are candidates to manager the Mets, according to Dan Martin and Joel Sherman of the Post. Joe Torre, Wally Backman and Bobby Valentine are longshots to manage the team.
  • Friends of Alderson say he will look for an experienced manager, according to Sherman.
  • A's special advisor Grady Fuson, who worked with Alderson in Oakland and San Diego, told Martin that Alderson will be prepared at all times. "He'll read every game report from the minors every night. He’ll know every prospect by name, height and birthday," Fuson said. "He’ll know the top 50 guys in the draft. He’ll have his hands on everything and won’t be blindsided by anything.”

Official Elias Rankings

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MLBTR has obtained the official Elias rankings for the upcoming offseason. The list below includes all ranked free agents, including those who have already signed, those who say they'll retire and those whose options will likely be picked up.

Once the regular season ended, the Elias Sports Bureau took all players over the 2009-10 period, divided them into five groups for each league, and ranked them based on various statistics.  Each player was labeled a Type A, B, or none.  Those designations and the possible accompanying arbitration offers determine draft pick compensation (click here for a refresher).

The numbers beside the players' names represent their rankings. If teams sign more than one Type A free agent, one team gets a top compensation pick and other teams lose out. The team losing the highest-ranked free agent obtains the best pick the signing team can offer and other teams fall in line behind the team that loses the top-ranked player.

Type A

Bronson Arroyo — 80.033 – club option
Grant Balfour — 72.923
Adrian Beltre — 81.633 – player option
Carl Crawford — 85.128
Jorge de la Rosa — 74.422
Scott Downs — 76.352
Adam Dunn — 74.167
Frank Francisco — 73.171
Jason Frasor — 73.383
Vladimir Guerrero — 80.000 – mutual option
Matt Guerrier — 79.569
Ramon Hernandez — 74.517
Derek Jeter — 91.304
Paul Konerko — 78.095
Jason Kubel — 80.000 – club option
Cliff Lee — 87.500
Derrek Lee — 74.167
Ted Lilly — 80.116
Victor Martinez — 87.054
Bengie Molina — 72.321
Magglio Ordonez — 77.436
Carl Pavano — 75.568
Andy Pettitte — 80.492
A.J. Pierzynski — 80.804
Manny Ramirez — 76.154
Arthur Rhodes — 72.229
Mariano Rivera — 88.830
Takashi Saito — 69.657
Rafael Soriano — 91.799
Miguel Tejada — 76.720
Matt Thornton — 86.214 – club option exercised
Billy Wagner — 83.313
Jayson Werth — 91.807
Dan Wheeler — 74.673 – club option

Type B

Rod Barajas — 59.459
Joaquin Benoit — 66.879
Lance Berkman — 64.762 – club option declined
John Buck — 67.411
Orlando Cabrera — 66.667
Randy Choate — 62.460
Kevin Correia — 57.591
Jesse Crain — 60.657
Johnny Damon — 74.359
Octavio Dotel — 66.473
Chad Durbin — 57.471
David Eckstein — 65.801
Mark Ellis — 74.405 – club option
Pedro Feliciano — 66.855
Brian Fuentes — 67.055
Jon Garland — 71.947 – mutual option
Alex Gonzalez — 61.376 – club option
Kevin Gregg — 66.967 – club option
Brad Hawpe — 70.769
Aaron Heilman — 58.420
Trevor Hoffman — 62.829 – club option
Orlando Hudson — 70.238
Aubrey Huff — 60.000
Omar Infante — 62.338 – club option
Brandon Inge — 67.347
Hiroki Kuroda — 68.152
Gerald Laird — 60.045
Adam LaRoche — 61.667 – mutual option
Felipe Lopez – 67.532 -  club option
Mike Lowell — 62.585
Hideki Matsui — 73.333
Kevin Millwood — 58.617
Miguel Olivo — 65.251 – mutual option
David Ortiz — 75.000 – club option
Vicente Padilla — 58.168
Carlos Pena — 64.762
Jhonny Peralta — 62.585 – club option
Scott Podsednik — 69.880 – club option
J.J. Putz — 62.213
Chad Qualls — 56.168
Aramis Ramirez — 63.187 – player option
Jon Rauch — 69.088
Jose Reyes — 62.434 – club option
Hisanori Takahashi — 58.650
Yorvit Torrealba — 63.900 – mutual option
Koji Uehara — 68.010
Juan Uribe — 65.608
Jason Varitek — 64.732
Javier Vazquez — 71.970
Kerry Wood — 62.778 – club option declined

Eddie Bajek reverse-engineered the Elias rankings for MLBTR and was right on every free agent except for Derrek Lee, Adam Dunn and Mark Ellis, who were all on the bubble at their respective positions.

Greg Dobbs Elects Free Agency

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Greg Dobbs has elected free agency, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki (on Twitter). The 32-year-old hit just .196/.251/.331 this year and the Phillies designated him for assignment twice during the season. Though Dobbs has less than six years of service time and could have been retained through arbitration, the Phillies were comfortable letting him go.

They signed Dobbs to a two-year $2.5MM deal after he hit .284/.331/.467 in 598 plate appearances from 2007-08, mostly against right-handed pitching. Back in 2008, Dobbs set the franchise record for pinch hits in a season with 22.

Odds & Ends: Wood, Dunn, Valentine, Hoover

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Links for Thursday, before the Rangers try to even out the World Series…

  • The Cubs would welcome Kerry Wood back to Chicago if they have enough money, according to Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com. The Yankees declined Wood's 2011 option yesterday, so he'll be free to sign with the team of his choice soon after the World Series.
  • Nationals manager Jim Riggleman says he wants Adam Dunn to re-sign in Washington, but points out that "there's going to be some pretty good talent out there" if Dunn leaves, according to Ben Goessling of MASNSports (on Twitter).
  • Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel hears that the Brewers are open to hiring managerial candidates Bob Melvin and Joey Cora, though they’ll likely talk to Bobby Valentine about a potential deal (Twitter link).
  • The Phillies outrighted Paul Hoover off of their 40-man roster.
  • Former Braves and Orioles pitching coach Leo Mazzone told Gary Williams and Steve Phillips of SIRIUS XM radio that he’d have interest in becoming the pitching coach for the Yankees or Mets.

Non-Tender Candidate: Jack Cust

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Jack Cust isn’t the home run threat he once was, so even in an offseason when the A's are prioritizing power, he doesn’t have any assurances that an offer of arbitration will come his way. The A’s non-tendered him last winter after a third consecutive season of 25-plus home runs. This year, his power dropped off, so there’s a real possibility that GM Billy Beane non-tenders Cust once again.

Cust, 32 in January, hit just 13 homers this year, but still managed to reach base. He posted a robust .395 on base average and batted .272. That figure is deceptive, though; Cust’s career-high average was inflated by his unsustainable .387 average on balls in play.

Cust is a power hitter who no longer hits for power and he doesn’t have much to fall back on other than his walks. He strikes out too much, doesn’t inspire confidence on defense (he played just 16 games in the outfield this year) and is working off of a $2.65MM base salary. 

Offering Cust arbitration could cost $3-4MM, but it seems more likely that the A’s will non-tender him and try to renegotiate a contract worth less guaranteed money if they have interest in keeping him. The A’s would risk losing Cust to another team if they non-tender him, but they saved money when they took that chance a year ago. 

Conor Jackson and Kevin Kouzmanoff are also among Oakland's non-tender candidates, but we've already voted on them. It's time to see what you think the A's will do with Cust. Click here to vote and here to view the results.

Yankees, Girardi Agree To Three-Year Deal

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The Yankees have agreed to terms with Joe Girardi on a deal that will keep the manager in New York for three years and pay him at least $9MM. Mark Feinsand and Bill Madden of the New York Daily News, who first reported that the sides had agreed, say the Yankees are now finalizing details with Girardi.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post, who first reported the sides were closing in on a deal, reports (on Twitter) that the deal includes $450-500K in ALCS and World Series bonuses. Jon Heyman of SI.com reported Tuesday that the Yankees were set to start talks with Girardi on a three-year deal worth about $3MM per season.

Girardi, 46, led the Yankees to the ALCS this year, where they lost to the Rangers. In three seasons under Girardi, the Yankees have won one World Series title and posted a 287-199 regular season record.

Possible Platoon Partners For Domonic Brown

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Jayson Werth is days away from free agency, so if the Phillies intend to re-sign their right fielder, they'll have to bid directly against other interested teams. There's a real chance Werth signs elsewhere this winter, so the Phillies are thinking ahead. Manager Charlie Manuel has acknowledged that he may pair Domonic Brown up with a more experienced player who can handle southpaws and play right field.

Brown, just 23, had no trouble hitting minor league pitching this year (.327/.391/.589 line) but he bats from the left side and the Phillies could ease him into the big leagues by limiting his exposure to left-handed pitching. Here are eight outfielders the Phillies may consider as platoon partners for Brown:

  • Jeff Francoeur, 26 years old, non-tender candidate – Frenchy has his faults, but the 26-year-old can handle lefties. He has a .299/.343/.481 line against them in his career.
  • Matt Diaz, 32 years old, non-tender candidate – Diaz has a .335/.373/.533 line against lefties in his career.
  • Juan Rivera, 32 years old, trade candidate – The Angels will have to part with an outfielder if they sign Werth or Carl Crawford. Rivera, who spent most of the 2010 season in left field, has a career .288/.333/.499 line against lefties.
  • Jose Guillen, 34 years old, free agent – He struggled against lefties this year, but boasts a .270/.327/.460 line against them in his career.
  • Xavier Nady, 31 years old, free agent – Nady, who struggled through the 2010 season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery, has a .297/.367/.451 line against lefties in his career.
  • Andruw Jones, 33, free agent – Jones would likely be able to find more playing time elsewhere, so he's not a natural fit in Philly, but his career (.261/.361/.501) and 2010 (.256/.373/.558) numbers against left-handers must have the Phillies salivating.
  • Milton Bradley, 32, trade candidate – Again, Bradley seems like an unlikely target for the Phillies, but he has a .300/.382/.488 line against left-handers in his career and could be available.
  • Willie Bloomquist, 32, free agent – He has a .272/.334/.366 line against lefties in his career – not much pop, but he's far more versatile than the players above. Bloomquist played all three outfield positions and all four infield positions this year, so Manuel could use him elsewhere if Brown wins the job outright.
  • Austin Kearns, 30, free agent – Kearns has a career .261/.383/.416 line against lefties and may have trouble finding an everyday job.
  • Ben Francisco, 29, on the Phillies – Francisco has a .267/.347/.460 career line against left-handers.

Diaz and Francoeur handle lefties well and can play right field, so they would be good fits for the Phils if they are indeed non-tendered. Rivera, Nady, Bloomquist and Kearns would also be legitimate options and none of the players listed figure to cost more than a few million on a one-year deal, so the Phillies are well-positioned to recover if Werth leaves and they consider alternatives to Francisco. Their biggest challenge will be helping Brown improve upon the .210/.257/.355 line he posted in 70 plate appearances this summer.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

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