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Orioles Links: Pitching, Jones, Player Development

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Here's the latest from Baltimore, less than 48 hours before the winter meetings begin…

  • "I don't know that we have the kind of pitching depth that we need," said GM Dan Duquette to Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com. "It would be hard for us to trade pitching unless we got some pitching in return or we had a viable alternative in place." Yesterday we heard that Jeremy Guthrie is being shopped.
  • "I can't really tell you, I haven't looked at the numbers or the contract," said Duquette to Steve Melewski of MASNSports.com when asked about a potential contract extension for Adam Jones. "That is something that if we are going to take a look at, it would be after the first of the year."
  • Duquette also told Melewski that his first order of business over the next few weeks is to put a productive player development system in place and expand the team's international efforts.
  • Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun believes the Orioles will make more than one move during the winter meetings next week, including a trade. He expects the moves to be generally underwhelming, though.
  • Kubatko tweets that the team is expected to announce two front office hires tomorrow. He's heard that Fred Ferreira will be brought in as international scouting director and Gordon Blakeley as a special assistant, though those moves are not confirmed yet.

East Links: Guthrie, Jays, Marlins, Braves, Prado

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Some links from baseball's two east divisions…

  • The Orioles are expected to be more active on the trade market than in free agency, writes MLB.com's Britt Ghiroli. Jeremy Guthrie has been their most actively shopped player, and several teams have expressed interest. Baltimore would almost certainly want pitching in return.
  • Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca that he's likely to exhaust all trade options for pitching help before diving into free agency. A second baseman is also on the agenda, and the team would like to add a frontline starting pitcher if possible.
  • Earlier today we heard that the Marlins' reluctance to include a no-trade clause is an obstacle as they try to sign Mark Buehrle, but president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest told Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post that he isn't worried about the team's policy hurting their ability to sign premium free agents.
  • "I’ve actively shopped players this fall that I haven’t mentioned their names," said Braves GM Frank Wren to Dave O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter links). He was referring to players that are reportedly on the market, but have not actually been discussed with other teams.
  • "Martin Prado is a solid player and a part of our team for almost five years. We’re not out looking to trade good players," added Wren according to O'Brien (on Twitter). Prado has been a popular name on the trade rumor circuit this offseason.

Quick Hits: Pena, Zumaya, Soler, Peterson

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Some news items to wrap up the evening as we inch closer to the Winter Meetings….

  • Carlos Pena would be a fit with the Blue Jays, Brewers, Cubs, Mariners, Nationals, Rangers, Red Sox and Yankees, opines SBNation's Rob Neyer.  The Yankees tried to claim Pena on waivers last August but the Cubs pulled him back.
  • Joel Zumaya said the Red Sox expressed an interest in him as soon as he hit free agency, reports MLB.com's Jason Beck.  Boston will be one of the 10 or more teams present when Zumaya throws a mound session in two weeks.  The right-hander underwent elbow surgery in March and didn't pitch last season.
  • Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (via Twitter) lists, in order, the Yankees, Rangers and Phillies as the top candidates to sign Cuban outfielder Jorge Soler.
  • The Orioles interviewed Rick Peterson for their open minor league pitching coordinator's position, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Peterson (former pitching coach of the Brewers, Mets and Athletics) is also a candidate to be Bobby Valentine's new pitching coach with the Red Sox.
  • Also from Rosenthal, the Royals "backed off" pursuing free agent starters due to their large number of minor league pitching prospects and also because the club wants to remain flexible since they know not every young arm will properly develop.  The Royals re-signed Bruce Chen and their other major starting acquistion this winter (Jonathan Sanchez) came via a trade.
  • The Cardinals could make an acquisition or look internally to fill their middle infield needs, writes MLB.com's Matthew Leach, but the team won't know how much they have to spend until Albert Pujols makes his decision.

AL East Notes: Valentine, Wilson, Howell, Johnson

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Here are some notes from the AL East on the day the Red Sox officially introduced their new manager…

  • The Red Sox and manager Bobby Valentine agreed on a two-year deal, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).  The Red Sox hold team options on Valentine for 2014 and 2015, tweets WEEI.com's Alex Speier.
  • Valentine reached out to David Cone about becoming the new Red Sox pitching coach, reports Jack Curry of the YES Network (Twitter link).  Cone isn't expected to take the job but was "flattered."
  • The Yankees turned down a request by C.J. Wilson's agent for a visit to Yankee Stadium, reports ESPN New York's Andrew Marchand.  That's not a good sign for Wilson's chances of signing with the Bombers, which Marchand believes are "less than five percent."
  • Erik Hahmann of the DRaysBay blog looks at the situation between the Rays and lefty J.P. Howell.  MLBTR's Tim Dierkes listed Howell as one of this winter's non-tender candidates.
  • The Blue Jays are still open to bringing back Kelly Johnson next year, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
  • Also from Morosi, he thinks the Blue Jays could — and should — sign free agent first baseman Prince Fielder.
  • Eric Chavez definitely wants to play in 2012 and a number of teams have strong interest in him, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter links). Some West Coast teams are interested in Chavez and the Yankees appear to be in the mix as well.
  • The Rays have some interest in Cuban center fielder Yoenis Cespedes, but probably can’t afford him, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times (on Twitter).
  • The Orioles hired former Phillies GM Lee Thomas as a special assistant, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com first mentioned the possibility (on Twitter). It's worth noting that Scott Proefrock and Joe Jordan of the Phillies are former Orioles front office employees.

MLBTR's Mark Polishuk also contributed to this post

Orioles Designate Pedro Viola For Assignment

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The Orioles designated left-hander Pedro Viola for assignment to create roster space for the newly-acquired Taylor Teagarden, the team announced. Baltimore's 40-man roster remains full.

Viola, 28, has appeared in six games for the Orioles since 2010. The Dominican lefty spent much of the 2011 season at Double-A, where he posted a 2.04 ERA with 9.1 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 39 2/3 innings.

Orioles To Acquire Taylor Teagarden

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The Orioles and Rangers have agreed to a trade that will send Taylor Teagarden to Baltimore for minor league right-hander Randy Henry and a player to be named later. The Orioles have a full 40-man roster and will have to clear room on it for Teagarden.

Teagarden, 27, has a .220/.286/.417 career line with 16 home runs in 392 career big league plate appearances over the course of four seasons. The 2005 third rounder has a .262/.374/.488 line in parts of six minor league seasons. He'll back up starter Matt Wieters.

Henry, 21, has a 3.33 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 75 2/3 minor league innings since the Orioles selected him in the fourth round of the 2009 draft. He has yet to reach Double-A.

While the Orioles had just one catcher — Wieters — on their 40-man roster, the Rangers had three of them. Mike Napoli and Yorvit Torrealba were ahead of Teagarden on Texas' depth chart, which made the out-of-options backstop expendable.

Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun first reported the discussions and added detail, while Jon Heyman of SI.com first reported that the teams had agreed to a deal.

Heyman On Buehrle, Garza, Reyes, Posada, Bell

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Heath Bell isn’t close to signing, despite last night’s rumors, but it’s not for lack of interest. Here’s the latest on Bell and a handful of other free agents, via Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter links):

Orioles, Rangers Discussing Taylor Teagarden Trade

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The Orioles and Rangers have had ongoing talks about a deal that would send Taylor Teagarden to Baltimore, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. The teams don't have a match yet, though they have discussed specific players.

The Orioles are looking for a solid defender who's comfortable backing Matt Wieters up, Connolly writes. Baltimore isn't interested in Jeff Mathis, who appears to be available now that the Angels have obtained Chris Iannetta, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link). 

The Orioles are showing interest in Jason Varitek, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. They have offers out to some minor league free agents, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Kubatko suggests the team will likely make an acquisition today (Twitter link).

While the Orioles have just one catcher — Wieters — on their 40-man roster, the Rangers have three of them. Mike Napoli and Yorvit Torrealba are ahead of Teagarden on Texas' depth chart, making him expendable.

Duquette On Orioles’ Offseason Needs

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The Orioles are looking for a backup catcher, an outfielder, starting pitching and relievers, executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette told Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Duquette hopes to make trades and sign free agents in the near future to address the team’s needs. Here are the details:

  • The Orioles like Mark Reynolds’ defense better at first than at third. Duquette continued to downplay the likelihood of a major expenditure at first.
  • Expect Matt Antonelli and Chris Davis to contribute at third base in 2012, though Duquette endorses the players in considerably different ways. "He looks like a ballplayer. He's got a good look about him, and he's a former No. 1 pick,” Duquette said of Antonelli. “If you take a look at Bill James' projections, they're projecting Davis to slug at .500 next year,” he said of Davis. Duquette added that he expects Antonelli to be healthy and likes his ability to get on base.
  • Manager Buck Showalter prefers to rotate players in and out of the DH spot and Duquette will “be guided by [the manager's] preference." Don’t count on David Ortiz signing in Baltimore. “A 36-year-old DH would be a luxury for us," Duquette said.
  • The Orioles will attempt to trade for a backup catcher and they have offers out to some minor league free agents, according to Kubatko (Twitter link).
  • Earlier today, Jon Heyman reported that the Orioles have expressed interest in free agent Jason Varitek.

Quick Hits: Orioles, Angels, Reyes, Cubs

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The latest news from MLB as the countdown to next week’s Winter Meetings continues…  

  • Brian Cashman admitted to John Harper of the New York Daily News that he's often tempted by potential deals, but the Yankees' GM maintains that he's far from desperate this offseason. “We’ve got a really good team, so I don’t feel like I have to do something stupid,” Cashman said. “If I’m going to do something this winter, I have to feel good about it. I don’t care how big the name is.” 
  • The Orioles have been impressed by Cuban center fielder Yoenis Cespedes, Jon Heyman of SI.com reports (on Twitter). 
  • Angels GM Jerry Dipoto says he's still looking for starters and relievers, according to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times (on Twitter).
  • Phillies officials tell ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark that they have no knowledge of Jose Reyes’ recent presence in Philadelphia. The team isn’t considering a $100MM contract or anything close to it for any free agent, including Reyes, Stark reports. 
  • Cubs GM Jed Hoyer says he doesn’t view the newly-acquired David DeJesus as a platoon player, according to MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat. DeJesus, who agreed to a two-year, $10MM deal today, may get days off against select left-handed starters, however. 
  • MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes discussed the Cubs’ offseason, including a potential Matt Garza trade, at Bleacher Nation. As Tim points out, Hoyer encountered a similar situation last offseason when he was weighing offers for Adrian Gonzalez.
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