Added To 40-Man Roster: Giants, Dodgers, Pirates
Today is the deadline for teams to add players to the 40-man roster to protect them from next month's Rule 5 draft. Here's more on which players need to be protected and here are the details on which players have had their contracts selected to the 40-man roster:
- The Giants added Hector Correa, Charlie Culberson, Tyler Graham, Roger Kieschnick, Dan Otero and Angel Villalona to their 40-man roster, reports Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News (Twitter links). Baggarly suspects Villalona's inclusion may be a "procedural move," since Villalona still needs a new visa to play in the United States.
- The Dodgers have added Michael Antonini, Alex Castellanos, Stephen Fife, Josh Wall and Chris Withrow to their 40-man roster, according to Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times (Twitter link).
- The Pirates have announced the additions of Matt Hague, Starling Marte, Jordy Mercer, Rudy Owens, Duke Welker and Justin Wilson to their 40-man roster. Pittsburgh's 40-man roster is now full.
- The Mariners added Chih-Hsien Chang, Francisco Martinez and Carlos Triunfel to the 40-man roster, reports Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Radio Seattle (via Twitter).
- The Angels added Johnny Hellweg, Fabio Martinez, Ariel Pena and Jean Segura to their 40-man roster, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan.
- The Red Sox announced that Drake Britton, Che-Hsuan Lin and Will Middlebrooks were added to the club's 40-man roster.
- The Rangers added pitchers Jacob Brigham, Roman Mendez, Justin Miller, Martin Perez, Neil Ramirez and Matt West to their 40-man roster, reports Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest (via Twitter).
- The Indians announced that Scott Barnes, Juan Diaz and Danny Salazar were added to the team's 40-man roster. The Tribe's roster now has a full complement of 40 players.
- The Cubs announced that Jeff Beliveau, Junior Lake, Matt Szczur and Josh Vitters have been added to the club's 40-man roster.
AL East Notes: Red Sox, Rays, Orioles, Jays
Dale Sveum interviewed with the Red Sox for a second time today, and the team expects to bring in at least one more managerial finalist for a second interview. However, it's still a mystery who that finalist will be. Pete Mackanin has been told he's no longer in the running, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (on Twitter), and Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com tweets that Sandy Alomar Jr. and Gene Lamont hadn't heard anything from the team about a second interview as of this evening. Torey Lovullo rounded out Boston's original five interviewees, but Larry Lucchino said tonight that the Sox could "absolutely" expand their search, tweets Rob Bradford of WEEI.
While we wait to see where Boston's hunt for Terry Francona's replacement takes them, let's check out a few more AL East links….
- The Red Sox are keeping tabs on free agent shortstops, according to the Boston Herald's Michael Silverman. Silverman hears the Sox have checked in on everyone from Jose Reyes to Ronny Cedeno.
- Rays GM Andrew Friedman expects to receive plenty of inquiries on his starting pitchers, but tells Joe Smith of the St. Petersburg Times not to count on a trade.
- The Orioles hope to sign a few free agents to fill out their bench within the next week or so, GM Dan Duquette told MASN's Roch Kubatko.
- In a mailbag, MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm answered Blue Jays-related questions, many of which revolved around the team's hunt for a closer.
Quick Hits: Phillips, Kuroda, Ortiz, Wood, Counsell
It's been a busy first day of the GM meetings, but we don't want to let anything fall through the cracks. Here's a collection of assorted links from throughout the day:
- The Reds don't intend to make Brandon Phillips available in a trade, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
- Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers confirms a rumor we'd heard about previously, telling MLB.com's Ken Gurnick that his team has interest in Hiroki Kuroda.
- The Red Sox aren't the only team meeting with David Ortiz's agent tonight. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets that the Orioles will also meet with Fern Cuza, and could be interested in Ortiz as well. GM Dan Duquette noted that Cuza also represents Vladimir Guerrero, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com.
- Former Angels pitching coach Marcel Lachemann has rejoined the team as an assistant to new GM Jerry Dipoto, says Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.
- Earlier this week, we heard the Angels were eyeing right-handed relief help. DiGiovanna has more details on their search, naming Octavio Dotel, Todd Coffey, and Matt Capps as some possible targets.
- Cubs GM Jed Hoyer will explore the possibility of bringing back Kerry Wood, says MLB.com's Carrie Muskat.
- At U.S.S. Mariner, Dave Cameron explains why he doesn't think the Mariners should open their wallets to sign Prince Fielder.
- Craig Counsell is open to both playing and "non-playing" offers, tweets Tom Haudicourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Counsell isn't necessarily leaning toward retirement, but would seriously consider it for the right non-playing opportunity.
Dan Duquette On Pitching, Reynolds, Extensions
The success of the Orioles' offseason hinges, in large part, on their ability to add to the pitching staff. But at the General Manager Meetings in Milwaukee today, newly-appointed GM Dan Duquette suggested he'll let the market develop before obtaining pitching reinforcements.
"Everybody else is chasing it, too," Duquette told MLBTR. "We have to wait for the sharks to feed and then we'll wait to see what's left over."
In other words, it doesn’t appear that the Orioles will sign highly-coveted free agents such as C.J. Wilson and Mark Buehrle. Baltimore begins the offseason with internal rotation candidates such as Jeremy Guthrie, Tommy Hunter, Zach Britton, Brian Matusz, Jake Arrieta, Brad Bergesen, Jo-Jo Reyes.
Duquette also noted that the defensive alignment for Mark Reynolds and Chris Davis remains undetermined, though manager Buck Showalter is leaning toward playing Reynolds at first with Davis at third. Duquette hasn't yet considered extensions for Adam Jones and Matt Wieters, but he wants to keep both players in place, so the topic may come up after December.
East Links: Ramos, Red Sox, Jones
A late-night snack for those of you with a hunger for news on baseball's two Eastern divisions:
- Even after his kidnapping, Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos plans to begin playing for the Aragua Tigres on Wednesday of this week, tweets Mark Zuckerman of CSNwashington.com.
- FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal tweets that the Red Sox will conduct a second interview with Dale Sveum and least one other candidate in their search for a new manager.
- While the organization doesn't sound like they're considering the idea, CSNbaltimore's Rich Dubroff wonders if the Orioles should entertain the thought of trading Adam Jones. Dubroff quotes one rival scout who thinks they should hang onto the 26-year-old center fielder, saying: "If they're willing to move him, they're stupid."
Minor Deals: Thurston, Beerer
We'll keep track of all of today's minor league deals right here..
- The Astros signed Joe Thurston to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, according to a team press release. The 32-year-old infielder has just 384 plate appearances over parts of seven seasons with the Dodgers, Phillies, Red Sox, Cardinals, and Marlins. He's a career .226/.305/.323 hitter and only saw significant playing time during his 2009 stint with St. Louis.
- The Orioles signed six-year minor league free agent outfielder Scott Beerer, according to Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun. The 29-year-old was a second-round pick of the Rockies in 2003 out of Texas A&M.
AL East Notes: Yankees, Ortiz, Red Sox, Reynolds
Here's a look at some items out of the American League East..
- The Yankees remain unlikely to pursue David Ortiz, writes Alex Speier of WEEI.com. General Manager Brian Cashman reiterated that the team's focus is on shoring up the starting rotation and also noted that the team has a number of internal candidates for the DH spot.
- More from Speier as Cashman says that he's intrigued by the possibility of finally being able to have trade talks with Theo Epstein now that he is in charge of the Cubs.
- The Red Sox will have to address the back of their rotation this winter and Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe outlines the different avenues that GM Ben Cherington can explore. Abraham writes that even though the Sox will look into lefthanders C.J. Wilson and Mark Buehrle, a major deal is unlikely.
- Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com wonders if Mark Reynolds' name will come up at this week's GM meetings in Milwaukee. The Orioles hold an $11MM option on Reynolds' contract for 2013 and he isn't eligible for free agency until the following year.
AL East Notes: Sveum, Posada, Blue Jays, Mora
Some news from the AL East….
- Team sources tell Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston that Ben Cherington is "extremely high" on Dale Sveum. The former Red Sox third base coach is one of five candidates that appear to be the finalists to be Boston's new manager. Edes guesses that Cherington may have already settled on his choice and "is just going through the process" for the sake of due diligence.
- We heard yesterday from SI's Jon Heyman that Jorge Posada could sign with the Orioles or Marlins if he decides to keep playing, but Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com doesn't see Posada in Baltimore "under any circumstances" next year. I agree with Melewski; it's hard to imagine Posada wanting to spend his probable last season as a bench player for a non-contender.
- Bob Klapisch of the Record lays out the case for Posada to retire.
- Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos enters this offseason with much more "clarity" about the state of his team after spending two years remaking the roster, writes Rogers Sportsnet's Shi Davidi.
- Melvin Mora tells Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun that he wants to return to the Orioles. If not Baltimore, Mora wants to play on the East Coast to be near his wife and six children.
Orioles Notes: Wilson, Cuddyer, Posada
The Orioles officially hired executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette this week. Here’s the latest on the team as they begin their first offseason under Duquette…
- Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun is convinced there's no chance of the Orioles spending on free agents such as Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder and C.J. Wilson. It seems more likely Duquette will build the Orioles from within, but it's not as though the team will sit free agency out entirely.
- Connolly gets the sense that Michael Cuddyer is near the top of the Orioles' wish list, but the Phillies seem to be a more likely destination for the free agent outfielder.
- Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com looks ahead to the Orioles’ options for backing up catcher Matt Wieters in 2012 and wonders if veterans such as Ivan Rodriguez and Jorge Posada could be fits.
- Jon Heyman of SI.com expects Posada to sign with the Orioles or Marlins if he continues playing in 2012 (Twitter link). Posada knows he won't return to the Yankees.
Quick Hits: CBA, Fielder, Francis, Rollins
Ryan Madson appeared to have a deal with the Phillies this time last night, but the sides haven't completed anything to date. Here are the details and here are your links for Wednesday night…
- We heard last night that the players and owners made significant progress toward a new collective bargaining agreement. The sides could complete a CBA this week, according to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.
- ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick polled MLB executives on some fun baseball questions and the results are worth checking out. The executives preferred Prince Fielder to Albert Pujols over the life of a long-term contract and their response suggests Rays left-hander Matt Moore is every bit as coveted as Stephen Strasburg.
- ESPN.com's Keith Law explains that Aramis Ramirez is the top free agent third baseman of the offseason, but cautions that Ramirez's new team "will either have to live with below-average defense at third or contemplate moving him to first or to DH." I examined the trade and free agent market for third base late last month.
- Orioles executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette says he expects to add people to his front office before the Winter Meetings take place in early December, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Duquette has been impressed by director of baseball operations Matt Klentak.
- The Royals are open-minded regarding a possible return for free agent left-hander Jeff Francis, GM Dayton Moore told Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. The Royals would prefer to sign Bruce Chen, according to Dutton.
- Jimmy Rollins and the Phillies have had preliminary contract talks, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link). The shortstop continues to seek a five-year deal.