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AL East Notes: Blue Jays, Oliver, Reynolds, Cherington

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We covered some Yankees news in an edition of New York Notes and also noted Boston's interest in Dan Haren earlier today on MLBTR, so let's take a look around the rest of the AL East…

  • The Blue Jays are "leaning toward" hiring a manager with Major League experience, reports FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal.  This would seem to make Jim Riggleman and Don Wakamatsu the favorites among the known contenders, as ex-managers Jim Tracy and Manny Acta reportedly aren't under consideration and candidates such as Sandy Alomar, Tim Wallach and DeMarlo Hale have never managed in the bigs.  Rosenthal notes that the Jays could still hire a non-experienced manager if "they are unimpressed by the more seasoned options."
  • Darren Oliver is "not sure at all and he's in no rush to make a decision" about playing in 2013, Oliver's agent Jeff Frye tells Sportnet.ca's Shi Davidi.  The veteran reliever has hinted about retiring, though the Blue Jays exercised their $3MM option on Oliver yesterday to retain Oliver's rights in case the southpaw does return.
  • The Orioles declined Mark Reynolds' $11MM option yesterday, though CSNBaltimore.com's Rich Dubroff thinks the two sides will eventually agree to a new two-year deal for Reynolds given the Orioles' lack of depth at first base.
  • The Orioles have selected the contract of right-hander Zach Clark and added him to the 40-man roster, according to a team press release.  The 29-year-old Clark has a 3.68 ERA in 171 career minor league games (116 of them starts), including a combined 2.79 ERA in 167 2/3 innings at Double-A and Triple-A last season.
  • Red Sox GM Ben Cherington said during an appearance on WEEI Radio's Red Sox Hot Stove Show today that the team would like to add a new pitcher to the rotation without dealing any of their own pitching prospects.  The Sox have several internal options for the bullpen but Cherington "would not rule out" adding a new reliever as well.  (Both links are via the Twitter account of WEEI.com's Alex Speier.)
  • The Red Sox should pursue Nick Swisher, Ryan Madson and Mike Napoli this winter, as well as an innings-eating starting pitcher on a short-term contract suggests Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe as part of his five proposals to upgrade the Sox on the free agent market.

Red Sox, Ortiz Agree To Two-Year Deal

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6:37pm: The deal is now in the language stage, tweets Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.

6:23pm: The deal will also include incentives that can boost the overall value to $30MM across two seasons, Bradford tweets.

6:10pm: Once the deal is finalized, it will be for two years and at least $26MM, tweets Rob Bradford of WEEI.com (via Twitter).

5:20pm: Two sources told Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe (via Twitter) that they expect Ortiz to sign a deal before the night is out.

4:50pm: The sides are "very close" to a deal, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports (on Twitter).

NOVEMBER 2nd, 9:47am: The Red Sox and Ortiz are starting to close the gap in their negotiations, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports (on Twitter). Texas' interest is real, Cafardo writes.

11:02am: It appears likely that Ortiz will hit the open market, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports. Boston's exclusive negotiating period ends Saturday morning, at which point Ortiz will be free to discuss a contract with any team. The Red Sox are expected to extend Ortiz a one-year qualifying offer.

NOVEMBER 1st, 8:13am: The sides hope to bridge the "modest gap" and agree to a contract within the next 24 hours, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports (on Twitter).

OCTOBER 23rd: Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe hears from both sides that Ortiz isn’t close to a deal, though talks are amicable (Twitter link).

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Red Sox Interested In Haren; Wells Not In Play

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11:14am: The Red Sox have no interest in acquiring Wells, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reports. 

10:15am: Dipoto could try to send Vernon Wells to the Red Sox along with Haren, Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times suggests (Twitter link). Perhaps the Angels would obtain John Lackey in an exchange of bad contracts.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that Wells is in play for others (Twitter links). The Angels are actively trying to trade Wells, who has a full no-trade clause and $42MM remaining on his contract through 2014.

9:00am: The Red Sox are among the teams interested in Dan Haren, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports (on Twitter). The Angels appear to be working to trade Haren and have been weighing possible deals for at least three days.

Haren's contract includes a $15.5MM option with a $3.5MM buyout. The Angels are expected to decline the option if they don’t complete a trade first. Yesterday GM Jerry Dipoto sent Ervin Santana to Kansas City for minor league left-hander Brandon Sisk in a move that could be a precursor to a trade involving Haren.

The 32-year-old started 30 games for the Angels this past season. He posted a 4.33 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 176 2/3 innings, numbers that fall short of his career norms.

East Links: Ortiz, Hunter, Oliver, Marlins, Phillies

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Earlier tonight we had some West and Central links, so now let's complete the trifecta with some notes from baseball's two East divisions…

Managerial Notes: Butterfield, Blue Jays

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The Tigers signed manager Jim Leyland to a one-year contract extension today, which means there are still just three teams looking for managers. Here are the latest managerial notes, starting in the AL East…

  • The Red Sox announced that they've hired longtime Blue Jays coach Brian Butterfield to coach third base in Boston. Butterfield joins manager John Farrell and bench coach Torey Lovullo as former Blue Jays personnel in Boston. 
  • Multiple teams were actively courting Butterfield before he signed in Boston, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports (on Twitter).
  • The Dodgers have granted the Blue Jays permission to interview third base coach Tim Wallach for their managerial opening, Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times reports. The Blue Jays wanted to interview Wallach the last time they had a managerial opening, in 2010. However, Wallach wasn't allowed to interview because of a clause in his contract. Sandy Alomar Jr., DeMarlo Hale and Don Wakamatsu also appear to be in the mix for the Toronto job. Butterfield had been a candidate before accepting his new position in Boston.

Cafardo On Dodgers, Hamilton, Brewers, Otani

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For most of his eight-year tenure with the Dodgers, General Manager Ned Colletti had to mindful of the budget and the bottom line.  Now, Colletti has the financial freedom to make bold moves, such as the trade with the Red Sox which brought Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Nick Punto, and Carl Crawford aboard.  Colletti has no doubt that Crawford is ready to regain his old form.  "He’s still a dynamic player," Colletti said. "A couple of years ago, he was one of the most sought-after free agents in the game for good reason. People in Tampa saw it a lot. People in the AL East saw it a lot — a combination of abilities not many players have. In this league, the ability to hit and steal, doubles and triples — this is a tough park for home runs sometimes — his ability to create things offensively with speed and ability to hit."  Here's more from today's column..

  • There’s mounting evidence that the Brewers could be one of the teams that emerges in the market for Josh Hamilton.  Milwaukee is at least looking into the possibility, though their top priorities are still finding a starting pitcher and revamping their bullpen.
  • The Cubs appear to be players for 18-year-old pitcher Shohei Otani, but Theo Epstein recently expressed trepidation about plunging back into the Japanese market.  Otani was recently taken with the first-overall pick in the NPB draft and the Nippon Ham Fighters have until March to try and sign him.  A major league club can still sign him at any time, but it would likely irritate Japanese baseball officials.
  • Bobby Valentine declined to say whether he'd like to be considered for the managerial openings with the Rockies, Marlins, and Blue Jays.  The manager also clarified some of his recent remarks on the Red Sox and noted that his line about leaving a note for incoming manager John Farrell was merely an old-time baseball joke.
  • After removing himself from the interview process with the Astros and declining to meet with the Marlins, it's possible that Brad Ausmus only had his eye on the Red Sox job.  However, teams will still try to lure the former catcher who quickly found himself in high demand.
  • Terry Francona did speak with the Marlins earlier this year, but he wanted to be with the Indians all along.

AL East Links: Peterson, A-Rod, Otani, Orioles, Loney

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The Red Sox will interview Rick Peterson for their pitching coach job, reports Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (via Twitter).  The Orioles granted Boston permission to interview Peterson, who is currently Baltimore's director of pitching development and is a former pitching coach with the A's, Mets and Brewers.

Here's the latest from around the AL East…

Minor Moves: Lin, Del Rosario, Thompson, Cubs

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Here are some of the minor transactions from around the league…

Managerial Notes: Marlins, Rockies, Red Sox

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The Rockies (98 losses), Marlins (93 losses) and Blue Jays (89 losses) are all searching for new managers as they look to rebound from disappointing seasons. Here are the latest managerial notes from around MLB…

  • The Marlins have also interviewed former MLB player and manager Larry Bowa for their managerial opening, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (Twitter links).  Marlins candidates are conducting separate interviews with owner Jeffrey Loria and the baseball operations department, according to Rosenthal.
  • Bryan Price interviewed for the Marlins' managerial opening today, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports. Price has been the Reds' pitching coach since 2009.
  • The Marlins asked to speak with Padres special assistant Brad Ausmus about their managerial opening only to hear that the former MLB catcher isn't interested, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports. Ausmus interviewed for Boston's managerial vacancy and was considered by the Astros before withdrawing his name from consideration. Price and Mike Redmond are also candidates for the position in Miami.
  • The Rockies have spoken with former MLB shortstop Walt Weiss regarding their managerial vacancy, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports. Weiss, the 1988 American League Rookie of the Year, joins Jason Giambi and Tom Runnells as a contender for the position.
  • The Rockies are also expected to interview Matt Williams, Renck reports (on Twitter). The former third baseman hit 378 home runs over the course of a 17-year MLB career.
  • The Red Sox officially named Torey Lovullo their bench coach today. The 47-year-old former second baseman coached first base for the Blue Jays last year under current Red Sox manager John Farrell.

Quick Hits: Verlander, Hamilton, Rangers, Lincecum

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It’s not a huge surprise, but Tigers president and General Manager Dave Dombrowski said that he would like to make Justin Verlander a Tiger for life, writes Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.  The right-hander still has two years remaining on his five-year, $80MM deal and extending him won’t be cheap.  However, the Tigers made a similar move when they inked Miguel Cabrera to his eight-year, $152.3MM deal two years before he was set to hit the open market.  Here’s more from around baseball as the Giants celebrate their Game 2 victory..

  • People familiar with the Brewers’ thinking told Heyman that the club is seriously considering a run at Josh Hamilton this winter.  Owner Mark Attanasio declined comment on the possibility, but the team is said to believe that Milwaukee is a viable market for the slugger.  The Brewers would obviously have a hard time competing with major market teams for Hamilton, but it helps that the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers likely won’t be in the mix.
  • Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels said that he sees some similarities between what his club did in 2007 and the Red Sox’s blockbuster deal this year, writes Alex Speier of WEEI.com.  Texas traded star first baseman Mark Teixeira to the Braves in the summer of 2007, netting the club Elvis Andrus and freedom to build the roster.  Daniels, who was a guest on WEEI’s Red Sox Hot Stove show, also said that he doesn’t expect to trade Andrus or Kinsler despite having Jurickson Profar close to being major league-ready.
  • Despite his struggles in 2012, General Manager Brian Sabean ruled out the possibility of Tim Lincecum moving to the bullpen next season, tweets Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.  Lincecum is entering his walk year in the 2013 season and will earn $22MM.
  • One person connected to the Giants told Heyman that there’s no way that Lincecum will be traded, in part because of how the fans in San Francisco respond to him.
  • Commissioner Bud Selig told reporters before tonight’s game that he has spoken with Blue Jays president Paul Beeston and has yet to hear a complaint from the organization regarding possible tampering with manager John Farrell, tweets Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.
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