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AL Central Notes: White Sox, Kelly, Rondon, Royals

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Here are some notes from around the AL Central…

  • The White Sox won't make any qualifying offers to any of their remaining free agents, GM Rick Hahn told reporters (including Jim Margalus of the South Side Sox blog).  Kevin Youkilis, A.J. Pierzynski and Brett Myers all weren't expected to receive the $13.3MM qualifying offers, though Hahn told all three players he would be interested in bringing them back to Chicago next season.
  • In an interview with The Waddle & Silvy Show on ESPN 1000 radio, Hahn re-stated his interest in Youkilis.  "He knows there is no confusion in his mind about our desire to bring him back. So we're going to stay on that, stay in communication," Hahn said.  "It's not a great time to be a club in the free-agent market looking for a third baseman, the player pool is not real deep, so I expect Kevin will be popular, but we're going to be in on that until the end, I think."
  • Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski told Don Kelly that the team was interested in re-signing him to a minor league contract, Kelly tells George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press.  Kelly elected to become a free agent when the Tigers outrighted him off the 40-man roster yesterday.
  • With Jose Valverde on his way out of Detroit, Dombrowski and Jim Leyland hinted that rookie Bruce Rondon could be the Tigers' closer next season, reports MLB.com's Jason Beck.  The Venezuelan right-hander turns 22 in December and has a 2.53 ERA with 213 strikeouts in 196 minor league innings, though Rondon has only eight innings of experience above the Double-A level.
  • The Royals' acquisition of Ervin Santana is "not a great trade," writes Rany Jazayerli of the Rany On The Royals blog, but he ultimately likes the move since it shows Kansas City is willing to make aggressive moves to upgrade their rotation and, even if Santana doesn't pan out, the Royals are only committed to him for one season.

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…

Central Links: Royals, Ludwick, Reds, Hafner

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The Royals improved their rotation earlier today by acquiring Ervin Santana from the Angels in what amounted to a salary dump trade. Here is the latest from baseball's two Central divisions…

  • Royals GM Dayton Moore says the team is "not done" following the Santana pickup, reports Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star (on Twitter). The club figures to continue seeking upgrades for their rotation.
  • The Reds and Ryan Ludwick continue to talk after the outfielder declined his half of a mutual option, reports John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer (on Twitter). GM Walt Jocketty said the club is unlikely to offer more than two years, however.
  • Jocketty also told Fay that the Reds have interest in retaining free agents Ryan Madson, Jonathan Broxton, and Dioner Navarro (Twitter link). "I don't know if we'll sign them all," added Jocketty.
  • "We remain open to it," said Indians GM Chris Antonetti when asked about re-signing Travis Hafner, reports MLB.com's Jordan Bastian. Cleveland declined the slugger's option earlier today but seem poised to go in a different direction at DH.

West Links: Haren, Greinke, Hunter, Scutaro, Affeldt

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The Angels traded Ervin Santana to the Royals earlier today, the first of what figures to be many moves out of Anaheim this offseason. Here's the latest on baseball's two West divisions…

  • The Angels are still working to trade Dan Haren and expect to move him by Friday, reports ESPN's Jim Bowden (Twitter links). Haren will bring a much bigger return that what they received for Santana, adds Bowden.
  • Angels GM Jerry Dipoto acknowledged that "in all likelihood we weren't going to exercise (Santana's) option … We got piece we didn't have," reports Mike DiGiovanna of The Los Angeles Times (on Twitter).
  • Re-signing Zack Greinke is a "huge priority" for the Angels, says Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com. Part of the club's motivation to move Santana (and Haren) was to free up money for Greinke.
  • The Angels are showing no inclination of making Torii Hunter a $13.3MM qualifying offer by this Friday's deadline, reports USA Today's Bob Nightengale (on Twitter). The Halos will not receive draft pick compensation if Hunter signs elsewhere in that case.
  • Marco Scutaro told Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com that his first choice this offseason is to re-sign with the Giants (Twitter link). When asked what kind of contract he was seeking, the infielder joked "15 years, three thousand million dollars."
  • "There's a market established," said Jeremy Affeldt to Baggarly in reference to Brandon League's new contract (Twitter link). The veteran southpaw said he will cherish his time with the Giants if he doesn't re-sign with them.
  • Oliver Perez pitched to a 2.12 ERA in 29 2/3 relief innings for the Mariners this year, and he told MLB.com's Josh Liebeskind that he enjoyed his new role and would like to remain in the bullpen going forward. Perez will be a free agent this offseason.
  • The Dodgers will hire Bob Engle as their Latin America scouting director, reports Bob Elliott of The Toronto Sun (on Twitter). Engle left the Mariners this month and had previously worked with the Blue Jays as well. He's responsible for signing Roy Halladay and Felix Hernandez as amateurs, among others.

Royals Acquire Ervin Santana

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4:59pm: The Angels are sending $1MM to the Royals, Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times reports (on Twitter).

4:15pm: The Angels weren't sure about Ervin Santana, but the Royals want to see if he can re-establish himself as an above-average MLB starter. The Royals acquired Santana and cash from the Angels for minor league left-hander Brandon Sisk, the teams announced. The Angels exercised Santana's 2013 option before completing the trade, Bill Shaikin of the LA Times reports (on Twitter).

“We’ve stated all along that starting pitching was a priority this offseason and acquiring someone with the resume of Ervin Santana immediately upgrades our rotation,” Royals GM Dayton Moore said in a statement released by the team.

Ervin Santana - Angels (PW)

The Angels had limited interest in exercising Santana's $13MM option option, but the Royals appear to consider it reasonable. The Royals quietly checked in on Santana's medicals yesterday before completing the deal today, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports (on Twitter).

The 29-year-old posted a 5.16 ERA with 6.7 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a 43.2% ground ball rate in 178 innings this past season. Santana's average fastball velocity declined to 91.7 mph, but his swinging strike rate remained constant at 8.4%. He had completed at least 220 innings with ERAs below 4.00 in 2010 and 2011. Rosenthal reported late last night that the Angels were trying to move Santana and Dan Haren.

Sisk, 27, made 50 relief appearances at Triple-A this past season. He posted a 2.54 ERA with 9.8 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 67 1/3 innings — numbers that match up with his career averages through five minor league seasons.

The Royals began the offseason with a clear need for starting pitching. So far they have traded for Santana and claimed Chris Volstad. Volstad remains a non-tender candidate, but Santana will join Bruce Chen, Luis Mendoza, Felipe Paulino and Danny Duffy in the team's projected 2013 rotation. It won't be surprising if GM Dayton Moore continues pursuing starting pitching.

The Royals surely hope this acquisition works out better than the one they made early last offseason. A year ago Kansas City traded Melky Cabrera to San Francisco for Jonathan Sanchez in a deal that didn't work out for the Royals. To their credit, they did flip Sanchez for Jeremy Guthrie, who pitched well down the stretch. 

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the trade (on Twitter) and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports first reported Sisk's inclusion in the deal (also on Twitter). Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reported two days ago that the Angels were exploring trades involving Santana and Haren. Photo courtesy of US Presswire.

Royals Decline Option For Joakim Soria

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The Royals announced that they've declined their 2013 option for Joakim Soria. The reliever, who missed the entire 2012 season to undergo Tommy John surgery, is now a free agent. He obtains a $750K buyout instead of an $8MM salary.

Soria established himself as an elite reliever in the five seasons preceding 2012. Though he struggled in 2011, his career numbers are excellent — a 3.40 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 298 total appearances. If the Royals had exercised his 2013 option they would have kept the rights to a 2014 option valued at $8.75MM.

Royals Rumors: Guthrie, Soria, Paxton

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Earlier today, ESPN's Buster Olney said we shouldn't be surprised if the Royals trade one of their core homegrown bats for starting pitching this offseason. Here's the latest on the club courtesy of The Kansas City Star's Bob Dutton…

  • “I think it’s pretty safe to say he’s going to explore free agency,” said GM Dayton Moore, acknowledging that they're unlikely to agree to a new contract with Jeremy Guthrie during the exclusive negotiating period. “We’ll continue to monitor how that goes. He’s going to explore his options, and it’s important that we do as well.”
  • Talks about a new contract with Joakim Soria are ongoing. The Royals are expected to buy the right-hander out of his $8MM option following his second Tommy John surgery. Moore described the discussions as "moving at (their) own pace."
  • Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times notes that the Royals have been heavily scouting Mariners left-handed pitching prospect James Paxton in the Arizona Fall League. Dutton wonders if the two teams could work out a trade involving one of Kansas City's bats given Seattle's need for offense.

Olney’s Latest: Sanchez, Royals, Hosmer

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Here's the latest from ESPN's Buster Olney (Insider req'd)…

  • Some executives and agents predict that Anibal Sanchez could sign for anywhere from $30MM to $60MM as a free agent this offseason. I'd expect something closer to the high-end of that range.
  • The Royals desperately need at least two quality starting pitchers, though Gil Meche's shoulder problems could make GM Dayton Moore tentative on the free agent market. Otherwise players like Sanchez, Kyle Lohse, and Edwin Jackson would make sense.
  • Olney says no one should be surprised if the Royals deal one of their core hitters – Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer, Billy Butler, Mike Moustakas, etc. – to acquire pitching this winter. Hosmer presumably has the most value of the group despite his down 2012 season.
  • The Rays could match-up for such a trade with the Royals since they have a wide array of starting pitching to offer. The Mariners, Diamondbacks, and Athletics could be matches as well.

AL Central Links: Volstad, Masterson, Indians, ChiSox

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As the World Series shifts to Comerica Park for tomorrow's Game Three, here's the latest from around the AL Central….

  • The Royals' waiver claim pickup of Chris Volstad could be a sign of how the team plans to take a low-cost approach to upgrading its pitching staff, writes Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.  Royals GM Dayton Moore said free agents "won’t be a long-term answer for us” because the club hopes to have homegrown pitching prospects in the rotation by 2014.  “We’ve got to look internally,” Moore said. “We’ve got to look through trades. We’ve got to look, certainly, through free agency…we might be able to pick off a player or two, but we’re not going to build our team through free agency. It won’t work.”
  • Given the Indians' need for pitching and the cost of acquiring new starters, MLB.com's Jordan Bastian believes the team won't deal starter Justin Masterson (Twitter link).  The groundball specialist has been rumored to be on the trade market following a disappointing 2012 season.
  • Travis Hafner's $13MM team option for 2013 is a sure bet to be bought out by the Indians, tweets Bastian, while the Tribe will likely also decline Roberto Hernandez's $6MM club option.  Ubaldo Jimenez's $5.75MM club option for next season is "expected" to be picked up.  Bastian thinks it's "hard to believe" that the Indians would re-sign the injury-plagued Grady Sizemore as a free agent. 
  • The White Sox face four difficult option decisions on Jake Peavy, Kevin Youkilis, Gavin Floyd and Brett Myers, writes Paul Swydan for ESPN (Insider subscription required).  Swydan opines that Floyd is a more proven rotation candidate than Myers and "if only one option of the two is picked up, it should be Floyd's," while Youkilis could be a good candidate to be retained given Chicago's lack of depth at third base.  Peavy's $22MM option "is difficult to justify" given his injury history, though Swydan notes that Peavy provided close to $20MM worth of value during his healthy 2012 season.
  • In other White Sox news, Hahn discussed Peavy's option and more in his introductory press conference as the club's new general manager.

Royals Claim Chris Volstad

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The Royals claimed Chris Volstad off of waivers from the Cubs, MLB.com's Carrie Muskat reports (on Twitter).

Volstad, 26, had been a non-tender candidate in Chicago following a season in which he posted a 6.31 ERA in 111 1/3 innings. The 6'8" right-hander provides Kansas City with some rotation depth. In the four seasons leading up to 2012, he posted a 4.59 ERA with 5.8 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 as a member of the Marlins' rotation.

Volstad earned $2.7MM in 2012 as a first time eligible player and his salary can't be reduced by more than 20% if he's tendered a contract through the arbitration process. In fact MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects a slight raise to $3MM for Volstad.

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