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Cust Hopes To Sign By Christmas

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Free agent outfielder/DH Jack Cust hopes to sign by Christmas, reports ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.  He's expected to have two or three offers from which to choose.

Crasnick finds the A's, Rays, and Mets unlikely to sign Cust despite varying degrees of interest.  Instead, the ESPN scribe considers the Royals, Mariners, and Tigers to be "possible fits."  The issue with the Mariners: it'd be out of character for them to endure Cust's ugly defense in left field, and signing him as a DH would reduce Ken Griffey Jr.'s role.

Crasnick does not mention the White Sox, Rangers, or Blue Jays, though those teams could technically make room for Cust at DH.

Given that Cust played his first full season at 28 in '07, the concern is that his downward offensive trends of the last two years will continue.

Odds & Ends: Carroll, Crisp, Cameron, Hermida

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Links for Wednesday…

  • The Tigers signed lefty Brad Thomas out of Korea, and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that they paid $1MM.
  • Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette confirmed our report of the Pirates' interest in Kelly Johnson, explaining that the Pirates view him as a corner outfield option.
  • FanGraphs' Dave Cameron wonders why teams seem to undervalue Cliff Lee.  In a related story, Lee's agent Darek Braunecker believes their position has been mischaracterized. 
  • ESPN's Buster Olney expects Jamey Carroll to choose between two-year offers from the A's and Dodgers, probably today (I mistakenly wrote the Angels earlier).
  • Mentioned first on Twitter: I've heard that Coco Crisp would prefer a one-year deal with the Padres or A's.
  • Boston's Mike Cameron signing was officially announced today.  Michael Silverman and John Tomase of the Boston Herald have details on the two-year, $15.5MM contract.  John Lackey's deal was also announced.
  • WEEI's Alex Speier says the Red Sox told Jeremy Hermida they'd trade him if they re-signed Jason Bay.  Speier wonders if the Cameron signing will prompt a Hermida deal.
  • The Angels' one-year, $6.5MM deal with Hideki Matsui was also announced, as was John Buck's one-year, $2MM deal with Toronto and Ross Gload's two-year, $2.6MM deal with the Phillies.
  • The Royals put out word they've re-signed outfielder Shane Costa to a minor league deal.  Costa, 28, missed almost the entire '09 season with a leg injury.
  • USA Today's Bob Nightengale tweets details on LaTroy Hawkins' two-year, $7.5MM deal with the Brewers.
  • Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker examines the reports about reliever Ryota Igarashi, who might be headed to the Red Sox or Mets.
  • The Mariners signed 19-year-old shortstop Pedro Okuda to a minor league deal, according to a team press release.  Okuda was born and raised in Brazil but attended high school in Japan.

Odds & Ends: Mets, Royals, Dodgers, Lowe

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More links for Tuesday…

Agent: Johnson Likely To Be Traded After Season

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Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post spoke with Matt Sosnick, the agent for Josh Johnson, who believes Johnson will be on a new club before the start of the '11 season.

"My hope is that he signs a long-term deal and stays in Florida,' Sosnick said. "But I would say it's much more likely that we'll do a one-year deal this year and he's playing for somebody else in 2011.'

Sosnick also made it clear that Johnson is seeking a deal that "far exceeds" the deal that Zack Greinke's four-year, $38MM contract signed last winter. Sosnick notes that Johnson's '09 season was better than the season Greinke had prior to signing his contract.

Earlier this month we learned that Johnson would accept a four-year, $42MM extension, but the Marlins are only offering three years and $23MM. Marlins GM Michael Hill was emphatic that Johnson would not be traded this off-season.

Royals To Sign Philip Humber

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The Royals reached a minor league deal with Philip Humber, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. Humber, who turns 27 next week, was part of the deal that sent Johan Santana to New York. He only has 29.2 major league innings to his name and last year's minor league numbers were uninspired (5.34 ERA in 119.2 innings).

Royals Rumors: Kendall, Myers, Crisp

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SATURDAY, 9:35am: Bob Dutton of The KC Star says Kendall will earn $2.25MM in 2010 and $3.75MM in 2011, with another $250K in incentives. It's the same two year, $6MM deal Pudge Rodriguez received. 

FRIDAY, 6:54pm: Royals GM Dayton Moore said on a conference call that the reported terms ($4MM) for Jason Kendall's deal are about right. The team expects him to mentor young pitchers and catching prospect Wil Myers, Moore said.

Kendall, who insists he feels like he's in his early twenties, says he wants to win in Kansas City. But it wasn't his only choice.

"There were other offers, but I'm a Kansas City Royal now," he said. " Dayton and the Royals called me the first day [of free agency]."

When asked about free agent Coco Crisp, Moore said the Royals "remain open" to all of the team's free agents, including the center fielder.

Royals Sign Jason Kendall

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6:24 PM: The Kansas City Star's Bob Dutton tweets that the deal is worth roughly the same as the two-year/$6MM contract Ivan Rodriguez signed with Washington earlier this week.

4:59 PM: The Royals signed catcher Jason Kendall to a two-year contract, according to a press release from the team.  Kendall, 35, hit .241/.331/.305 in 526 plate appearances for the Brewers this year, catching 1,162 innings.  Ivan Rodriguez and Brian Schneider also received two-year deals so far this winter.

The Royals entered the offseason intending to reboot their catching situation.  They've declined an option on Miguel Olivo and signed Kendall, and may non-tender John Buck tomorrow.

Odds & Ends: Boyer, Chapman, Non-Tenders, Cubs

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Links for Friday…

  • The D'Backs agreed to a one-year deal with arbitration-eligible righty Blaine Boyer, tweets MLB.com's Steve Gilbert.
  • ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. analyzes Aroldis Chapman's upcoming bullpen session – does it represent a loss of leverage?  Arangure Jr. notes that Chapman received one offer so far – $15.5MM – from the Red Sox back when he was represented by Edwin Mejia.
  • SI's Jon Heyman names his winners and losers of the Winter Meetings. 
  • Royals GM Dayton Moore expects a bigger non-tender group than years past, writes Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
  • Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald expects the Cubs to tender contracts to Mike Fontenot, Koyie Hill, Sean Marshall, Jeff Baker, and Angel Guzman, but not lefty Neal Cotts.  Cotts is coming back from Tommy John surgery, and the Cubs could re-sign him to a minor league deal.
  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post criticizes the New York Times for letting his good friend Jack Curry go.
  • MLB.com's Carrie Muskat says the Cubs acquired righty Arismendy Mota from the Nationals for cash considerations.  Mota was taken by the Nats from the White Sox with the first pick of the Triple A phase of the Rule 5 draft yesterday.
  • ESPN's Jerry Crasnick believes that while the free agent dollars are flowing now, "the euphoria will fade after the New Year."
  • The Nationals officially announced their two-year deal for Ivan Rodriguez today.

Royals Sign Bruce Chen, Vance Wilson, Four Others

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According to a press release from the Royals, they've signed six players to minor league deals: pitchers Bruce Chen, Adam Bostick, Devon Lowery, and Francisco Rosario, as well as first baseman Ernesto Mejia and catcher Vance Wilson.

Chen, 32, posted a 5.78 ERA, 6.5 K/9, and 3.6 BB/9 in 62.3 innings for the Royals this year.  Wilson, 37 in March, hit .270/.342/.461 in 229 Double A plate appearances this year.  He seems all the way back from Tommy John surgery and might warrant another look as an MLB backup.

White Sox Interested In Brett Gardner

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Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times hears from a scout familiar with the situation that the White Sox covet Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner. The Yankees, who just acquired Curtis Granderson, have extra outfielders so the White Sox and Royals have inquired on Gardner.

The White Sox had Scott Podsednik around last year, but Cowley says they haven't offered him the two-year deal he wants. The Royals and Tigers are also unwilling to give Podsednik a second year at this point.

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