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Central Notes: La Russa, Boras, Astros, Looper

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In a ceremony today at the White House for winners of the Presidential Medal Of Freedom, President Obama described Cardinals legend Stan Musial as "an icon, untarnished, a beloved pillar of the community, a gentleman you would want your kids to emulate."  Congratulations to Musial for adding this prestigious award to his overflowing list of lifetime achievements.

Let's look at the middle of the baseball map for news from the NL and AL Central divisions…

  • Tony La Russa is facing sharp criticism over his comments that the MLBPA was pressuring Albert Pujols to sign a record-setting contract.  Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports calls La Russa's statement "excessive and nonsensical."  Agent Scott Boras, speaking to Jim Duquette and Kevin Kennedy on MLB Network Radio today, said La Russa's comments were "really not well thought out" and lacking in evidence.
  • Boras noted that he hasn't spoken "at length" with his client Matt Holliday about Holliday's recent statement that he would consider deferring money from his own contract if it meant St. Louis could keep Pujols.  "Matt is very generous and Matt really wants the best for his team and he wants to win," Boras said.  Thanks to Andrew FitzPatrick of SiriusXM for providing a transcript of Boras' interview.
  • Ed Wade discussed Hunter Pence's leadership abilities, his club's bullpen depth, Brett Wallace's opportunity to win an everyday job and other Astros topics in a media Q&A session.  MLB.com's Brian McTaggart has the partial transcript.
  • Braden Looper tells MLB.com's Carrie Muskat that he would've retired if he hadn't been signed by the Cubs, since he and his family live in the Chicago area.  Looper expressed his interest in pitching for the Cubs last winter and sat out the 2010 season after not finding an acceptable contract.
  • Chris Antonetti says the chances of the Indians acquiring another starter are "slim," tweets Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
  • Also from Hoynes, Orlando Cabrera's deal with the Tribe will become official once the infielder passes a physical over the next two days.
  • Daniel Hudson talks to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune about the deal that sent the young right-hander from the White Sox to the Diamondbacks last summer.
  • The Royals finalized their $300K contract with Dominican pitcher Darwin Castillo, reports Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.  The team has yet to determine if the 6'5" right-hander will go to the Arizona Rookie League or pitch for the Royals' Dominican academy.

Albert Pujols Rumors: Monday

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Albert Pujols has given the Cardinals a deadline. If the sides don't agree to an extension by Wednesday, the powerful first baseman will hit free agency after the season. That possibility appears increasingly likely these days; Pujols turned down an extension from the Cardinals about two weeks ago and his agent has since told other teams that the Cardinals have "no chance" of locking Pujols up. Here's the latest, with the most recent updates up top:

  • One competing baseball executive believes that the Cubs will offer Pujols the Alex Rodriguez deal, meaning $27.5MM per year over ten years, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.
  • Cardinals GM John Mozeliak told Goold that he'd  "like to have a term sheet" completed by Wednesday's deadline (Twitter link). Presumably that means the Cardinals would be happy to agree to terms with Pujols, even if the contractual language gets finalized later.
  • Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the precise time of the deadline (on Twitter). The Cardinals asked to shift the deadline to 12pm EDT on Wednesday so as not to interfere with Stan Musial, who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House tomorrow. Pujols agreed to the new deadline.

Albert Pujols Rumors: Sunday

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Joel Sherman of the New York Post typically covers New York's baseball teams, but in today's column he acknowledges that many of the sport's biggest stories are taking place outside of the Big Apple. His number one story to watch as Spring Training gets underway? Albert Pujols' contract negotiations with the Cardinals. An AL executive told Sherman that the Cards' nightmare scenario involves not only failing to extend Pujols, but seeing him end up in a Cubs uniform in 2012. The three-time MVP winner "would be to the Cubs what [Barry] Bonds was to the Giants, but with a nicer face and nine games a year at Busch Stadium," said the exec. Here are the rest of the latest stories on the negotiations:

  • Agent Dan Lozano has told multiple teams that the Cardinals have "no chance to sign [Pujols]" before free agency, tweets Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
  • The Cards' star slugger turned down the club's offer about two weeks ago, a source told ESPN's Buster Olney (via Twitter). 
  • Pujols has turned down the latest offer from the club and unless a dramatic change is made, he will announce Tuesday that he's shutting down contract talks for the rest of the season, a person close to Pujols told Bob Nightengale of USA Today. 
  • St. Louis GM John Mozeliak declined comment on whether the team has made a formal offer to Pujols. Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch hears that no official offer was on the table as of early last week, with the club "expected to present a bid" closer to Pujols' deadline.
  • Whether or not an agreement is reached, the Cardinals plan to publicly address the negotiations on Wednesday, Strauss adds.
  • Bernie Miklasz of the Post-Dispatch views the Spring Training deadline as merely the "first checkpoint" in extension discussions, calling it "essentially bogus."
  • A GM for a larger-market team weighed in on the topic while talking to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe: "[The Cardinals] should stick to a number that makes sense for them, and if it’s not good enough, then you walk away." However, the GM went on to say that he thinks a deal will get done. "They probably have to do it," he said. "Because not doing it would create chaos and possible loss of revenue."

NL Central Notes: Snell, Pujols, Samardzija, Prince

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Some items of note out of the NL Central as players and reporters alike continue to trickle into Spring Training camps in Florida and Arizona …

  • Cardinals non-roster invitee Ian Snell, signed to a minor league deal, cited Redbirds pitching coach Dave Duncan as an incentive for him signing with St. Louis, writes Matthew Leach of MLB.com. Duncan, of course, is known for his penchant for helping down-on-their-luck pitchers get their careers back on track. Snell, who spent 2010 with the Mariners, has had a rough go of it since posting 14 wins with the Pirates back in 2006.
  • Is Albert Pujols worth upwards of $30MM for as many as 10 years? That's the question examined at length by Tim Logan of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The baseball community has made great strides in calculating how a player's performance translates to wins in recent years, but even still, it can be tough to pinpoint the connection between wins and return on investment (financially), Logan writes.
  • Cubs right-hander Jeff Samardzija is out of minor league options, writes Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune, and is therefore all but assured of a roster spot (likely in the bullpen) coming out of Spring Training, lest he be exposed to waivers. Samardzija has been shuttled between the minors and Majors, as well as starting and relieving, since being drafted by the Cubs in the fifth round in 2006.
  • Prince Fielder is probably hoping Pujols signs an extension before hitting free agency so that Fielder's market value isn't diminished next offseason, writes Bill Shaikin of the LA Times. Fielder is scheduled to become a free agent after this season, and with fewer teams in need of a premier first baseman as of now, he'll need all the leverage he can get, according to Shaikin.

Quick Hits: Duchscherer, Ramirez, Marmol, Broxton

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Links for Saturday..

Albert Pujols Rumors: Friday

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The deadline for an extension between Albert Pujols and the Cardinals is nearly upon us and the sides don't appear to be making much progress in advance of Wednesday's deadline. As tempting as it is to start imagining the three-time MVP in a Royals cap or an Orioles jersey, that's probably premature. If you ask Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports, talk of the deadline is overblown because the sides could decide to push it forward. Here's the latest on the Cardinals and their star first baseman, with the latest updates up top:

  • ESPN.com's Buster Olney agrees: there has been no recent progress (Twitter link).
  • One observer tells Jon Heyman of SI.com that the Cardinals and Pujols are "speaking two different languages'' and not close to a deal. By all accounts, the sides have lots of work to do, according to Heyman.
  • It looks like a Pujols extension is less likely than Mark McGwire playing this year, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (on Twitter).
  • Matt Holliday said on ESPN Radio that he would consider deferring part of his contract if it meant the Cardinals could extend Pujols. But Holliday tells MLB.com's Matthew Leach that the suggestion was "very hypothetical" and that the Cardinals haven't brought up the idea of deferring money.

Olney On Mets, Dodgers, Pujols

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A year ago it was the Rangers and Cubs. Now, the Mets and Dodgers have ownership issues, as ESPN.com's Buster Olney explains in his latest blog entry. Here are the details…

  • Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has “serious” financial problems, according to Olney. The day-to-day costs of running a team could soon create more of a need for cash for McCourt, who has looked for investors, but has not shown any interest in selling off much of the team.
  • MLB is expected to let the Dodgers ownership situation play out on its own, writes Olney. 
  • The Dodgers’ ownership issues appear to be “much more immediate” than those of the Mets, but the Mets have significant financial obligations in a number of areas. For more on the Madoff/Wilpon/Mets mess, read Howard Megdal's latest for MLBTR.
  • Both the Mets and Dodgers have been mentioned as hypothetical landing spots for Albert Pujols, who will hit free agency if he doesn’t sign an extension by the time Spring Training starts. One rival executive suggested to Olney that the Cubs could become the top bidder for Pujols if he hits the open market. "I think their ownership is gearing up for that," the executive said.

Cardinals, Mariners To Sign International Prospects

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The Cardinals and Mariners moved closer to six-figure deals with international prospects today. The Cardinals got approval from MLB for their deal with Venezuelan prospect Leobaldo Pina, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (on Twitter). The shortstop will receive a bonus worth $300K or so.

You may not have heard of Gabriel Guerrero, but you've heard of his uncle. The Mariners signed Vladimir Guerrero's nephew for $400K, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America. The 17-year-old Dominican is a "big-bodied right-handed hitter" with raw power. Badler writes that the prospect projects as a corner outfielder with a solid arm, just like Vlad.

NL Central Notes: Cardinals, Ohlendorf, Marcum

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On this date in 1916, the Cubs purchased future Hall of Famer Three Finger Brown from the Chicago Whales. The right-hander's career was over 12 appearances later, but he retired with a 2.06 ERA (139 ERA+) and 239 wins. Here's the latest on some of the Cubs' division rivals…

  • The Phillies have watched former Reds reliever Jon Coutlangus throw recently, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The lefty logged 41 innings for the 2007 Reds and has a 3.94 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 189 2/3 minor league innings.
  • Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch points out that few players have put St. Louis on their no-trade lists in recent years.
  • Fernando Gonzalez isn't the only Dominican prospect the Cardinals signed. Goold reports that the Cardinals have agreed to sign 17-year-old outfielder Jorge Araujo. Vice president of player procurement Jeff Luhnow says the left-handed hitter is "toolsy."
  • Paul Swydan of FanGraphs asks whether Ross Ohlendorf used advanced stats to beat the Pirates in arbitraiton and concludes that it wasn't necessarily to Ohlendorf's advantage to use anything more complicated than ERA, WHIP and K/BB. The right-hander beat the Pirates in arbitration yesterday after winning one game in 2010.
  • The incentives in Shaun Marcum's deal were part of the reason the Brewers were able to avoid arbitration with him. MLB.com's Adam McCalvy has the details on Marcum's incentives, which provide the former Blue Jay with a $200K bonus if he reaches the 200-inning plateau.

Quick Hits: Marcum, Blanco, Peavy, Pujols

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Links for Wednesday night..

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