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Cubs Offer Dale Sveum Position As Manager

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10:10pm: The Cubs have offered Sveum the job as manager, tweets Heyman. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports notes (via Twitter) that the Red Sox, who are also considering Sveum, haven't made him an official offer.

10:03pm: Mike Maddux will most likely drop out of the running for the Cubs managerial opening due to family matters, tweets MLB.com's Carrie Muskat. As such, all signs are pointing to Brewers hitting coach Dale Sveum for the job, as Jon Heyman of SI.com tweets.

Sveum is the only candidate the Cubs have interviewed twice in person so far, and Heyman notes (on Twitter) that Larry Lucchino's comments about potentially expanding the Red Sox managerial search could be another indication that Sveum will end up on the Cubs' bench in 2012.

In addition to Sveum and Maddux, the Cubs are also considering Pete Mackanin, DeMarlo Hale, and Sandy Alomar Jr.

McLane Confirms Astros Will Move To AL West In 2013

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Drayton McLane confirmed to reporters, including Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link), that the Astros will be moving to the American League West for 2013. McLane added that the Astros' sale is on the agenda for the owners' meetings tomorrow, at which point Jim Crane is expected to be approved as the team's new owner.

More links on the Astros and the rest of the clubs they'll compete with in the NL Central for one more year:

  • McLane said he's "kind of sad" to be moving on, but that the Astros will have a "very good" owner in Crane, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
  • Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press reports that Major League Baseball told Crane it wouldn't approve his purchase of the Astros unless he agreed to move the team to the AL.
  • The Reds "made good progress" with Brandon Phillips' agent today, though no long-term deal is imminent yet, tweets Jon Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
  • MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has the latest details on the Cubs' managerial search.

Quick Hits: Sizemore, Ponson, Braves

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Wednesday afternoon linkage as the news continues to fly in from the Milwaukee meetings..

  • A number of teams remain in play for Grady Sizemore including the Giants, Rockies, Cubs, Red Sox, Rangers, Mariners, and Nationals, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter).
  • The Athletics met with Sidney Ponson's agent today, a source tells Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Twitter).
  • Braves GM Frank Wren and agent Adam Katz are now meeting in Milwaukee, tweets MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith.  Katz is a part of Wasserman Media Group and represents a number of players, including Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes.  To view WMG's client list, check out MLBTR's Agency Database.

GM Meetings Notes: Kelly Johnson, Carlos Zambrano

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Here are some notes from the GM Meetings as team owners and presidents check in to Milwaukee’s Pfister Hotel in anticipation of the quarterly Owners Meetings:

  • Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos is strongly considering re-signing free agent second baseman Kelly Johnson. “There’s a lot of scenarios and ways that we could go and bringing Kelly back is certainly one of them,” Anthopoulos said. He declined to comment on possible changes to the Elias rankings system, but it’s something the Blue Jays will monitor closely given the many ranked free agents they have this offseason. Johnson is a Type A free agent, but he may become a Type B under the upcoming CBA.
  • The Blue Jays would like to add starting pitching, but they don’t intend to force an acquisition, since they consider it more of a want than a need. “If we can get a front-to-mid-rotation starter, we’d love to do that,” Anthopoulos told MLBTR. “At the same time I think every team would tell you the same thing. Everyone’s going to look for that.”
  • Carlos Zambrano met with Cubs president Theo Epstein this week to discuss his future with the team. GM Jed Hoyer says the Cubs are still in the process of determining how the right-hander fits in to the 2012 plan. “He’s in very good shape,” Hoyer said. “He had a very good lunch with Theo the other day. He’s had some incidents here — we can’t ignore the past, but at the same time we talked about a lot of things we can do. It’s too early to make a decision, but so far it’s been positive.”

Cubs Willing To Listen On Everyone

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The Cubs are telling teams they'll listen to trade offers on everyone this winter while trying to rebuild the team to be competitive in the future, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today.  Danny Knobler of CBS Sports tweeted something very similar around the same time, so perhaps the Cubs are trying to get the word out.  ESPN's Buster Olney also joined in, saying Sean Marshall and Matt Garza figure to draw the most interest between now and July 31st.

The concept of listening to offers for any player is not unexpected for new Cubs president Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer, and marks a change from Jim Hendry's reported summer stance of not listening on players he thought could help him in 2012.  Still, a team drawing three million fans a year doesn't often embark on a full-on offseason rebuilding effort.  The Cubs certainly haven't done that anytime recently.  Hoyer isn't afraid to make an unpopular decision, though, having traded Adrian Gonzalez for prospects months after his Padres nearly won the NL West.  And even after trading Gonzalez, Hoyer made a series of moves designed to keep the team competitive in 2011.  The Cubs aren't ruling out anything at this point, Hoyer told MLB.com's Carrie Muskat.

Garza, 27, could be one of the best available starters this offseason.  He's made 30 starts each of the last four years, has AL East experience, and struck out a career-best 197 this year with the move to the NL.  He's under team control for two more years, though his salary could approach $9MM in 2012 and will likely enter eight figures in '13.  Marshall is under contract for $3.1MM in 2012 and eligible for free agency after that.  With a 2.45 ERA, 10.1 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, and 0.2 HR/9 over the last two years, he's become an elite reliever capable of a Mike Adams-like bounty.  

Bruce Chen Weighing Multiyear Offers

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Lefty Bruce Chen has multiyear offers, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.  He says the Royals and Cubs are among the teams talking to Chen, with the Royals perhaps focused on him.

Chen, a 34-year-old Scott Boras client, has never had a multiyear deal in his career.  This year for the Royals he posted a 3.77 ERA, 5.6 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, 1.05 HR/9, and 34.6% groundball rate in 155 innings.

Quick Hits: Phillips, Kuroda, Ortiz, Wood, Counsell

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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:

Cubs, Buehrle’s Agent Have Had Multiple Discussions

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The Cubs have had multiple discussions with Mark Buehrle's agent Jeff Berry, a source tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Berry also met with Marlins earlier today.  Morosi sums up the other interested clubs: the White Sox, Blue Jays, Royals, Angels, Nationals, and Diamondbacks.

Earlier in November, we heard that the Cubs would have interest in the longtime White Sox pitcher "if the price tag and years aren't astronomical." Considering the number of Buehrle rumors we've heard so far this offseason, there appears to be plenty of competition, but we don't have a clear idea yet of the years and dollars the lefty might be offered.

Eight Teams Interested In Grady Sizemore

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TUESDAY, 11:27am: The Rockies have examined Sizemore's medical records and believe he's worth the risk on a one-year deal, reports Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post.  The Rockies expect to watch Sizemore work out in the coming days.

The A's have no interest in pursuing Sizemore, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

MONDAY, 7:38pm: There's no shortage of interest in Grady Sizemore this offseason. The free agent outfielder has drawn interest from eight teams, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. The Cubs, Rangers, Giants and Yankees are potential suitors for Sizemore, along with the Phillies, Rockies, Red Sox and Indians.

The Giants are interested, even after acquiring Melky Cabrera, and the Cubs view Sizemore as a possible fit in right field. The A's, who saw their entire outfield hit free agency after the season, have also been linked to Sizemore.

Sizemore's knees have limited him to 104 total games in the past two seasons, so the Indians declined their $9MM club option after the season, making the 29-year-old a free agent. He hit 10 homers and posted a .224/.285/.422 line in 2011, but Sizemore combined power, speed and on-base skills as one of baseball's premier center fielders from 2005-08.

AL East Notes: Votto, Price, Garcia, Yankees, Red Sox

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Here's a look at some news out of the AL East..

  • The Rays are concentrating on upgrading at first base, DH, and landing two relievers, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  They want to hang on to their pitching depth, but that would change if Joey Votto of the Reds became available. 
  • More from Sherman (via Twitter) on the Rays as he writes that the club is always open to anything, but have it in their budget to keep David Price at $4-$4.5MM as a Super Two.  Price could earn $7-8MM in 2012 through arbitration according to MLBTR's projections.  Sherman adds that it would take a gigantic return for them to move him.
  • As expected, the Yankees intend to follow up with Freddy Garcia’s agents once more, a person with knowledge of the situation, told Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledger.  Yankees GM Brian Cashman has already talked with Garcia’s representatives, even before the right-hander was a free agent.
  • Dale Sveum is interviewing again Wednesday with the Red Sox and GM Ben Cherington is unsure if they will bring back anyone else for an interview, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
  • Talks between the Red Sox and Cubs over compensation for Theo Epstein will continue this week but Commissioner Bud Selig is likely to settle matter, Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald tweets. Cherington says that Selig hashing things out is probably what's best for both parties.
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