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Chicago Rumors: Zambrano, Marmol, Dunn, Quentin

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Carlos Zambrano has not asked for a trade and the Cubs have not asked him to waive his no-trade clause, according to Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com. The Cubs did meet with Zambrano’s agent, Barry Praver, but the sides didn’t discuss trading the right-hander. Here are the details on the Cubs and White Sox:

  • Praver and the Cubs also discussed Carlos Marmol, an offseason extension candidate who may be offered a long-term deal.
  • Cubs GM Jim Hendry acknowledged the team’s need for a first baseman and said he anticipates “more volume at that position than what people need at that position." 
  • The Cubs have not yet talked to the agents for Adam Dunn, but the White Sox are still targeting the slugger. The Tigers are interested in Dunn, but ESPN.com's Jayson Stark heard that the Cubs may not pursue him as aggressively as expected.
  • Levine hears that the White Sox are not shopping Carlos Quentin. Stark reported yesterday that the Phillies have interest in Quentin.

Stark On Cubs, Kemp, Werth, Quentin

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ESPN's Jayson Stark leads his latest Rumblings and Grumblings with scouts' opinions on pitchers Jorge de la Rosa, Vicente Padilla, Carl Pavano, Brian Fuentes, Randy Choate, Joaquin Benoit, and Koji Uehara.  His rumors:

  • Adrian Gonzalez's labrum cleanup surgery downgrades the chances of an offseason trade considerably.
  • The Cubs "seem a lot less inclined" to trade Kosuke Fukudome and Carlos Zambrano, though some clubs believe they'd discuss the latter.  Stark says there's a vibe the Cubs will not go after Adam Dunn for their first base opening, instead looking for an above-average defender.
  • One team official who kicked the tires says of the Dodgers, "They ain't trading Matt Kemp."
  • The Phillies are far apart with Jayson Werth and are exploring right field replacements.  They've done extensive groundwork on Chicago's Carlos Quentin, and are considering Jeff Francoeur or Jermaine Dye for lesser roles.  The Red Sox, by the way, are not willing to spend $100MM on Werth.

Heyman On Weeks, Matsui, Pujols

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SI's Jon Heyman is gathering all kinds of information at the GM Meetings; here's the latest…

  • Brewers GM Doug Melvin will talk to second baseman Rickie Weeks today about a possible extension, tweets Heyman.  The arbitration eligible Weeks is one year away from free agency.
  • Heyman tweets that the White Sox are talking to free agent designated hitter Hideki Matsui, who would fit as one of two lefty bats they hope to acquire.  The Sox have already had preliminary discussions with Adam Dunn's agent.  Heyman says the Cubs have not appeared to be big suitors for Dunn so far.
  • Regarding Albert Pujols, Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt does not want to repeat Alex Rodriguez's ten-year, $275MM contract.  In fact, he believes the Yankees would retract A-Rod's deal if they could.  Heyman floated an eight-year, $240MM deal to DeWitt, who questioned the $30MM salary.
  • Expensive closers Jonathan Papelbon and Francisco Cordero are on the trade market, with the Red Sox and Reds willing to kick in money.  Still, Heyman sees the Red Sox retaining Papelbon, whose trade market is weak.
  • Heyman could see something around three years and $57MM for Derek Jeter.
  • Heyman believes the Orioles are looking at Paul Konerko and/or Adrian Beltre for their corner infield openings.

Minor Deals: German, Carroll, Moore, Tracy

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A look at the minor deals struck today…

  • Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that Esteban German is returning to the Rangers on a minor league deal.  German, 33 in January, hit .280/.371/.388 in 567 Triple-A plate appearances this year, playing all around the diamond.  He was outrighted on November 5th and chose to become a free agent.
  • The Royals signed outfielder Brett Carroll to a minor league contract, reports Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). The 28-year-old is a .205/.284/.325 career hitter in 319 plate appearances with the Marlins.
  • Infielder Scott Moore signed a minor league deal with the Cubs, reports Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun. He originally broke in with the Cubs back in 2006, but was later traded to the Orioles for Steve Trachsel.
  • Infielder Chad Tracy signed with the Hiroshima Carp for about $1.3MM according to a report passed along by NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman (Twitter link).

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

Odds & Ends: Sandberg, D’Backs, Lee, Huff

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Here are today's links as we await the Rookie of the Year announcements…

  • I'll be in Orlando covering the GM Meetings this week. Follow @mlbtrorlando on Twitter for the latest news, quotes and observations from Florida.
  • The Phillies have hired Ryne Sandberg to manage their Triple-A affiliate nearly 29 years after they traded the future Hall of Famer to the Cubs. Sandberg played 15 seasons in Chicago and nearly won the Cubs managerial job this winter. 
  • MLB.com's Todd Zolecki takes us back to 1982, when the Phillies sent Sandberg to the Cubs.
  • The Orioles signed former Cubs pitcher Mitch Atkins to a minor league deal, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. The 25-year-old has solid minor league numbers and a 5.25 ERA in 12 big league innings.
  • The D'Backs announced that Rico Brogna, who was appointed director of player development last month, resigned and will be replaced by Mike Bell.
  • Arizona also announced the hiring of Billy Ryan as assistant GM. He will work on arbitration cases and draft bonus recommendations.
  • Cliff Lee’s agent is one person who can skip the GM meetings altogether. “We're not going to have to go there to drum up interest," Darek Braunecker told Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.
  • Tyler Kepner of the New York times explains that every team is looking for the next Aubrey Huff.

Odds & Ends: Lopes, Maybin, Farrell, Cubs, Cousins

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Links for Saturday…

  • Newsday's Ken Davidoff provides a primer for next week's GM Meetings in Orlando.  MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith will be on the scene there Tuesday and Wednesday.
  • Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times tweets that former Phillies' first base coach Davey Lopes is close to joining the Dodgers' coaching staff in an unknown capacity.
  • Tom Krasovic of AOL FanHouse analyzes the Cameron Maybin trade, saying the outfielder doesn't need to develop into a star to represent an upgrade for the Padres.
  • Richard Griffin of The Star has a one-on-one interview with new Blue Jays manager John Farrell.
  • Cubs GM Jim Hendry told Gordon Wittenmyer of The Chicago Sun Times that he's not worried about making a splash this offseason, but that it's "really imperative that we have two or three really good moves."
  • MLB.com's Joe Frisaro says that in the wake of the Maybin deal, the Marlins will give Scott Cousins a long look in center field next year (Twitter link).
  • Meanwhile, Padres GM Jed Hoyer told Dan Hayes of The North County Times that Maybin is "exactly the type of player we hoped to acquire for Petco Park." (Twitter link)
  • MLB.com's Jason Beck states the obvious, saying that the Marlins probably would have been better off keeping Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis and then taking the draft picks when they left as free agents. I'm not sure that keeping those two would have been financially possible, though.
  • Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com writes that after catcher Erik Kratz signed with the Phillies, the Pirates will now have to bring in a catcher or two to provide depth at the Triple-A level.
  • The Nationals have signed righty reliever Tim Wood to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com. Wood, who turns 28 on Tuesday, appeared in 44 games with the Marlins over the last two seasons, pitching to a 4.32 ERA with nearly as many walks (25) as strikeouts (26) in 50 innings.
  • ESPN's Buster Olney expects the Cardinals to aggressively pursue Juan Uribe since they could use him at pretty much any of their non-first base infield positions (Twitter link).
  • Michael Silverman of The Boston Herald reports that GM Theo Epstein said the team has talked to Kevin Youkilis about moving to third base in the event that they are unable to re-sign Adrian Beltre, who we learned is one of their priorities.
  • Meanwhile, Alex Speier of WEEI.com separates fact from fiction with regards to Scott Boras' claims about Beltre.
  • SI.com's Melissa Segura tweets that a new league launched in the Dominican Republic yesterday, and it features the top young free agent players the country has to offer. 

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Cox, Crawford, DeJesus

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Two years ago today the Athletics acquired Matt Holliday from the Rockies in exchange for Carlos Gonzalez, Huston Street, and Greg Smith. Holliday hit .286/.378/.454 in exactly 400 plate appearances with Oakland before being dealt to the Cardinals for a package led by Brett Wallace at the 2009 trade deadline.

Street has battled injuries but has been solid when on the mound for Colorado, pitching to a 3.30 ERA with 9.5 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in 109 innings. Smith has appeared in just eight games for the Rox (all starts), putting up a 6.23 ERA. The real get was CarGo, who will certainly be in the MVP mix after a .336/.376/.598 season with 34 doubles, 34 homers, 26 stolen bases, and a batting title.

The hot stove league will certainly bring us more blockbuster trades, but for now you'll have to settle for this long collection of links, the best the blogosphere had to offer this week…

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Red Sox Rumors: DeJesus, Matsuzaka, Crawford

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There's been lots of chatter about the Red Sox and Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth, but Boston isn't necessarily committed to acquiring an outfielder through free agency. Here's the latest:

Seven To Eight Teams Show Interest In Cliff Lee

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1:55pm: The Astros may make a run at Lee, in the opinion of SI's Jon Heyman (Twitter link).  He names the Cubs, Red Sox, Angels, Dodgers, and Phillies as other surprising suitors.

11:40am: Seven to eight teams have already shown interest in free agent lefty Cliff Lee, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  He says the Yankees and Rangers are still the favorites, but the Phillies, Dodgers, and others have checked in.

As Rosenthal notes, it's questionable as to whether the Phillies or Dodgers could come up with the money for Lee.  He's expected to sign for significantly more than $100MM.  I imagine the Nationals checked in as well; they do have the money and are known to be interested.  While the Red Sox and Angels appear poised to spend their money on position players, we won't count them out until they say so.  At any rate, I'm excited to use the Mystery Team category here at MLBTR for the first time this offseason.

Chicago Rumors: Dunn, Fukudome, Rasmus, Quentin

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Let's round up the latest from the Windy City in one post. First up, Paul Sullivan of The Chicago Tribune with the latest on the Cubs…

  • The Cubbies will not go overboard with their free agent spending because they vow to decrease payroll, so GM Jim Hendry needs to get creative to placate the fan base.
  • First base is the team's first priority and they'd like to acquire a lefty bat, so Adam Dunn is a popular target. If they can't afford him, they could turn to Aubrey Huff or Victor Martinez.
  • The Cubs might need to trade Kosuke Fukudome before signing any free agents, which won't be easy since he's owed $13.5MM in 2011. Hendry did find a taker for Milton Bradley last offseason though, so you never know.
  • Starting pitching is also on the team's wishlist. Jon Garland could be one option after hinting at being interested in pitching for the Cubs last offseason.
  • They would also like to add a veteran reliever to take some pressure off their young kids, but it's unclear if Kerry Wood will take a pay cut and assume a lesser role to return to the Cubs.

Now we'll head to the south side with Mark Gonzales of The Chicago Tribune…

  • The White Sox already have $80.4MM committed to just 13 players for next season, and that doesn't include what is likely to be a sizable arbitration raise for John Danks. That puts them in a bit of bind when it comes to adding a left-handed bat.
  • They don't match up with the Cardinals for Colby Rasmus, who they're said to be targeting, though a trade is probably the route they'll have to go to add a bat.
  • GM Kenny Williams could try to fill several holes by trading one player, which he did when he sent Javier Vazquez to the Braves and Nick Swisher to the Yankees two years ago. He could use one of excess starters, perhaps Edwin Jackson or Gavin Floyd. That last part is just my speculation though.
  • The ChiSox also need to determine whether Carlos Quentin can return to his 2008 level, or if injuries will continue to take a toll.
  • They could look to make trades soon, then examine the pool of non-tenders for affordable relief help.
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