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Three Teams Made Three-Year Offers To Buehrle

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Three teams have made three-year offers to Mark Buehrle in the monetary range that he is seeking, a source tells Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Twitter).  None of the teams have put forward the no-trade clause that the veteran is seeking, but two of clubs, both from the National League, are close to including that in their offers, Cowley reports (Twitter links). 

The White Sox are not one of the three teams, but Buehrle will talk to Ken Williams & Co. before he puts his name on the dotted line, Cowley tweets.

A deal could happen quickly, unless more clubs ramp up their pursuit at the Winter Meetings, Cowley tweets.  Cowley (via Twitter) notes that he was told that there is one club lurking that could come in and swoop Buehrle up, though it could just be a bluff.  On Thursday we heard that Buehrle is drawing interest from 14 teams.

Central Links: Danks, Twins, Indians, Royals, Cubs

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Here are some links from baseball's two central divisions…

  • The White Sox have been shopping left-hander John Danks in advance of the winter meetings, reports Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. He won't come cheap though, with one of Cowley's sources saying: "[ChiSox GM Kenny Williams] asked for everyone on our roster in return."
  • Yesterday we heard about the Twins' interest in retaining Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel, and today Joe Mauer told MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger that he's willing to help recruit free agents to Minnesota. "I told [GM Terry Ryan] and everybody here that I'm here to do everything I can to help out," said Mauer. "I want to be part of the solution that gets us back to where we need to get to."
  • The Indians are not expected to bid on any Japanese players going through the posting process, reports Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain-Dealer (on Twitter). That would include Hiroyuki Nakajima (who was posted on Monday) and possibly Yu Darvish.
  • ESPN's Buster Olney says (on Twitter) that the Royals are looking to a utilityman, preferably someone that hits left-handed. As our Free Agent Tracker shows, players like Andres Blanco, Craig Counsell, and Willie Harris are available.
  • Paul Sullivan of The Chicago Tribune reports that the Cubs have hired Chris Bosio to be their new pitching coach. President of baseball operations Theo Epstein confirmed that the rest of the coaching staff would be announced at the winter meetings next week.

White Sox Notes: Danks, Sale, Ramirez

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The White Sox have many appealing trade chips, including Carlos Quentin and Gavin Floyd, so GM Kenny Williams will likely be fielding all kinds of inquiries in Dallas at next week's Winter Meetings. Here's the latest on the White Sox…

  • The White Sox haven’t offered John Danks a long-term deal recently, according to Doug Padilla of ESPNChicago.com. The White Sox were rebuffed not too long ago and are now more likely to trade the left-hander, according to Padilla. However, the team hasn’t given up on working out a new contract with Danks.
  • Teams have asked the White Sox about Chris Sale and Alexei Ramirez, but the price for either player would be "sky-high," according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).
  • White Sox manager Robin Ventura told reporters, including Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune, that he's like to get 30 starts out of both Danks and Floyd while playing Quentin in right field on a regular basis (Twitter link). However, the new manager realizes it may not work out that way in 2012.

Minor Moves: Podsednik, Evans, Pena, Astros, Ray

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Here's where we'll keep track of today's minor moves…

  • The Phillies have signed outfielder Scott Podsednik to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The 35-year-old did not appear in the big leagues last year, instead hitting .254/.340/.396 in the Phillies' and Blue Jays' farm systems.
  • The Pirates have signed Nick Evans to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training, reports Andy Martino of The New York Daily News. The 25-year-old hit .256/.314/.403 line in 194 plate appearances with the Mets last season, playing all four corner positions
  • The Red Sox re-signed Tony Pena to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, according to Stark. The converted shortstop would earn $625K if he makes the big league team.
  • The Astros signed catcher Carlos Corporan to a minor league deal and invited him to Major League Spring Training, according to Alyson Footer of the Astros (on Twitter).
  • The White Sox signed Brian Bruney to a minor league deal, according to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark. The right-hander would earn $600K for making the big league team.
  • Robert Ray signed a minor league deal with the Marlins, according to Crasnick.
  • The Phillies signed left-hander Pat Misch and infielder Kevin Frandsen to minor league contracts, according to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark (Twitter links). Misch, 30, appeared in six games for the Mets this past season, spending most of the year with Triple-A Buffalo. He posted a 4.00 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 141 2/3 innings as a starter for the Bisons. Frandsen, who last appeared in the Major Leagues in 2010, spent the 2011 season in the Phillies' minor league system and posted a .309/.361/.430 line in 338 plate appearances.
  • The Diamondbacks signed right-handed reliever Jensen Lewis to a minor league deal, MLBTR's Tim Dierkes has learned (Stark originally reported the Rangers signed him). Lewis, 27, would earn $675K in the Major Leagues, according to Stark. Lewis spent the 2011 season at Triple-A, but has a career ERA of 3.68 with 8.0 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in parts of four MLB seasons.

White Sox Looking To Trade Matt Thornton

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The White Sox have been looking to trade Matt Thornton since July and are still trying to move him, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter). Before the 2011 season, the White Sox signed the left-hander to a two-year, $12MM extension that covers the 2012-13 seasons and includes a club option for 2014.

The 35-year-old posted a 3.32 ERA with 9.5 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, 0.45 HR/9 and a 48.8% ground ball rate in 59 2/3 innings this past season. Armed with a fastball that averages 96 mph, Thornton figures to draw interest this offseason, as he did last summer, especially since the free agent market doesn't feature lefty relievers of his caliber. The Yankees, Blue Jays and Rangers are among the teams that may seek left-handed relief this offseason.

White Sox Underestimated Market For Buehrle

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On Wednesday, the White Sox offered arbitration to Type B free agent Mark Buehrle, guaranteeing themselves compensation if he signs elsewhere.  Interest in the left-hander has skyrocketed this winter, with as many as thirteen teams reportedly in the mix for his services.  The White Sox weren't expecting this level of interest for Buehrle as they anticipated five or six teams going after him and a two-year deal being enough to retain him, a source tells Joe Cowley of the Chicago-Sun Times.

With this amount of interest in Buehrle and the Nationals visiting the pitcher at his home in St. Louis this week, it would seem that the White Sox will have to act fast and offer a longer deal to retain him.  Earlier today, nearly 20% of MLBTR readers voted Buerhle as the next big free agent to sign.

Padres Notes: Quentin, Bell, Baker, Scouting

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The Padres have Carlos Quentin "on their list of possibilities" for an offseason trade, reports Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune.  It seems like a good match, given that the White Sox are thought to have Quentin on the market and the Padres are looking for a corner outfielder.  Center mentions elsewhere in his chat with readers that given the Padres' difficulty in luring free agent hitters to Petco Park, a trade would be the club's best chance to add that desired corner outfield help.

Quentin has posted a .257/.352/.505 line over the last four seasons in Chicago, though it remains to be seen how his bat and his glove (a career UZR/150 of -9.3, though this metric also shows Quentin was an above-average defensive right fielder in 2011) would play in spacious Petco Park.  If Quentin was acquired, he and Cameron Maybin would play every day, with Center including Chris Denorfia, Jesus Guzman, Kyle Blanks, Mark Kotsay and Will Venable all in the mix at the other corner outfield spot.

Some other news about the Friars…

  • Also from Center, GM Josh Byrnes is "actively talking trade with a number of clubs."  Center lists Maybin, Nick Hundley, Mat Latos and Anthony Rizzo as "the only players who I believe are close to untouchable."
  • Former Padres GM Jed Hoyer tells Tom Krasovic of Inside The Padres that the new collective bargaining agreement played a big role in the club's decision to keep Heath Bell at last summer's trade deadline.  "We checked with MLB several times to make sure the compensation system wouldn't be eliminated after the 2011 season," Hoyer said.  "The value of the picks was the crux of our decision not to trade him in July or August. In our minds (and many people were involved in the decision), we never were offered anything all that close to the value of the draft picks in return."  If Bell turns down San Diego's offer of arbitration and signs elsewhere, Bell's modified Type A status means that the Padres would receive a first-round pick in a slot directly ahead of Bell's new team, plus a supplementary round pick.
  • Writing for Fangraphs, Mike Axisa thinks the Padres got the better end of the recent John Baker-for-Wade LeBlanc trade.
  • The Padres' willingness to spend on their international scouting and development system is paying dividends, writes Dan Hayes of the North County Times.

American League Free Agent Arbitration Offers

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10 American League teams have free agent arbitration offer decisions to make, and we'll update them in this post throughout the day in advance of the 11pm central time deadline.  For a fantastic customizable chart with all 57 Type A/B free agents and their teams' decisions in real-time, click here. 

Updated team decisions:

Teams with decisions still due:

Quick Hits: Mills, Madson, Twins, Danks, Prado

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On a day when the Blue Jays adopted a familiar-looking "new" logo, here are some news items to carry us into the weekend….

  • If the Astros fire Brad Mills, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports believes Mills could reunite with Terry Francona as the latter's bench coach for a future managing vacancy.  Morosi also lists Rangers executives A.J. Preller and Thad Levine and Rays executives Andrew Friedman and Gerry Hunsicker as wish list candidates for Jim Crane if he removes Ed Wade as Houston's general manager.  It would be the second stint as Astros' GM for Hunsicker, who ran the team from 1996-2004.
  • Ryan Madson could be one of several free agents to lose his Type A status under the rules of the new collective bargaining agreement, tweets Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com.  Such an adjustment would help Madson, as clubs with unprotected first-round draft picks currently have to give up that pick in order to sign the closer.
  • Twins GM Terry Ryan tells Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post that Denard Span and Ben Revere won't be traded this winter.  Minnesota could lose both Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel to free agency this offseason.
  • The White Sox didn't add Jordan Danks to their 40-man roster, and Jim Margalus of the South Side Sox speculates that this could be a hint that Chicago is preparing to part ways with John Danks.  The elder Danks brother has drawn strong interest on the trade market.
  • The Braves "seem to undervalue [Martin Prado's] skills," writes Fangraphs' Jason Roberts, who thinks Atlanta may not get proper market value in exchange for the utilityman in a deal. 
  • Right-hander Darrell Rasner has signed a new contract with the Rakuten Golden Eagles, reports NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman.  Matt Sosnick, Rasner's agent, tells Newman the contract is worth $1.5MM plus performance bonuses.  Rasner last appeared in the majors as a Yankee in 2008 and has pitched for Rakuten ever since.
  • The Blue Jays, Cardinals, Mariners, Red Sox and Twins are all listed as possible suitors for Kelly Shoppach by ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link).

Added To 40-Man Roster: Giants, Dodgers, Pirates

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Today is the deadline for teams to add players to the 40-man roster to protect them from next month's Rule 5 draft. Here's more on which players need to be protected and here are the details on which players have had their contracts selected to the 40-man roster:

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