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Heyman On Lowell, Tejada, White Sox

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The latest from SI's Jon Heyman…

  • The Phillies had a "brief talk" with the Red Sox about Mike Lowell, but Heyman finds a free agent signing more likely.
  • A competing agent believes Fern Cuza might be able to get a three-year deal for Miguel Tejada, which seems unlikely to me.  Heyman says Tejada is drawing interest from the Cardinals, Astros, Giants, Phillies, and Rangers.  The Rangers keep getting linked to starting infielders, but they're really only looking for a backup.
  • Heyman notes that the White Sox signing Andruw Jones represents a rare Kenny Williams-Scott Boras matchup.  He says Boras tried to sell the Sox on bringing back Joe Crede, prior to their Mark Teahen acquisition.
  • Kendry Morales apparently advised Aroldis Chapman to switch from API to the Hendricks brothers.

Rockies Leaning Toward Keeping Spilborghs

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The Rockies "plan to keep [outfielder Ryan] Spilborghs unless they receive a substantial offer," according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  Despite Spilborghs' first-time arbitration-eligibility and Scott Boras representation, and admirers in the Braves and White Sox, the Rockies do not expect to trade him.

Spilborghs, 30, makes for a solid fourth outfielder.  He slipped to .241/.310/.395 this year, dragged down by slumps in July and September.  He played all three outfield positions, with the most time spent in left field.

With Dexter Fowler, Carlos Gonzalez, and Seth Smith highly likely to stay put, the Rockies will probably have to trade one of Matt Murton, Brad Hawpe, or Spilborghs.  Non-tendering Murton is another possibility.

Rogers On Mauer, Pujols, Vizquel

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Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune says the Twins are "getting serious" about a Joe Mauer extension. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported earlier in the week that the Twins hope to sign Mauer to an extension by Christmas. As Rogers points out, Mauer's agent, Ron Shapiro, represented Cal Ripken Jr. and Kirby Puckett, so there's hope for Twins fans who dread Mauer's impending free agency. Here are the rest of Rogers' rumors:

  • Albert Pujols' representatives told the Cardinals not to worry about a potential extension until they take care of the team's other needs. Pujols is under control through 2011, a year longer than Mauer.
  • The White Sox may ask Omar Vizquel to mentor 20-year-old shortstop Eduardo Escobar. Like Vizquel, Escobar is a Venezuelan switch-hitter with a good glove and little power. But White Sox farm director Buddy Bell cautions against making Vizquel comparisons just yet.

Eight Teams Interested In Takashi Saito

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The White Sox, Cubs, Braves, and Mets make up half of the eight teams interested in signing right-hander Takashi Saito, according to Patrick Newman at NPB Tracker.

Saito posted a 2.43 ERA in 55.2 IP for the Red Sox last year, in what was maybe his least effective MLB campaign. In 245.1 innings over four seasons in Los Angeles and Boston, Saito's ERA is a minuscule 2.01. Although he turns 40 before Opening Day 2010, Saito's track record should earn him an eighth-inning job, and perhaps even a chance to close.

The last rumor we heard on Saito was that the Red Sox weren't picking up the reliever's $6MM 2010 option, but were still open to bringing him back to Boston. So we can probably add the Sox to the list of teams interested in the veteran righty. Any speculation on who the others might be? Tigers? Phillies? Astros?

White Sox Sign Andruw Jones

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The White Sox have signed outfielder Andruw Jones to a one year contract worth $500K, according to ESPN Chicago's Bruce Levine. Jones could earn another $1MM in performance based incentives, and Levine mentions that the ChiSox are not looking at him as a starting outfielder, instead they were looking to solidify their bench.

The 32-year-old Jones hit .214/.323/.459 in 331 plate appearances for Texas last year, spending most of his time at DH. He also appeared in eight games at first base, plus 17 in the two corner outfield spots. FanGraphs values his 2009 peformance at $3.6MM, so this appears to be a nice little pickup considering the low base salary.

Yesterday we heard that Chicago was interested in Coco Crisp, though the Jones signing might quell that interest.

Passan On Arguelles, Bedard, Jackson

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Jeff Passan covers a few items in this piece for Yahoo Sports, headlined by 19-year-old Cuban pitcher Noel Arguelles.  The young left-hander impressed a number of agents and representatives from various teams at a workout last month in the Dominican Republic, and the four teams most interested in signing Arguelles are the Athletics, Mariners, Rays, and (who but?) the Yankees.  Passan predicted that Argulles' deal will be worth somewhere around $8.2MM to $10MM, which match the contracts given to Jose Iglesias and Dayan Viciedo last year by the Red Sox and White Sox, respectively.

In other news from Passan's column…

  • Passan says the Yankees are much more interested in Aroldis Chapman than they are in Arguelles, and that Chapman's recent agent switch to Randy and Alan Hendricks may help New York.  Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens are/were both represented by the Hendricks brothers.
  • The Royals are "going hard" to sign Erik Bedard to a short-term contract.  Passan thinks Bedard will sign with someone for an "incentive-loaded one-year deal" in an effort to prove that he's healthy and worthy of a more lucrative longer-term deal for 2011.
  • Detroit seem to be becoming more determined in their quest to trade pitcher Edwin Jackson.  An unnamed executive is quoted as saying, "It’s like they want to give him away, and I don’t really understand why."

Pierzynski Hopes To Remain With White Sox

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MLB.com's Scott Merkin talked to White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who hopes to remain with the team after his current contract runs out:

"Hopefully, we have a great year as a team and they will be in a situation where they want to bring me back, because I would be all for it.  We haven't really talked about it, but everyone knows I would love to stay here and be a part of the White Sox for as long as I play.  That's something I'm not going to worry about. If they want to come and do something, we'll be more than happy to talk about it. At the same time, I'm prepared to let it play out and see what happens."

Merkin notes that Pierzynski's future will be tied to the progress of Sox catching prospect Tyler Flowers, who hit .286/.364/.438 in 119 Triple A plate appearances this year after raking in Double A.

Pierzynski, 33 in December, hit .300/.331/.425 in 535 plate appearances this year.  He's set to earn $6.75MM in 2010, finishing up a three-year deal.

White Sox Interested In Coco Crisp

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The White Sox are showing interest in center fielder Coco Crisp, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.  Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune confirms it, with quotes from Crisp's agent Steve Comte.  At this point, the talks are preliminary.  The Sox have been linked to Crisp in many rumors over the years.

It's been suggested Alex Rios will play center field for the 2010 Sox, though he could certainly remain in right field if they sign Crisp.  Crisp, 30, hit .228/.336/.378 in 215 plate appearances for the Royals this year; his season ended in June and he eventually had surgery on both shoulders.  The Royals chose a $500K buyout over Crisp's $8MM option for 2010.

Olney On Cabrera, Yankees, Cust, Rays

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In today's blog post at ESPN, Buster Olney writes about the potential market for Miguel Cabrera, who is now apparently available in a trade. He notes the enormous financial commitment attached to Cabrera's All-World bat, and discusses the Red Sox, Angels, Mets, White Sox, Giants, Mariners, and Braves as potential landing spots.

Here's the rest of Olney's rumors…

  • Olney tweets that the Astros' payroll will be cut from $107MM to the low $90MMs.
  • Olney says the Yankees will look to add two relievers in all likelihood, though it's unclear if they're willing to give up a first round pick for one of the Type-A bullpen arms. For what it's worth, GM Brian Cashman said the bullpen wasn't an area of "obvious need" yesterday.
  • Jack Cust could be in line for a $4.5MM payday through arbitration, which just might get him non-tendered. Given all the DH-types on the market, that might not be a good thing for Cust.  We learned yesterday that the Mets might be among the suitors for him.
  • Regarding a potential Milton Bradley to Tampa trade, Olney says the Rays "absolutely will not do it unless it's on their terms, which is that the Cubs might absorb enough money in the swap of Bradley and (Pat) Burrell to make it worthwhile for the Rays."
  • Olney also reiterates that it's extremely unlikely the Padres will move Adrian Gonzalez given his favorable contract.

Odds & Ends: Yankees, White Sox, Red Sox

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When you prepare the turkey, don't forget to add these tidbits for flavor…

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