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Marlins Notes: Hanley, Buehrle, Badenhop

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The Marlins non-tendered Clay Hensley and traded Burke Badenhop last night, eliminating any doubt that their bullpen will look considerably different in 2012. Here are some more notes on the Marlins, one of the most aggressive spenders in baseball so far this offseason…

  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports suggests the Marlins should trade Hanley Ramirez and considers possible suitors such as the Mariners, Tigers and Giants.
  • Rosenthal also notes that the Mariners are having trouble luring free agents to Seattle and that the Tigers have shown a willingness to move Jacob Turner in the right deal.
  • Mark Buehrle's backloaded deal with the Marlins will act as a no-trade clause of sorts, according to Rosenthal (Twitter links). The left-hander will earn $6MM in 2012, $11MM in 2013, $18MM in 2014 and $19MM in 2015. The deal also includes a $4MM signing bonus that's deferred without interest.
  • Badenhop told Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post that the deal was “kind of nuts. I really wasn’t expecting that to say the least.” Badenhop was the last player remaining in Miami from the 2007 deal that sent Miguel Cabrera to Detroit.

American League Non-Tenders

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Today's American League non-tenders are below, but you can keep track of all teams in our non-tender tracker.

  • The Mariners announced that they non-tendered Dan Cortes and Chris Gimenez.
  • The Orioles announced that they non-tendered Willie Eyre, the right-handed reliever who was designated for assignment last week. They non-tendered Jo-Jo Reyes, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link). The Orioles also non-tendered Luke Scott, tweets Connolly. Scott, who battled a shoulder injury in 2011 and underwent surgery this summer, projected to earn $6MM through arbitration. 
  • The Rays non-tendered Andy Sonnanstine, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times (Twitter link).
  • The Rangers non-tendered right-hander Fabio Castillo, according to Anthony Andro of FOXSportsSouthwest.com (Twitter link).
  • The Red Sox announced that they non-tendered Rich Hill.
  • The Royals announced that they will non-tender left-hander Aaron Laffey.
  • The Twins announced that they've non-tendered left-hander Jose Mijares (Twitter link).
  • The Tigers non-tendered second baseman Will Rhymes, announced the team.  Rhymes is not yet close to being arbitration eligible, as he has less than one year of big league service time.  Rhymes, 28, hit .306/.377/.390 at Triple-A this year.

Tigers Inquired On Chase Headley

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The Tigers checked with the Padres about Chase Headley, but there's no momentum in trade talks right now, sources tell Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter).  Several other teams have reportedly shown interest in Headley this winter including the Cubs and Rockies.

The 27-year-old projects to earn $3MM through arbitration this winter and it will be his second time through the process as a Super Two.  The Padres are asking for a lot to part with Headley and the lack of depth in the free agent market for third basemen makes him a hot commodity.

projects to earn $3MM through arbitration this winter, his second time through the process as a Super Two.

Quick Hits: Felix, Cuddyer, Dotel, Phillies

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A round-up of news from around the majors….

  • The Mariners will be hard-pressed to contend with AL West superpowers like the Rangers and Angels, but Larry Stone of the Seattle Times argues the club shouldn't think about trading Felix Hernandez.  Stone thinks such a deal would cause a "backlash" among M's fans and "there's still plenty of time to consider a Hernandez trade down the road if the Mariners' situation gets more dire."
  • Michael Cuddyer was frustrated by the negativity surrounding the Twins last season and isn't sure if the team will be able to contend in the near future, reports Phil Mackey of ESPN 1500 Radio.  The Twins have had a three-year, $24-$25MM offer on the table to Cuddyer for the last few days and the Rockies may also be willing to go to three years for the veteran.  Mackey speculates the Cardinals could check in on Cuddyer to help fill the void left by Albert Pujols.
  • Octavio Dotel tells MLB.com's Jason Beck that his choice of teams came down to the Tigers and the Brewers.  Dotel says the Padres were also interested in signing him as a setup man. 
  • MLB.com's Todd Zolecki has contract details for a number of new Phillies, most notably Jonathan Papelbon.
  • Carlos Beltran hasn't gotten much attention this winter, and Fangraphs' Eric Seidman names seven teams who could be a fit for the free agent outfielder.
  • Nick Punto is "at or near [the] top" of the Braves' list of backup infield options, reports David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter).
  • A rival executive tells FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi (Twitter link) that the Mets won't trade David Wright.  "He’s more valuable to them than he would be to any other team," the exec says.

Nationals, Tigers Swap Collin Balester For Ryan Perry

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The Nationals have traded right-hander Collin Balester to the Tigers in exchange for another right-hander, Ryan Perry.  The Tigers just announced the move via a team press release.

Balester, 25, has posted a 9.8 K/9 rate over the last two seasons but also has given up a lot of hits (8.4 H/9) and walks (4.0 BB) in that span.  Balester is yet another right-hander in a Tigers bullpen that also features Jose Valverde, Joaquin Benoit, Al Alburquerque and the newly-signed Octavio Dotel.

Perry, who turns 25 in February, was taken by Detroit with the 21st overall pick of the 2008 draft.  After two solid seasons in relief in 2009-10, Perry struggled to a 5.35 ERA in 37 innings last season and only recorded 24 strikeouts against 21 walks.

Tigers Sign Octavio Dotel

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The Tigers announced an agreement with reliever Octavio Dotel on a one-year contract, plus a club option for 2013.  According to MLB.com's Jason Beck, Dotel will earn $3MM in 2012 and the club option is worth $3.5MM (with a $500K buyout).  Dotel is represented by Beverly Hills Sports Council.

Dotel, 38, posted a 3.50 ERA, 10.3 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 1.00 HR/9, and 30.1% groundball rate for the Blue Jays and Cardinals this year.  The Cardinals chose a $750K buyout over his $3.5MM club option after the season.  Dotel is known for his dominance against right-handed hitters and struggles against left-handed ones.  In November as part of the new collective bargaining agreement, Dotel was changed from a Type A free agent to Type B, and it was decided that the Cardinals would not have to offer him arbitration to receive a supplemental draft pick as compensation.   

The Tigers now have righties Jose Valverde, Joaquin Benoit, Al Alburquerque, and Dotel at the back end of their bullpen.  

Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports first reported the near-agreement on Wednesday night, with Heyman reporting last night that the two sides had agreed to terms. 

AL Central Notes: Indians, Rondon, Tigers

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A few Thursday updates out of the AL Central:

  • Indians GM Chris Antonetti left the Winter Meetings feeling as if he was just a couple text messages from making a deal, writes Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "It could happen very quickly," said Antonetti. "There are some things we could be relatively close on. As we've said a bunch of times, the timing may change and it will take weeks for it to happen."
  • Hector Rondon cleared waivers and was outrighted to the Indians' Triple-A affiliate, tweets MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.
  • The Detroit Free Press tweets that GM Dave Dombrowski said the Tigers didn't make an offer to free agent Kelly Johnson, who ultimately accepted arbitration from the Blue Jays.

Bidding For Yu Darvish Ends Wednesday

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6:22pm: The Nationals have interest in Darvish, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. GM Mike Rizzo didn't divulge whether the Nats plan to bid, but his refusal to comment suggests to Kilgore that they will.

4:50pm: Now that Darvish has been posted, teams will have until 4:00pm CST on December 14th (four business days) to submit bids, tweets Buster Olney.

12:40pm: The Yankees are unsure about whether they'll bid on Darvish, tweets Buster Olney.  He considers their interest lukewarm.  I think everyone's playing coy at this stage; we'll see where the bids were when the dust settles.  By the way, Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski said this week he will not be bidding on Darvish, according to Jason Beck.

11:07am: The Dodgers won't be bidding on Darvish, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times, but A's assistant GM David Forst wouldn't rule it out in talking to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.  Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News hears the Rangers aren't willing to gamble $100MM on Darvish.  The Red Sox will discuss Darvish but feel pretty good about the front end of their rotation already, GM Ben Cherington told reporters.

4:56am: Following the announcement last night that the Nippon-Ham Fighters will post ace Yu Darvish, Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports write that the Rangers, Blue Jays, and Yankees are all expected to bid on the Japanese righty. ESPN's Buster Olney also tweets that rival executives are expecting both the Rangers and Blue Jays to bid big Darvish, with the Rangers fueled by the expected loss of C.J. Wilson to the Angels or Marlins.

Rosenthal and Morosi write that the Red Sox could be a wild card for a big Darvish bid, as new manager Bobby Valentine, who saw Darvish first-hand many times as manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines from 2004-2009, is said to "love" the 25-year old. FOX's duo also note that both Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos and Rangers GM Jon Daniels saw Darvish pitch in Japan last season.

The posting period will last four days, and the winning team will have a 30-day exclusive negotation period with Darvish and his representatives Don Nomura and Arn Tellem. If a contract agreement cannot be reached between Darvish and the winning team, that team will be refunded the total of the posting fee.

Tim Dierkes and Luke Adams contributed to this post.

2011 Rule 5 Draft Results

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Rule 5 players must stay with their new big league club all year or be offered back to the old team. MLB.com has a full recap of both the Major League and minor league portions of the draft. The results of the Major League phase are listed below:

  1. Astros take Rhiner Cruz from Mets.
  2. Twins take Terry Doyle from White Sox.
  3. Mariners take Lucas Luetge from Brewers.
  4. Orioles take Ryan Flaherty from Cubs.
  5. Royals take Cesar Cabral from Red Sox; traded to Yankees for cash.
  6. Cubs take Lendy Castillo from Phillies.
  7. Padres
  8. Pirates take Gustavo Nunez from Tigers.
  9. Marlins
  10. Rockies
  11. Athletics
  12. Mets
  13. White Sox
  14. Reds
  15. Indians
  16. Nationals
  17. Blue Jays
  18. Dodgers
  19. Angels
  20. Giants
  21. Braves take Robert Fish from Angels.
  22. Cardinals take Erik Komatsu from Nationals.
  23. Red Sox take Marwin Gonzalez from Cubs, traded to Astros for Marco Duarte
  24. Rays
  25. Diamondbacks take Brett Lorin from Pirates.
  26. Tigers
  27. Brewers
  28. Rangers
  29. Yankees take Brad Meyers from Nationals.
  30. Phillies

Tigers Close To Signing Octavio Dotel

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10:31pm: All that's left for Dotel and the Tigers to work out is the length of the contract, tweets Rosenthal. A one-year deal with a vesting option seems like the most likely outcome, Rosenthal adds.

8:37pm: The Tigers are close to a deal with Dotel, tweets Danny Knobler of CBS Sports.

6:22pm: The Cardinals are the other team Dotel is considering. Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets that Detroit seems to have the edge, but Dotel remains "enamored" with the Cardinals.

5:35pm: The Tigers have made an "aggressive" offer for Dotel, tweets Morosi.

4:44pm: The Tigers are considered the favorite for Dotel, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, adding that the other finalist is a National League team.

4:20pm: Free agent reliever Octavio Dotel has narrowed his decision to two teams and expects to make a decision soon, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.

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