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Central Links: Axford, Tigers, Hosmer

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Three years ago today, the Reds traded Jeff Keppinger to the Astros for a player to be named later. That player ended up being Drew Sutton. Here's the latest from baseball's two Central divisions…

  • "I don't care if it does," said John Axford to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy when asked if he minds if extensions talks with the Brewers carry over into the regular season. "I'm open to still talking [during the season], for sure, and it doesn't affect me if we don't talk."
  • "What I'm telling you is that we don't definitely have any trades in place," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland to MLB.com's Jason Beck. Detroit appears to be taking as much time as possible before announcing their final roster moves.
  • With Alex Gordon now signed to an extension, the Royals will try to convince Eric Hosmer to sign a long-term deal according to ESPN's Buster Olney (Insider req'd). I looked at Hosmer as an extension candidate in January, but the first baseman recently said he's not in a rush to sign a new deal.

Knobler On Inge, Donald, Jimenez

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The latest rumors from Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (all links go to Twitter)…

  • The Tigers have tried hard to interest the Phillies in Brandon Inge without much success. Inge offers steady defense at third and has been learning second base this spring, but he earns $5.5MM in 2012.
  • The Phillies tried to re-acquire utility player Jason Donald from the Indians, but Cleveland preferred to keep him. The Phillies drafted Donald in 2006 and sent him to Cleveland in the 2009 Cliff Lee trade.
  • Teams inquired on Ubaldo Jimenez this spring, but the Indians don’t have interest in moving him, either.
  • Scouts are watching Diamondbacks left-hander Mike Zagurski, since there’s a sense the Diamondbacks might trade him.

Magglio Ordonez Says He’s Close To Retiring

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TUESDAY, 3:21pm: Ordonez told Ignacio Serrano from El Nacional in Venezuela that he hasn't retired just yet. "It's not official, I still haven't retired, but if in something doesn't appear in the next two weeks, I think that will be my final decision." In regard to accepting a minor league contract, Ordonez was clear: "With all respect to the players in the minor leagues, I've played for 15 years in the big leagues and I don't want to play there" (via MLBTR’s Nick Collias).

MONDAY, 7:11pm: Ordonez confirmed via e-mail that he wrote the tweet, reports MLB.com's Jason Beck.

5:50pm: Magglio Ordonez may be close to ending his 15-year Major League career, tweeting a message of "Estoy muy serca de mi retiro!" (translated as "I am very close to my retirement") this afternoon.  The Tigers have confirmed that the Twitter account indeed belongs to Ordonez, reports Chris Iott of MLive.com.

Ordonez suffered a fractured ankle during the ALCS, his second such injury in as many seasons.  He had been cleared to resume baseball activities and had expressed interest in playing in 2012 but only on a Major League contract.  The Athletics showed some interest in Ordonez but instead signed another veteran bat in Manny Ramirez.  Ordonez, who turned 38 in January, hit .255/.303/.331 (all career lows) in 357 plate appearances for Detroit last season.

Dolan On Indians, Hernandez, Sizemore, Free Agents

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Indians CEO Paul Dolan recently spoke to Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer about a number of topics concerning business both on and off the field…

  • Dolan wasn't "shocked" to hear about Roberto Hernandez (a.k.a. Fausto Carmona) living under a false identity, saying that the team had heard an unsubstantiated rumor about the situation last year.
  • Grady Sizemore will miss at least one month of the regular season after undergoing minor back surgery, but Dolan doesn't regret re-signing the outfielder.  "It's disappointing that he got hurt again," Dolan said.  "But we thought it was worth the risk because no one else on the [free agent] market had even close to Grady's upside for that price."
  • Though recent long-term signings like Sizemore, Travis Hafner and Jake Westbrook have suffered injuries, Dolan said he is still open to signing players to such deals, though not without some caution.  "If Chris [Antonetti] and Mark [Shapiro] comes to us with a long-term deal they want to make, we will seriously consider it. They have not done that [lately]," Dolan said.  "We will remain open, but in totality, how successful have those kind of deals been? More often than not, they have been failures."
  • Dolan disputed a recent Forbes article that claimed the Indians made a $30MM profit in 2011, arguing that while the club "made a little bit" of profit, that money went back into the team.  Dolan said the MLB Players Association cited the Indians as a franchise that was properly using the league's revenue sharing system.
  • Dolan was surprised when GM Chris Antonetti approached him about the Ubaldo Jimenez deal last summer.  "Like most fans, I'm used to us trading for prospects — not trading some of our best prospects," Dolan said.  "I was happy to see us take that approach and try to win."
  • It doesn't concern Dolan that the Indians don't have any players under contract past 2013, as the CEO notes that the team has control over many of its young stars like Carlos Santana and Jason Kipnis for years to come.
  • Dolan didn't address rumors that the team was looking to sell cable network Sports Time Ohio, but said, "We are always looking to add revenue on the TV side of things."
  • It doesn't sound as if Dolan was totally satisfied with baseball's new collective bargaining agreement.  "We achieved labor peace," said Dolan. "But we didn't address the fundamental problems [such as a lack of a salary cap]."
  • Dolan said that there have been no "serious buyers" interested in purchasing the team during his ownership stint.  He would possibly have interest in a minority investor, should such an interested investor come forward.
  • The Tigers' signing of Prince Fielder dwarfed the Tribe's modest payroll increase of $50MM to $70MM.  "I understand that makes us look bad," Dolan said. "I don't understand the foundation of what they are doing … OK, in the short term, I do understand it, but long term …"  The Tigers' desire to win now makes them "operate much different than most franchises.  Even the teams in major markets tend to operate as we do — they spend what they take in and don't go way above that."

Offseason In Review: Detroit Tigers

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Tigers owner Mike Ilitch spent aggressively on one of the top free agents available to bolster an already formidable offense.

Major League Signings

Notable Minor League Signings

Trades and Claims

Notable Losses

Draft Picks Gained or Lost

  • Lost 27th overall selection to Brewers for Fielder. 

Back in October, the Tigers’ chances of signing a major free agent seemed decent, if not particularly strong.  Jose Reyes, Jimmy Rollins, Aramis Ramirez, Mark Buehrle and Yu Darvish all made a certain amount of sense for the Tigers, a team without certainty on the left side of the infield or a proven fifth starter. But Prince Fielder? Not a chance.

Prince Fielder - Tigers

Things changed pretty quickly once Victor Martinez tore his ACL during an ill-fated offseason workout. Within ten days, owner Mike Ilitch had approved a $214MM contract for Fielder and, just like that, the 2012 Tigers were a changed team. 

Fielder, undoubtedly one of the top offensive producers in baseball, has averaged 160 games in six full seasons. He brings durability and pure left-handed power to a Tigers lineup that placed fourth in the majors in scoring a year ago. They’ll put up a few runs again in 2012.

Detroit’s infield defense could become a concern as a result of the Fielder signing. Fielder will play first base and Miguel Cabrera will play third, a position at which he has played just 14 MLB games since being traded to Detroit after the 2007 season. Now that the Tigers have promised both superstars an everyday job in the field, they face a potentially difficult situation. Should Cabrera’s defense prove to be a real barrier to the team’s success, manager Jim Leyland and GM Dave Dombrowski will have to find a way to keep him in the lineup at another position. 

When the Tigers’ offseason began, its success seemed to hinge on Dombrowski’s ability to obtain a second baseman and add pitching depth. The Fielder deal pushed Brandon Inge from third to second, where he’s competing for the starting job alongside the versatile Ryan Raburn and Ramon Santiago, who re-signed in Detroit after testing the free agent market. The Tigers apparently preferred their internal options to free agent second basemen such as Aaron Hill, Kelly Johnson and Mark Ellis.

The Tigers’ rotation features an enviable top four and their bullpen includes a number of proven relievers, but they added less pitching than I expected this winter. They inquired on Roy Oswalt, using the defending Cy Young and MVP as a recruiter, but the choosy right-hander didn’t reciprocate the team’s interest and he remains unsigned. 

Speculation linked the Tigers to left-handed free agent starters such as Erik Bedard, Paul Maholm, Jeff Francis and Joe Saunders throughout the offseason, but the club ultimately passed on every one of them. They’ll go with an internal candidate for the fifth starter’s job, a role for which a group of left-handers are currently competing. 

The Tigers could have added a starter on a minor league deal, even if they believe their young arms are ready to contribute at the Major League level. Most teams go through nine or ten starters over the course of a full season, so the additional depth would have helped. Perhaps the Tigers did show interest and starters such as Francis decided they'd have a better chance at winning a starting job elsewhere.

Dombrowski added Octavio Dotel to the bullpen, and though the veteran reliever is essentially a right-on-right specialist at this point in his career, the one-year deal makes sense. The Tigers traded flame-throwing former first rounder Ryan Perry for long relief option Collin Balester, but didn’t acquire others who are likely to make an impact out of the ‘pen in 2012. The Tigers’ bullpen doesn’t have many openings and the front office apparently determined that major turnover wasn't necessary.

The Tigers arrived at a turning point when the ligament in Martinez’s knee snapped two months ago. They could have made do without the switch-hitter and would have been favored to win the division even if they had allowed Fielder to go elsewhere. Instead, infield defense be damned, they signed Fielder to one of the biggest contracts in baseball history. The deal has its critics, as most nine-figure agreements do, but few will deny that the Tigers are a serious threat to repeat as AL Central champions and play deep into the postseason once again.

Photo courtesy Icon SMI.

Heyman On Lannan, Tigers, Abreu, Zito, Dunn

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Here's the latest from Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com..

  • The Tigers' interest in John Lannan is only lukewarm at best and one executive told Heyman (via Twitter) that American League teams are leery of what switching leagues would do.  For their part, the Nationals still seem eager to move the left-hander.
  • With no real playing time likely available to Bobby Abreu, it might be for the best for the Angels to simply release the veteran, Heyman writes.  Even though Abreu's agents, Peter and Edward Greenberg, said his recent comments were taken out of context, Abreu is obviously frustrated and unhappy about his situation.
  • Is Barry Zito's contract the worst free agent deal ever? – Heyman believes that it is and it tops his top ten list.  John Lackey, Gary Matthews, Carl Pavano, and Mike Hampton round out the top five.
  • There are several theories as to why Adam Dunn wasn't able to produce last year, including the idea that his big contract got to him, writes Heyman.  The 32-year-old hit .159/.292/.277 in 122 games last season.

Central Links: Leyland, White Sox, Indians, Chapman

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Twelve years ago today, the Cardinals traded Kent Bottenfield and Adam Kennedy to the Angels for Jim Edmonds. Edmonds went on to hit .285/.393/.555 in eight years with St. Louis, a stint that included six Gold Gloves, three All-Star Game appearances, two top-five finishes in the MVP voting, two NL pennants, and one World Series title. Here's the latest from baseball's two Central divisions…

  • Tigers manager Jim Leyland isn't ready to call it a career, writes MLB.com's Jason Beck. The 67-year-old Leyland is going year-to-year with his contract so "there's no issues whatsoever."
  • White Sox GM Kenny Williams told MLB.com's Scott Merkin that he has no regrets about taking chances on big name players who haven't worked out, specifically Jake Peavy, Adam Dunn, and Alex Rios. "If it doesn't work, I know at the end of the day we tried the best," said the GM.
  • Injuries have already taken a toll on the Indians' outfield, and manager Manny Acta told Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain-Dealer that any left field candidates "need to hit … We can't have a pecking order for defensive left fielders here. We need to see some stuff, some offense, some production."
  • The Reds still haven't made a decision about whether Aroldis Chapman will be a starter or reliever this season, writes MLB.com's Mark Bowman. "We're close," said manager Dusty Baker. "You'll be notified when we make our decision on what's happening. Right now, we don't know."

Tigers Claim Kelvin De La Cruz

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The Tigers announced that they claimed left-hander Kelvin De La Cruz off of waivers from the Indians. The Tigers have optioned the 23-year-old to Double-A.

It's been a busy few months for De La Cruz, who has been traded to the Rangers, re-acquired by the Indians and then designated for assignment. He posted a 4.19 ERA with 9.9 K/9 and 6.0 BB/9 in 86 innings as a starter and reliever at Double-A last year. The 6'5" lefty has typically walked and struck out lots of opponents, as his career rates of 8.9 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9 indicate.

Heyman On Lannan, Rangers, Pirates, Padres

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Here’s a look at the latest from Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com..

  • The Tigers are still showing interest in Nationals left-hander John Lannan, Heyman writes.  Tigers people believe that they can find a solid fifth starter from the young pitchers that are competing for the spot, but owner Mike Ilitch’s win-now attitude could lead the team to deal for the Nats hurler.  Washington might be less eager to deal Lannan in the wake of Chien-Ming Wang’s hamstring injury but they could move Lannan and plug Ross Detwiler in the No. 5 slot.
  • The Rangers are in the market for a righty hitting outfielder, Heyman tweets.  Texas has plenty of pitching depth to dangle in front of teams but might prefer to hold on to their surplus.
  • The Pirates would like to shore up their catching situation and also add a lefty reliever to the mix, according to Heyman (via Twitter).  
  • Padres’ CEO Jeff Moorad stepped down from his role because he realized that he wouldn’t have enough votes to back him, tweets Heyman.  Padres president and COO Tom Garfinkel is now set to assume CEO duties on an interim basis.

AL Central Links: Lillibridge, Guerra, Indians, Inge

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It was on this day in 1968 that the Royals officially became the Royals, as the new expansion franchise officially announced its name a year before taking the field.  The name was inspired by both the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro League and Kansas City's annual "American Royal" horse show. 

Here's the latest from the AL Central…

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