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AL Central Links: Chisenhall, Milledge, Buehrle

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Some links for your Sunday reading pleasure…

Red Sox Notes: Crawford, Damon, Reyes

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The latest on the Red Sox, as Joe Maddon tells Tim Britton of the Providence Journal that the Red Sox have "an edge right now" and are "the number one contender in a sense," heading into the season…

  • Carl Crawford told Alex Speier of WEEI.com that he hopes Rays fans don't consider him the "villain" when he plays against his former team. Crawford, who says he still loves Rays fans, drew a mostly positive reaction from Rays fans this afternoon.
  • Johnny Damon told Speier that he vetoed last summer's trade to the Red Sox because he thought it was a "slam dunk" that the Tigers would want to retain him for 2011 (Twitter link).
  • Damon also says he thinks Crawford will win a championship during his tenure with the Red Sox.
  • John Tomase of the Boston Herald has a must-read piece on Red Sox left-hander Dennys Reyes and how dependent he is on his non-pitching hand.

MLBTR At FanGraphs: The Tigers’ Rotation Depth

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I’m writing a series of guest posts at FanGraphs, one of the first places baseball fans go for top analysis and stats. Today, I show that the Tigers are taking an unconventional approach to rotation depth. Most teams are picking up non-roster invitees and fringe starters to compete for rotation spots, but the Tigers appear content with their front five and willing to adjust on the fly if an injury arises.

Quick Hits: Phillips, Olsen, Rangers, Greinke

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The great Mickey Mantle announced his retirement on this day in 1969.  The Mick was coming off his worst of his 18 Major League seasons, a .237/.385/.398 performance in 1968.  While a .782 OPS would be a pretty decent performance for most mortals, it was well behind Mantle's .977 career OPS.  Mantle retired with 536 home runs, seven World Series rings and legendary status with both the Yankees and the sport as a whole.

Some news items…

  • Brandon Phillips wants to play for the Reds beyond his current contract, and John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer speculates how much it might cost to keep Phillips in Cincinnati.  The club holds a $12MM team option on Phillips for 2012, and Fay thinks Phillips would have to accept less tham $12MM per season in a new deal.  Fay guesses Phillips will ask for a Dan Uggla-esque contract, while the Reds will try to sign him to a deal similar to Juan Uribe's pact with the Dodgers.  If I had to guess, I'd say the Reds' financial situation might make them hard-pressed to pick up Phillips' 2012 option, let alone give him another expensive, multiyear deal.  Another year of pennant contention and more fans in the Great American Ballpark would certainly change things, of course.
  • It came as news to Scott Olsen that Pirates GM Neal Huntington listed him as as a bullpen candidate if he doesn't make the rotation, reports Colin Dunlap of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  “They didn’t bring me in here to be a bullpen guy,” Olsen said. “They want to do that, we are going to have to have a conversation about it, and we haven’t had one about it.”  Olsen's contract with Pittsburgh includes $3MM in incentives based on the number of starts that Olsen makes, so obviously Olsen has a stated interest in staying out of the bullpen.
  • The Rangers' payroll for 2011 will be almost 70% higher than it was in 2010, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.
  • Zack Greinke says he "kind of had to play the bad guy" by requesting a trade from the Royals, reports Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com.  "The way things were in Kansas City, if I hadn't done that, the fans would have been outraged if I was traded," Greinke said.  "The fans — I don't know why, but they really liked me."
  • Keith Law of ESPN.com lists six prospects who might be "this year's Mike Trout" and have a breakout minor league campaign.
  • One of Law's breakout candidates is Tigers third baseman Nick Castellanos, a supplemental first-round pick (44th overall) for Detroit in 2010.  John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press talked to the 18-year-old about playing alongside his childhood hero, Miguel Cabrera.
  • The Cubs have already paid back the $3MM they owed Ryan Dempster in contract deferral payments, reports ESPNChicago.com's Bruce Levine.
  • Matt Eddy of Baseball America recaps the week's minor league transactions.

Quick Hits: Rowand, Cabrera, Simon, Loans

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Here are some items of note for Friday night, including an interesting question posed by Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com on the Mets' and Dodgers' messy financial situations:

  • Giants outfielder Aaron Rowand will be under a lot of scrutiny this spring, writes Chris Haft of MLB.com, as he looks to be the odd man out in San Francisco's crowded outfield. It won't be easy to flip him though, Haft notes, because two years and $24MM remain on his contract, and he's coming off a down year in 2010. If the Giants do move Rowand, according to Haft, their trade partner will probably ask them to eat some salary or take on a similar financial commitment in return.
  • Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera made his on-field debut at Spring Training on Friday, writes Jason Beck of MLB.com. His arrival, of course, was delayed by last week's arrest for allegedly driving under the influence and resisting arrest. Cabrera is facing the proverbial two-strike count with respect to his off-field travails, writes Steve Henson of Yahoo! Sports: If Cabrera slips up again, he will likely face serious repercussions from Major League Baseball.
  • Orioles right-hander Alfredo Simon is no longer facing a civil suit after he was a suspect in a fatal shooting in his native Dominican Republic on New Year's Eve, but, per a Santo Domingo prosecutor, an investigation is ongoing and Simon has been denied bail, according to the Baltimore Sun. Prosecutors have till April 9 to file formal charges that could lead to a trial.
  • The Mets' $25MM loan from MLB may be the most damning indication of their financial woes, says Rosenthal in an audio clip. Rosenthal also finds it curious that MLB loaned the cash to the Mets but denied the Dodgers' request to borrow $200MM from FOX, as was reported by Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. "It's a simple question of fairness," says Rosenthal.

Quick Hits: Torre, Angels, Pirates, Millwood, Tigers

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On this date last year, the Rangers voided Khalil Greene's $750K contract after he wasn't able to report to Spring Training due to social anxiety disorder. Greene did not play at all last season and remains a free agent.  

Here are today's batch of links…

  • Commissioner Bud Selig is scheduled to make a major announcement tomorrow, according to SI.com's Jon Heyman (Twitter links). Joe Torre will be hired as Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations, meaning he'll oversee on-the-field activity for MLB.
  • Angels GM Tony Reagins spoke to Mike DiGiovanna of The Los Angeles Times about the team's use of advanced statistics. "We definitely use them," said the GM. Front office member Justin Hollander said they "use it for base-running, offense, defense, everything out there … If [Reagins] asks me to look at a guy in terms of a long-term contract, trade, free-agent signing, minor leaguer, he will know what I'm thinking and assign a value to it."
  • Rob Biertempfel of The Pittburgh Tribune-Review says that the big test for Pirates owner Bob Nutting will be when young players like Andrew McCutchen and Jose Tabata are in line for long-term contract extensions. Team president Frank Coonelly recently spoke about what the team looks for when handing out such contracts.
  • Bernie Miklasz of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch isn't sure why the Cardinals are so averse to signing Kevin Millwood to a one-year deal in the wake of Adam Wainwright's injury. Yesterday we heard that GM John Mozeliak said the team will first look internally for a solution.
  • James Schmehl of MLive.com updates you on the 11 players from the Tigers' active roster last season that have since moved on. 

Quick Hits: Pelfrey, Pujols, Livan, Benoit, Astros

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The Twins signed Joe Crede two years ago today in the hopes that he could replicate or improve upon the numbers he posted in 2008, when he made the All-Star team. Crede battled injuries and clubbed 15 homers in 90 games for Minnesota that year, but he hasn't played in the majors since. Crede remains a free agent after deciding not to report to Rockies camp. Here are today's links…

  • In a piece for ESPN.com, MLBTR's own Howard Megdal points out that Mets starter Mike Pelfrey has been far more consistent than anyone gives him credit for.
  • MLBPA leader Michael Weiner said the union would be open to a player owning a share of a team, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (on Twitter). The possibility came up when the Cardinals discussed an extension with Albert Pujols.
  • Weiner says he expects to make progress on the upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement during Spring Training, according to Tim Reynolds of the AP (via the Miami Herald). Baseball's current agreement expires this offseason. 
  • Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post explains how Livan Hernandez and Nationals GM Mike Rizzo negotiated the right-hander's current contract.
  • Tigers reliever Joaquin Benoit told Dick Scanlon of the Detroit Free Press that he signed early because the Tigers made him a strong offer ($16.5MM) and he couldn't justify waiting around. "I didn't want to make a mistake of being too greedy and trying to wait and wait, get myself in a hole and wait to the last minute," Benoit said.
  • Astros GM Ed Wade told Stephen Goff of the Houston Astros Examiner that he expects better things from Carlos Lee in 2011 and that last year was an "aberration" for the outfielder.

Tigers Not Trying To Void Miguel Cabrera’s Contract

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In the aftermath of Miguel Cabrera's DUI arrest late Wednesday night, his second alcohol-related arrest in the last 17 months, Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski told ESPN's Jayson Stark (on Twitter) that "right now there's no language that can void [his contract], and we're not trying to do that." Two days ago we heard that some executives believed Detroit would try to make the contract non-guaranteed as a result of the incident.

Cabrera, 28 in April, signed an eight-year, $152.3MM contract extension before the 2008 season, not long after the trade that brought him to Detroit and before he ever played an official game for them. There are still five years and $106MM left on the deal, between $20MM and $22MM annually through 2015. It was the fifth richest contract in baseball history at the time it was signed.

Despite his off-the-field troubles, Cabrera is one of the game's premier sluggers, hitting .328/.420/.622 with career highs in doubles (45) and homers (38) last season. He's hit .317/.392/.558 in his seven full seasons, and his 247 homers before age 28 are the 12th most all-time. 

Dombrowski told Tom Gage of The Detroit News and SI.com's Jon Heyman that he'd be surprised if MLB sanctioned Cabrera in any way, though his star first baseman will miss the start of camp to be evaluated by doctors (Twitter links). The absence is not expected to spill over into the regular season.

Quick Hits: Vlad, Pujols, Cabrera

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Here are a few items of note for Feb. 17, the day on which Wally Pipp was born 118 years ago.

  • The Orioles will hold a press conference for Vladimir Guerrero on Friday, tweets Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com, so it's safe to assume that he passed his physical earlier this week and that his one-year deal is now official.
  • The Cardinals at some point offered Albert Pujols a nine-year contract extension worth more than $200MM, tweets Jon Heyman of SI.com. To this point, the value of St. Louis' offer has been consistently around the $200MM range, but the length has been less clear.
  • Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera, arrested in Florida late Wednesday night and charged with DUI and resisting arrest, will not likely face jail time, writes Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com, who spoke to a "leading criminal defense attorney." Whether Cabrera will enter a treatment program at this time remains unclear, Morosi notes.

Contract Notes: Cabrera, Feliz, Branyan

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Some thoughts and details on contracts around the game…

  • Some executives in baseball wonder if the Tigers will try to make Miguel Cabrera's contract non-guaranteed, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (Twitter links). The first baseman, who was arrested and charged with driving under the influence last night, has five years and $106MM remaining on his long-term deal with the Tigers. The Mets unsuccessfully attempted to convert Francisco Rodriguez's contract into a non-guaranteed deal after his legal trouble in 2010.
  • Pedro Feliz can opt out of his deal and become a free agent if he isn't on the Royals' Opening Day roster, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. Alternatively, he can go to the minors for $75K.
  • Russell Branyan has a similar clause in his deal with the Diamondbacks, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (Twitter link). 
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