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Royals “Calling Everyone” To Trade Hochevar & Chen

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The Royals are "calling everyone" in an attempt to trade both Luke Hochevar and Bruce Chen, reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). The team is accelerating its timetable to acquire rotation help and wants to free up money.

Hochevar, 29, pitched to a 5.73 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 185 1/3 innings this season. The first overall pick in the 2006 draft owns a 5.39 ERA in 771 career innings. Hochevar is arbitration-eligible for the third time this winter and is projected to earn $4.4MM by Matt Swartz. He's a candidate to be non-tendered by Friday's deadline.

Chen, 35, posted a 5.07 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 191 2/3 innings this year. He's revived his career in Kansas City, pitching to a 4.55 ERA in 549 1/3 innings since 2009. Chen will earn $4.5MM next season as part of the two-year, $9MM contract he signed last winter. The soft-tossing southpaw will become a free agent next offseason.

Earlier today team owner David Glass told Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star that the team needs to maintain a $70MM payroll to break even, but they will "react based on what (their) opportunities are." The Royals have already acquired Ervin Santana and re-signed Jeremy Guthrie this offseason, but they continue to look for ways to upgrade a starting staff that posted to a 5.01 ERA this year.

Pirates Acquire Vin Mazzaro, Clint Robinson

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The Pirates announced that they acquired right-hander Vin Mazzaro and first baseman Clint Robinson from the Royals for minor league pitchers Luis Rico and Luis Santos. The Pirates designated Yamaico Navarro and Matt Hague for assignment in a related move.

Mazzaro and Robinson had been designated for assignment on November 20th. Mazzaro, 26, posted a 5.73 ERA with 5.3 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 44 innings with the Royals this past season. Robinson made his MLB debut in 2012, but spent most of the year at Triple-A, where he posted a .292/.393/.452 batting line in 570 plate appearances.

Rico, a 19-year-old left-hander, has a 5.29 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 5.8 BB/9 in 20 appearances as a professional. Santos, a 21-year-old right-hander, has a 2.51 ERA with 10.2 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 24 minor league appearances.

Navarro, 25, appeared in 29 games for the Pirates this past season, posting a .160/.232/.220 batting line as a utility player. Hague, 27, appeared in 30 games for the Pirates, posting a .229/.270/.257 batting line in 74 plate appearances and playing first base.

Quick Hits: Liriano, Napoli, Wright, Royals

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The Twins have had conversations with Francisco Liriano's representatives, a source with knowledge of the talks tells LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune.  The two sides are expected to meet next week during the winter meetings but General Manager Terry Ryan is keeping mum on potential targets for the club.  Here's more Tuesday night linkage..

  • The Rangers did not meet with Mike Napoli today, despite previous reports to the contrary, according to Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram.  However, the club is set to meet with the catcher tomorrow.  Earlier today it was reported that Napoli appears to be the Red Sox's top free agent target.
  • Ken Davidoff of the New York Post (Twitter links) reached out to David Wright after his comments earlier tonight to MLBTradeRumors.  The third baseman indicated that he was displeased with the public nature of his contract negotiations.  "I wish I could elaborate but it was important to me from the very beginning that these negotiations remain confidential and private. I plan on sticking to that. Sorry I can't comment any further," said Wright.
  • The Royals have discussed Wil Myers in trades for Rays right-hander James Shields and Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester, but Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports points out that the two hurlers aren't exactly equal.  The two are owed similar money through 2014 ($24.625MM for Lester and $21MM for Shields) but Shields has been much stronger in recent years.

Royals Interested In Shields, Lester

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8:51pm: A Major League source confirmed to WEEI's Rob Bradford that the two teams have indeed discusseda trade that would center around Lester and Myers. According to Bradford, the talks also included the possibility of Boston sending outfield help to Kansas City with some pitching heading back to the Red Sox. He echoes that nothing is close.

6:55pm: The Royals have already added Ervin Santana to their rotation and brought back Jeremy Guthrie this offseason, but Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star writes that general manager Dayton Moore would like to add one more impact arm to his rotation. According to Dutton, Moore's preference is to acquire that arm by dealing prospects rather than Major League talent, and there have been discussions about using top prospect Wil Myers to acquire James Shields or Jon Lester.

Dutton writes that the Royals are currently weighing whether or not six years of Myers is worth two years of either Lester or Shields. One Royals source told Dutton that it's easy to project Myers as a 30-homer bat at the Major League level within the next two-to-three seasons. At the moment, the Royals, Red Sox and Rays are all said to be hesitant, and no deal is close.

Beyond the debate of which commodity is worth more, the Royals also need to consider their 2013 payroll. Barring a significant increase, the team would have to clear money in order to acquire either contract for next season. That, writes Dutton, could mean moving Bruce Chen's contract and/or taking a "hard look" at Luke Hochevar and Felipe Paulino. Both are due significant raises in arbitration, as Matt Swartz recently projected for MLBTR.

Myers ranks as the Royals' top prospect according to Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and MLB.com. The 22-year-old batted .314/.387/.600 with 37 homers between Double-A and Triple-A last season, cementing himself as one of the game's most coveted minor leaguers.

Jeff Francoeur currently projects as Kansas City's right fielder but is coming off a dreadful season in which he hit just .235/.287/.378. The Royals would need to be confident that Francoeur could return to his 2011 numbers if they were to trade Myers, and even still would have a hole in right field beyond 2013.

Zack Greinke Rumors: Monday

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MLB executives see Zack Greinke obtaining a deal of at least six years for as much as $25MM per season, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. It’s possible the free agent right-hander will obtain a deal worth $150MM and establish a new record for right-handed pitchers. Matt Cain’s deal, worth a total of $127.5MM for six years, now represents the largest contract obtained by a right-hander, and C.C. Sabathia’s seven-year, $161MM contract represents the largest deal ever obtained by a pitcher. Here’s the latest on Greinke…

  • Dodgers people have started asking about Greinke, and their Los Angeles area rivals remain interested, too. Angels executives want to re-sign Greinke and have seen the Dodgers as their biggest threat, Heyman writes. The Angels would consider paying pitchers more per season than Jered Weaver on a “case-by-case” basis. Weaver earns $17MM per season on the deal he signed last summer.
  • While the Rangers and Nationals could also bid on Greinke, the Red Sox appear to be shying away from him. The Royals and Brewers, Greinke’s former teams, would love to have him back, according to Heyman.

Quick Hits: Royals, Jennings, Rule 5 Draft

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As everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving leftovers, here are a few items to serve as dessert…

  • The Royals would "much prefer" to trade prospects to acquire starting pitching and don't want to move Wil Myers or any of their top regulars, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.  The Royals are "willing to listen," however.  We heard earlier tonight that K.C. was shopping some of its top position players in search of frontline pitchers.
  • In an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM's Inside Pitch show, Marlins assistant GM Dan Jennings told hosts Jim Bowden and Casey Stern that the club's standing with both Major League and minor league free agents has changed in the wake of the controversial trade with the Blue Jays and the accusations of broken promises from Mark Buehrle.  "We know that that is an issue.  It's out there," Jennings said.  "We probably will have to look at our policy of [not] granting no-trades, if it's something that we look to remove, [or] do you look to put more money on the front end [of contracts]? I think there's a lot of ways to address that."
  • The Baseball America staff looks ahead to the Rule 5 draft, listing both players who could be drafted and five players who were somewhat surprising additions to their teams' 40-man rosters.
  • As "Black Friday" comes to an end, USA Today's Jorge L. Ortiz lists Brandon McCarthy, Scott Hairston, Kyle Farnsworth, Ryan Theriot and Shaun Marcum as lower-priced free agents who could prove to be bargains.
  • Of recent teams who jumped from sub-.500 records to the playoffs in a year's time, MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince notes that none did so after splurging on free agents, instead relying on trades and international signings to remake their rosters.

Passan’s Latest: Myers, Fowler, Asdrubal, McCarthy

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The Royals have been shopping top prospect Wil Myers but only in exchange for starting pitching, reports Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan.  Earlier this week, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald reported that Kansas City was known to be at least listening to offers for Myers and top position players like Alex Gordon, Billy Butler, Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer.  The only untouchable Royals appear to be Alcides Escobar and Salvador Perez due to their team-friendly contracts — "executives consider [Perez's deal] the best in the game," Passan writes.

The Royals have discussed trades with the Rays, Mariners, Diamondbacks and Athletics, Passan reports.  While Myers would be of interest to any team, he is of particular value to low-payroll teams like the Rays and A's given that Gordon and Butler have large contracts and Moustakas/Hosmer are Scott Boras clients.

Here are some more items from Passan…

  • The Rockies' asking price for Dexter Fowler is "absurd," one rival executive tells Passan.  It appears to be a buyers' market for center fielders right now, though another executive warns that "it will shake out" as the offseason progresses.
  • The Indians are shopping Asdrubal Cabrera, though "not at Black Friday prices," an executive says.  Cabrera is one of a few shortstops on the trade market, along with the Astros' Jed Lowrie and the Marlins' Yunel Escobar.
  • Teams are more worried about Brandon McCarthy's history of arm injuries than with his season-ending brain surgery.  If McCarthy's medicals are clear, however, a team executive thinks the right-hander will get a multiyear contract.
  • Anibal Sanchez's demands for a six-year, $90MM contract are "crazy, and he's probably going to get it," an executive tells Passan.

Olney On Guthrie, Royals, Pettitte

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While Jeremy Guthrie’s three-year, $25MM contract prompted some to question the Royals, the deal was considered fair in front offices of some other teams, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports. Some executives think of the contract as reasonable given Guthrie’s durability at the MLB level. Here are more notes from Olney…

  • The Royals will continue seeking starting pitching, even after adding Guthrie and Ervin Santana, Olney writes. They could trade minor leaguers to add to the MLB rotation.
  • Royals officials still view the club as a work in progress, but rival evaluators are intrigued by their talent. "They're a team to watch," an AL GM told Olney. The team’s young bullpen draws especially strong reviews, Olney writes.
  • The Yankees believe that the return of Hiroki Kuroda increases the chances Andy Pettitte will decide to pitch for another season, Olney reports. The Yankees signed Kuroda to a one-year, $15MM contract yesterday.

Sherman On Blue Jays, Royals, Dickey

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Though the Blue Jays and Royals have already added to their respective rotations this winter, they might not be done. According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Blue Jays are still looking for a top of the rotation starter and the Royals look as if they need one, too. Here are more notes from Sherman…

  • Many executives tell Sherman they plan to investigate the trade market for pitching more thoroughly given the expected cost of free agent starters.
  • Rival executives suggested to Sherman that the Mets could ask for more in a trade involving R.A. Dickey if they grant the acquiring team a window for discussing an extension.
  • For example, the Blue Jays might be more willing to surrender players such as Travis d’Arnaud, J.P. Arencibia, Noah Syndergaard and Aaron Sanchez if they had the chance to talk extension with Dickey. To be clear Sherman isn’t saying the Blue Jays and Mets will necessarily discuss these specific players.

Rosenthal On Royals, Uehara, D’Backs, Span, Catching

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Here are the latest hot stove items from FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal….

  • Teams in search of bullpen help have been looking at Royals right-handers Greg Holland and Aaron Crow, though Kansas City isn't likely to trade any of its Major League players unless they can move Jeff Francoeur.
  • The Royals bolstered their pitching staff by re-signing Jeremy Guthrie and trading for Ervin Santana, but Rosenthal still feels the team needs a true ace.
  • The Phillies are interested in free agent reliever Koji Uehara.
  • The Diamondbacks could deal Jason Kubel instead of Justin Upton, which would be an easier move to make though Kubel would bring back a lesser return.  A source tells Rosenthal that the Rangers are still interested in Upton but are waiting for the D'Backs to back down on their demands for Elvis Andrus or Jurickson Profar in return.
  • Denard Span could be a good trade target for a club that doesn't want to pay for one of the expensive center fielders on the free market.  With the Twins desperate for pitching, Rosenthal speculates that a team like the Braves (who need a center fielder and have pitching depth) could be a trade partner.
  • The free agent catching market is stalled since the Red Sox and Blue Jays have catchers available for trade, plus the Yankees are waiting to address their pitching before making a decision on Russell Martin.
  • Speaking of the Blue Jays' catching depth, Rosenthal thinks that Toronto is in no hurry to deal J.P. Arencibia, as a dependable catcher is needed if top prospect Travis D'Arnaud hasn't recovered from his season-ending knee injury.
  • Reed Johnson is drawing interest from several teams, including the Braves, who acquired Johnson from the Cubs last July.
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