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Latin Links: Beltre, Renteria, V-Mart, Balentien

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Links from Spanish-language news sources, highlighted by a rumor-packed tweet from un hombre de Bristol (links in Spanish).

  • Enrique Rojas at ESPN Deportes says the A's are working hard to sign yet another third baseman. Only this time, it's Adrian Beltre, who reportedly turned down a three-year, $24MM offer from the team last winter.
  • In the same tweet, Rojas says the Dodgers are interested in Edgar Renteria and his willingness to play second base, notes that there is a "good market" for Miguel Tejada, and revives an old rumor with a question: "Vic-Mart with the Rays?"
  • According to Jorge Ebro at El Nuevo Herald, 17-year old Cuban centerfielder Yasiel Balaguer has defected to Nicaragua with hopes of signing with a Major League team. Ebro cites reports saying Balaguer's big draws are his explosive speed and throwing arm, though he has shown some offensive power as well in the Cuban National Series.
  • Former Mariner and Red Wladimir Balentien has told his usual Venezuelan Winter League team, the Leones de Caracas, that he can't play this winter because he has signed with a team in Japan, reports Cesar Augusto Marquez at Lider en Deportes. Marquez doesn't say which team Balentien has joined.

Odds & Ends: Shell, Kuroda, V-Mart, Okajima, Davies

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Links for Monday evening…

  • Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com tweets that the Royals have signed reliever Steven Shell to a minor league deal. Shell, 27, had a 3.59 ERA in 72.2 innings with the Mariners' Triple-A affiliate last season.
  • Troy Renck of The Denver Post lists the Cardinals, Phillies, and Rockies as some of the teams that were interested in Hiroki Kuroda before he re-signed with the Dodgers (Twitter link).  Kuroda, however, re-signed without fielding offers from other teams according to Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times.
  • Add the Rangers to the list of teams showing interest in Victor Martinez says SI.com's Jon Heyman (via Twitter).
  • WEEI.com's Rob Bradford tweets that Hideki Okajima is subject to a normal arbitration calendar this offseason. In the past the Red Sox had to offer him a contract by November 20th.
  • Non-tender candidate Kyle Davies hopes to remain with the Royals, says MLB.com's Dick Kaegel. Davies hasn't heard anything from the team regarding his future.
  • Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com reports that Cliff Lee's agent Darek Braunecker is still unsure if he will attend this week's GM Meetings.
  • MLB.com's Jane Lee provides a list of power bat the Athletics could potentially pursue as free agents this offseason.
  • The Yankees don't believe that Derek Jeter will ultimately leave New York, but they're prepared for a long negotiation according to Heyman (Twitter link).
  • Meanwhile, Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com tweets that there is still no word whether or not Andy Pettitte will return to pitch in 2011.
  • Cardinals GM John Mozeliak doesn't expect any roster moves at this week's meetings according to MLB.com's Matthew Leach. Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com says the team is growing more optimistic about re-signing Jake Westbrook, however (Twitter link).
  • Indians GM Chris Antonetti told Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer that it's too early in the offseason to tell whether his team's needs will be filled through trades or free agency.
  • MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith is on location at this week's GM Meetings in Orlando, and you can follow him on Twitter at @mlbtrorlando for the latest breaking news and analysis.
  • There is mutual interest between the Marlins and free agent catcher A.J. Pierzynski, reports Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post. Capozzi says the team might not be able to afford him, though they could free up payroll space by dealing Dan Uggla. 
  • FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal says that the Dodgers are looking to add power to their lineup, and James Loney is the player they're most most willing to trade. They would then turn around and sign one of the many power-hitting first baseman available on the free agent market.
  • Mets GM Sandy Alderson said that the first round of manager interviews includes one or two more candidates while the second round will consist of three or four candidates according to Andy Martino of The New York Daily News (all Twitter links). The second set of interviews could begin in Orlando this week, and Alderson said his father's death on Sunday will not slow things down.
  • ESPN's Jerry Crasnick profiles Giants GM Brian Sabean and the work that lies ahead following his team's World Series victory.
  • Joe Pawlikowski of River Ave. Blues looks at how signing Lee would impact the Yankees' future payroll. Meanwhile, Brian Cashman told MLB.com's Bryan Hoch that he doesn't expect to get any deals done this week.
  • Best of luck to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian. He's trading in the Blue Jays' beat for the Indians' beat.

Dodgers Acquire Anthony Jackson To Complete Dotel Trade

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The Dodgers have selected outfielder Anthony Jackson as the player to be named later in September's Octavio Dotel trade according to the Rockies' official Twitter feed. Dotel allowed four runs in just 5 1/3 innings with the Rockies.

Jackson, 26, is a career .252/.331/.340 hitter in 2,290 minor league plate appearances. He's spent the last two seasons with Colorado's Double-A affiliate and was not listed as one of the team's top 30 prospects in the 2010 edition of Baseball America's Prospect Handbook. 

Dodgers Re-Sign Hiroki Kuroda

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The Dodgers have re-signed right-hander Hiroki Kuroda to a one-year contract worth $12MM. The deal includes a full no-trade clause and an additional $500K in performance bonuses.

Kuroda, 36 in February, just wrapped up a three-year deal with the Dodgers that paid him $35.3MM. He's pitched to a 3.60 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 82 career starts (and one relief appearance) with LA, though 2010 was his best season yet: 3.39 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 in 196.1 innings. Kuroda missed time with a shoulder strain, an oblique issue, and a concussion during his first two years in MLB, but he was healthy this season.

Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times reported the original agreement as well as the length of the contract. SI.com's Jon Heyman and FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal added the financial details (all four Twitter links).

Odds & Ends: Lopes, Maybin, Farrell, Cubs, Cousins

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Links for Saturday…

  • Newsday's Ken Davidoff provides a primer for next week's GM Meetings in Orlando.  MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith will be on the scene there Tuesday and Wednesday.
  • Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times tweets that former Phillies' first base coach Davey Lopes is close to joining the Dodgers' coaching staff in an unknown capacity.
  • Tom Krasovic of AOL FanHouse analyzes the Cameron Maybin trade, saying the outfielder doesn't need to develop into a star to represent an upgrade for the Padres.
  • Richard Griffin of The Star has a one-on-one interview with new Blue Jays manager John Farrell.
  • Cubs GM Jim Hendry told Gordon Wittenmyer of The Chicago Sun Times that he's not worried about making a splash this offseason, but that it's "really imperative that we have two or three really good moves."
  • MLB.com's Joe Frisaro says that in the wake of the Maybin deal, the Marlins will give Scott Cousins a long look in center field next year (Twitter link).
  • Meanwhile, Padres GM Jed Hoyer told Dan Hayes of The North County Times that Maybin is "exactly the type of player we hoped to acquire for Petco Park." (Twitter link)
  • MLB.com's Jason Beck states the obvious, saying that the Marlins probably would have been better off keeping Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis and then taking the draft picks when they left as free agents. I'm not sure that keeping those two would have been financially possible, though.
  • Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com writes that after catcher Erik Kratz signed with the Phillies, the Pirates will now have to bring in a catcher or two to provide depth at the Triple-A level.
  • The Nationals have signed righty reliever Tim Wood to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com. Wood, who turns 28 on Tuesday, appeared in 44 games with the Marlins over the last two seasons, pitching to a 4.32 ERA with nearly as many walks (25) as strikeouts (26) in 50 innings.
  • ESPN's Buster Olney expects the Cardinals to aggressively pursue Juan Uribe since they could use him at pretty much any of their non-first base infield positions (Twitter link).
  • Michael Silverman of The Boston Herald reports that GM Theo Epstein said the team has talked to Kevin Youkilis about moving to third base in the event that they are unable to re-sign Adrian Beltre, who we learned is one of their priorities.
  • Meanwhile, Alex Speier of WEEI.com separates fact from fiction with regards to Scott Boras' claims about Beltre.
  • SI.com's Melissa Segura tweets that a new league launched in the Dominican Republic yesterday, and it features the top young free agent players the country has to offer. 

Kuroda Close To Deal With Dodgers

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12:12pm: ESPN's Buster Olney reports that the two sides are close to finalizing that one-year, $12MM contract. 

SATURDAY, 7:52am: In a pair of tweets, Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker corrects an exchange rate miscalculation and says the deal is for one year and $12MM, not $8MM. He adds that the report is all over the Japanese media.

FRIDAY, 8:01pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com hears from a Dodgers source that Sanspo's report is "inaccurate" and it's "hard to tell" if the team and pitcher are close to an agreement.  (Twitter link)

7:47pm: Free agent right-hander Hiroki Kuroda is on the verge of an agreement with the Dodgers, reports Japanese site Sanspo.com (as translated in this tweet from NPBTracker).  The contract would be a one-year deal worth approximately $8MM.  Though Kuroda will turn 36 in February, $8MM would be a nice bargain for the Dodgers given Kuroda's very solid numbers (3.60 ERA, 3.18 K/BB ratio) over his three seasons in the majors.

This is the second L.A. free agent pitcher that the club has moved quickly to re-sign this offseason, after Ted Lilly was inked to a $33MM contract in October.  As Sanspo's story indicated, Japanese clubs Hiroshima and Yomiuri were interested if Kuroda decided to return to his home country, plus we knew that the Rockies had Kuroda on their list of pitching targets.

Giants, Dodgers Have Interest In Nishioka

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The Giants and Dodgers have some interest in Japanese infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka, according to Tom Krasovic of AOL FanHouse (on Twitter). A baseball source suggested to Krasovic that the posting fee to the Chiba Lotte Marines could exceed $4MM. However, reports earlier in the week suggested that the Marines had not yet decided whether to post Nishioka.

The 26-year-old switch hitter batted .346 with 22 steals and 206 hits last year. ESPN.com's Keith Law wrote today that Nishioka can be "valuable as an everyday guy on a second-division club," despite his below-average power and struggles with hard fastballs. For more on the infielder, check out Patrick Newman's analysis at FanGraphs.

The Dodgers have Rafael Furcal at short and Jamey Carroll and non-tender candidate Ryan Theriot at second. The Giants have Freddy Sanchez at second, but shortstops Juan Uribe and Edgar Renteria are free agents.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Cox, Crawford, DeJesus

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Two years ago today the Athletics acquired Matt Holliday from the Rockies in exchange for Carlos Gonzalez, Huston Street, and Greg Smith. Holliday hit .286/.378/.454 in exactly 400 plate appearances with Oakland before being dealt to the Cardinals for a package led by Brett Wallace at the 2009 trade deadline.

Street has battled injuries but has been solid when on the mound for Colorado, pitching to a 3.30 ERA with 9.5 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in 109 innings. Smith has appeared in just eight games for the Rox (all starts), putting up a 6.23 ERA. The real get was CarGo, who will certainly be in the MVP mix after a .336/.376/.598 season with 34 doubles, 34 homers, 26 stolen bases, and a batting title.

The hot stove league will certainly bring us more blockbuster trades, but for now you'll have to settle for this long collection of links, the best the blogosphere had to offer this week…

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Odds & Ends: Beltre, Counsell, Greinke, Kuroda

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Thursday night linkage..

Odds & Ends: Messenger, Martin, LaRoche, Branyan

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Some links for Veterans Day…

  • MLBTR echoes commissioner Bud Selig's thoughts on the death of a legendary Mariners broadcaster: “All of Baseball is terribly saddened … by the tragic news that Dave Niehaus, the voice of the Seattle Mariners, has passed away."
  • Randy Messenger has agreed to a deal with the Hanshin Tigers, according to Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker. The five-year MLB veteran pitched for the Mariners in 2009.
  • Three former White Sox employees were indicted on federal fraud charges yesterday, according to Melissa Segura of SI.com. They allegedly accepted $400K worth of signing bonuses intended for Latin American prospects.
  • Russell Martin's agent repeated to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times that the catcher wants to play for the Dodgers in 2011. There's been extensive speculation that the Dodgers could non-tender or trade Martin.
  • Pirates GM Neal Huntington told MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch that Andy LaRoche has to prove his worth to the Pirates, who are attempting to determine the best way to maximize the 27-year-old's value.
  • Russell Branyan has left Dan Lozano and is now represented by ACES, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter).
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