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Derek Jeter Rumors: Thursday

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3:09pm: The Yankees have increased their offer to Jeter by an unknown amount, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.

2:28pm: The Yankees informed Close today they're willing to improve upon their three-year, $45MM offer to Jeter, reports ESPN's Jayson Stark.  Jeter's side lowered their request, adds SI's Jon Heyman on Twitter.

8:03am: Derek Jeter and his agent Casey Close reached out to the Yankees to set up Tuesday's meeting in Tampa, report Mark Feinsand and Bill Madden of the New York Daily News.  Hal Steinbrenner, Randy Levine, and Brian Cashman attended for the Yankees.

Money and years were not discussed, say Feinsand and Madden.  Instead, the meeting concluded with the Yankees' brass asking Close for ideas on how to bridge the large gap.  The tenor of the meeting was cordial, reports Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times.  Close did not get back to them on Wednesday.

The Yankees were emboldened by Troy Tulowitzki's new deal, in he has a $15.7MM average salary over the next ten seasons and Cashman and company offered Jeter $15MM per year.  Of course, the new part of Tulowitzki's contract is $134MM over seven years from 2014-20, which comes to $19.1MM per year.  To include Tulowitzki's low 2011 and '12 salaries in an average would be disingenuous, since those weren't potential free agent seasons for him.  At any rate, MLB is pleased that the Yankees have not gone overboard on their Jeter offer, report Feinsand and Madden.

Yankees Re-Sign Sergio Mitre

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The Yankees have re-signed Sergio Mitre to a one-year, $900K deal, reports Jerry Crasnick of ESPN (via Twitter).  The right-hander could earn up to $200K more through incentives.  Mitre was entering his third year of arbitration eligibility.

Mitre appeared in 27 games for the Yanks in 2010, registering a 3.33 ERA with 4.8 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9.  While the 29-year-old didn't start many games for the Bombers last season, he does have 64 career starts to his credit, giving the Yankees an option as a spot starter.

Rangers To Make Lee An Official Offer

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4:23pm: The Rangers met with Lee in Arkansas yesterday, GM Jon Daniels confirmed to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. Daniels declined to say whether the team has made Lee a formal offer.

10:39am: The Yankees haven’t made Lee an offer, a source tells Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com. In fact, agent Darek Braunecker isn’t looking for proposals just yet.

“He really doesn't want any offers until next week,” Matthews’ source said. “He wants to be the ringmaster at the winter meetings. I don't expect anything to get done until after that."

8:50am: The Rangers are on the verge of making Cliff Lee an official offer, according to George A. King III of the New York Post. A source tells King that the Rangers are prepared to offer a five-year deal and believe the Yankees have already offered a five or six-year deal. Though Lee’s agent wouldn’t confirm specifics, he did acknowledge that talks are progressing.

"We are starting to move stuff along," Darek Braunecker told the Post.

If the Rangers lose Lee to the Yankees, they will likely consider trading for Zack Greinke. The Royals like Rangers prospects Martin Perez and Tanner Scheppers, according to King. 

Though Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reported that Greinke would not necessarily mind pitching in the Bronx, the Yankees aren’t so sure. They don’t believe that the right-hander wants to pitch for them, according to King.

Heyman On Greinke, Pettitte, Astros, Guerrero

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An acquaintance of Zack Greinke's told Jon Heyman of SI.com that the 2009 Cy Young Award winner is "ready" to leave Kansas City. Yahoo's Jeff Passan reported that Greinke's priority is winning, but that doesn't mean we'll see him in Yankee pinstripes. The pitcher's friends say New York would not be a good fit. Here are the rest of Heyman's rumors:

  • People close to Andy Pettitte tell Heyman the lefty would prefer to remain a Yankee.
  • Just about everyone expects Cliff Lee to sign with the Yankees or Rangers, but Heyman says a couple clubs are "laying in the weeds." The Astros are one team with quiet interest.
  • As much as the Rangers want Vladimir Guerrero back, they seem reluctant to give him a multiyear deal.
  • The Dodgers will try to sign Russell Martin by tomorrow's non-tender deadline.

Optimism Between Jeter, Yankees

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WEDNESDAY, 10:59am: It appears that the Yankees told Jeter they'll raise their opening $45MM bid to the $50MM range, according to Heyman (on Twitter).

TUESDAY, 10:28pm: The Yankees and Derek Jeter are becoming optimistic about reaching a new deal, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). The sides are having conversations designed to kickstart an agreement, Heyman reports.

Mark Feinsand and Bill Madden of the New York Daily News reported earlier tonight that agent Casey Close recently reached out to the Yankees to move negotiations forward. Both sides are in Tampa, where they met today, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

Just last week, the sides appeared to be tens of millions of dollars apart and GM Brian Cashman encouraged Jeter to test the open market. It seems likely that the shortstop will return to the Bronx, but that hasn't stopped Beckett from imagining what Jeter would look like in all 29 other uniforms.

Odds & Ends: Jeter, Berkman, A’s, Upton, Webb

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Exactly ten years ago, the Orix Blue Wave lost a 27-year-old outfielder to the Seattle Mariners. A decade later, Ichiro Suzuki has ten Gold Gloves and 2244 big league hits to his name. Here are today's links…

Greinke May Consider Large Market Teams

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The Yankees and Royals have continued to discuss a Zack Greinke trade and the right-hander is more open to pitching in a major market than it seems, according to Yahoo’s Jeff Passan. Greinke can block trades to the Yankees and other large market teams, but a source close to the former Cy Young Award winner says winning matters more than anything.

Greinke’s partial no-trade clause would give him leverage if the Royals approached him about a deal, but he would not necessarily turn down the chance to pitch for a winning team in a large market. The Royals are still asking for a Mark Teixeira-like haul for their ace, though they're willing to move him. GM Dayton Moore is looking for “at least one major league-ready player and multiple high-level prospects,” Passan writes.

Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reported last month that Greinke can block trades to half the teams in baseball between now and the 2011 trade deadline. Between next August 1st and the end of the 2012 season, when his contract expires, Greinke loses his no-trade protection. The 27-year-old will earn $13.5MM in both 2011 and 2012.

Yankees Rumors: Jeter, Chamberlain

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The latest on the Yankees, as GM Brian Cashman prepares to rappel down a building dressed as an elf on Sunday…

  • Eduardo Nunez is the team's Plan B if they are unable to re-sign Derek Jeter, reports ESPN's Buster Olney.  Rather than try to sign a veteran replacement, the Yankees would install Nunez and allocate the money elsewhere.  Of course, Olney feels that the Yankees would remain flexible for potential upgrades if Nunez became their starting shortstop.
  • SI's Tom Verducci looks at how other teams have compensated aging icons in recent years, with Cal Ripken, Barry Larkin, George Brett, Craig Biggio, and Paul Molitor serving as examples.  It may be difficult to reduce Jeter's pay from his previous $18.9MM average annual value.
  • Mike Axisa of River Ave. Blues estimates Joba Chamberlain's 2011 salary at a bit less than $2MM.

International Links: Marmol, Cano, Jeter, Ruiz

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Baseball was an afterthought on most international sports pages this morning, due to FBC Barcelona's 5-0 humiliation of Real Madrid, but links in Spanish still abound…

  • Carlos Marmol confirmed that he and the Cubs are in discussions about a long-term extension, talking to Hoy's Dionisio Soldevila. "There still isn't anything, but we're talking," Marmol said. "I would like to sign something long and stay with the team."
  • Derek Jeter's double-play partner Robinson Cano thinks the shortstop "would retire before he would go to another team," Cano told Soldevila on his Dominican talk show La Semana Deportiva.
  • The Rays released Cuban first baseman Jose Julio Ruiz in mid-November, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. After a long and complicated courtship, the team signed Ruiz to a minor-league deal last June and had until November 15 to offer him a $4MM major league contract. He showed little of his reputed power over the summer in brief stints with Double-A Montgomery and in the Arizona Fall League. Less than a year ago, Ruiz seemed like the most promising Cuban power hitter since Kendry Morales, drawing interest from numerous teams and being rumored as a possible successor to David Ortiz in Boston.

Rangers Deny Contacting Andy Pettitte

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8:10pm: Rangers sources denied to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch that they've contacted Pettitte. The only contact between the team and the left-hander occured after the ALCS when Pettitte called Ryan to congratulate him.

5:59pm: Rangers president Nolan Ryan recently contacted Andy Pettitte to try and persuade the left-hander to return to Texas, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. Though Pettitte appeared to be leaning toward a return to the Bronx, he will presumably consider the Rangers' pitch since they play relatively close to Deer Park, Texas, where he lives. Pettitte left the Yankees for the Astros after the 2003 season only to return to New York three years later.

The Rangers' interest could spark an unusual dynamic between the Rangers and the team they defeated in this year's ALCS. The Yankees are interested in lefty Cliff Lee, so the two teams appear to be bidding against one another for their best left-handed starters.

The Yankees did not offer Pettitte arbitration, so the Rangers wouldn't have to surrender a draft choice to sign Pettitte. Like longtime teammate and fellow free agent Derek Jeter, Pettitte gains leverage because of interest from other teams.

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