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Odds & Ends: Minor Deals, Catalanotto, Gwynn Jr.

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Your Thursday links, with more to come…

Three Teams Interested In Sheffield

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8:52pm: Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News has another quote from Jocketty:

"Sheffield and (manager) Dusty Baker have a history and they talked yesterday.  He has to clear waivers today, but we'll talk. We have interest because he would be a legitimate big right-handed bat to add to our lineup."

McCoy believes a meeting between Reds officials and Sheffield might take place Thursday.

7:14pm: Fay continues with the updates:  Reds GM Walt Jocketty has confirmed his club's interest in Sheffield. "He's still a threat in the lineup… If the price is right," said the Cincinnati GM.  The Reds will also look at Geoff Jenkins, who was released by the Phillies on Tuesday.

6:54pm: John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Reds manager Dusty Baker is meeting with Sheffield.  It sounds like they're one of the "three interested teams" that Leyland alluded to this morning.

5:53pm: ESPN's Buster Olney has more from Sheffield's agent, Rufus Williams.  Williams says Sheffield will be able to play this season and "a couple more seasons, at least."  Olney adds that "some in baseball are speculating whether Sheffield would be a good fit with the Braves, where he had a good experience in 2002-03 and was liked by manager Bobby Cox."

Talking to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. again confirmed his interest in Sheffield.

1:30pm: David Murphy of the Philadelphia Inquirer says Tigers manager Jim Leyland told Detroit reporters today that three teams are interested in Gary Sheffield.  The Phillies are presumed to be one; some reports have suggested a slim chance despite Sheff's agent calling the talks "productive."

Andruw Jones Likely To Make Rangers

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Jim Reeves of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported this morning that the Reds have been eyeing Andruw Jones, and the Phillies were also showing signs of interest.  Those teams were probably banking on him being released or demoted to Triple-A, and sliding in with an offer of major league at-bats.  Well, so much for that.  As MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan reported this evening, Jones is likely to make the Rangers' final roster.

Andruw appears to have found a home in Texas. "I feel good," he said Wednesday.  "I think in this situation it will be spread out how everybody gets in the game.  But the best thing is having [hitting coach] Rudy [Jamarillo] there.  He's going to keep you focused.  You just do all your work and when you get an opportunity to play, you let it happen."

The Rangers will now focus their attention on trying to move Frank Catalanotto.  He'd be a nice fit on a National League team.

Padres Acquire Edward Mujica

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WEDNESDAY: Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune says the Padres acquired Mujica from the Indians.  Brock reports the same.  Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer says the Indians will receive a player to be named later or cash.  Click here to read Paul DePodesta's thoughts on Mujica.

Additionally, Krasovic says the Padres shipped minor league pitcher Manny Ayala to the Phillies.

TUESDAY: According to MLB.com's Corey Brock, the Padres continue to eye the trade market for a hard-throwing reliever with late-inning potential.  Like recent acquisition Eulogio De La Cruz, the focus is on pitchers who are out of options.

Brock says the Padres might have interest in Cleveland's Ed Mujica.  Mujica, 25 in May, hasn't had big league success in recent years but did average 92.5 mph on his fastball in '08.

My own speculation – another name to watch might be Fernando Nieve, who the Mets recently claimed from the Astros but then placed back on waivers.  Here's the partial list of other out of options players I cobbled together earlier this year.

Rangers Rumors: Andruw Jones, Joaquin Arias

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MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan has a few Rangers rumors tonight.

  • Aside from Gary Sheffield, the Phillies have interest in Rangers outfielder Andruw Jones.  Sullivan says the Phils "have been scouting Jones extensively this spring."
  • Also, having unloaded Jeff Keppinger, the Reds are looking for utility infield help.  One person of interest is Rangers shortstop Joaquin Arias.  Arias, who came to Texas in the Alex Rodriguez trade, has strong defensive tools and may yet establish himself as a regular according to Baseball America.
  • In another post, Sullivan says reliever Derrick Turnbow has decided to accept his assignment to Triple A Oklahoma.

Phillies Release Geoff Jenkins

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8:44pm: Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald says the Marlins might have interest in Jenkins.  MLB.com's Joe Frisaro has suggested the same.

1:10pm: According to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki, the Phillies released outfielder Geoff Jenkins.  They'll assume the $8MM left on his contract.  The Tigers started a trend with Gary Sheffield!

Jenkins, 34, hit .246/.301/.392 in 322 plate appearances last year.

Rosenthal On Matthews, Thomas, Hammel, Niemann

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Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has a new column…

  • The Angels attempted to sell the Reds on Gary Matthews Jr., but it was a one-sided discussion. The Reds have no desire to trade Bronson Arroyo or Aaron Harang for Matthews.  Angels GM Tony Reagins told Rosenthal, "We haven't had much discussions with respect to trades and trade possibilities."   UPDATE: Reds GM Walt Jocketty told John Fay he hasn't talked to the Angels since the Winter Meetings.
  • Free agent DH Frank Thomas is still waiting for an offer.  He intends to delay a decision about retirement until at least the All-Star break.  My thought – his situation just got a bit tougher with Gary Sheffield becoming available.
  • Rosenthal says the Rays could keep both Jason Hammel and Jeff Niemann and cut Lance Cormier, if trade offers for the first two aren't acceptable.  Rosenthal adds the Rangers, Nationals, and Indians to the already known suitors (Padres, Pirates, and Rockies).  He names the Brewers as "yet another possibility."  Rosenthal says the Angels attempted to acquire Niemann a year ago but learned from Reagins that they're not actively looking for pitching.
  • The Phillies ate Adam Eaton's contract, but team president David Montgomery is unwilling to do the same to make Geoff Jenkins go away. 
  • Rosenthal says the offers received for Rockies infielder Jeff Baker "have not been enticing."  They may elect to keep him.

Marcus Giles Released

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According to Scott Lauber of The News Journal, the Phillies released infielder Marcus Giles this morning.  Giles blamed himself for not performing well enough.  He hit .167/.302/.250 in 41 spring plate appearances after sitting out the 2008 season.

Coupled with various demotions, Miguel Cairo is left as the only potential righthanded bench bat according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.  Zolecki says the Phils continue to look for help in that regard.

Stark’s Latest: Keppinger, Baker, Phillies

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ESPN.com's Jayson Stark has a new blog post up.  Some of this is old news, but probably worth revisiting…

  • The Reds are dangling infielder Jeff Keppinger, with the Red Sox and Astros as possible suitors.
  • The Red Sox and Astros have also checked in on Colorado's Jeff Baker, along with the Phillies.  But, the Rockies are reportedly demanding a "quality young starter" in return.
  • The Mets expressed interest in Ronny Paulino before he was dealt to the Giants (then moved swiftly to the Marlins).
  • The Phillies continue to shop around for a right-handed reserve outfielder.

Taschner To Phils; Paulino To Fish; Correa To SF

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SATURDAY, 2:01am: The Giants quickly turned Paulino around in a trade to the Florida Marlins for right-handed pitcher Hector Correa, MLB.com reports.

Correa, 21, has a career 8-10 record with a 4.52 ERA in 34 games (29 starts) in the minor leagues.

Paulino will likely be the backup catcher to John Baker. Paulino, 27, hit .278 in 304 games with Pittsburgh from 2005 to 2008.

FRIDAY, 9:08am: According to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Phillies acquired lefty reliever Jack Taschner today for catcher Ronny Paulino.  The Phils had acquired Paulino from the Pirates on December 10th.

Taschner, 31 in April, allowed lefties to hit .279/.339/.394 line last year.  They knocked him around in '07 even worse, so he's not the perfect fill-in for J.C. Romero.

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