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Pirates Designate Jeremy Hefner For Assignment

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The Pirates have designated right-handed pitcher Jeremy Hefner for assignment, tweets Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, who adds that the 40-man roster is now full.

The Bucs claimed Hefner, 25, off waivers from the Padres last month. The righty started 28 games for Triple-A Tucson in 2011, posting a 4.98 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 157 1/3 innings. He has a 3.84 ERA with 7.9 K/0 and 2.8 BB/9 in 688 2/3 career minor league innings over five seasons.

Hefner attended Oral Roberts and was a fifth-round pick of the Friars in 2007.

NL Central Notes: K-Rod, Pena, Phillips, Pirates

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Here's the latest from Albert Pujols' former division…

  • "A handful of teams" are interested in Brewers reliever Francisco Rodriguez, reports FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal.  Though Rodriguez's 2012 salary is projected as around $13MM through arbitration, the Brewers don't necessarily plan to trade him until they know if Rodriguez is content being John Axford's set-up man.  Yesterday, MLBTR's Steve Adams examined how Rodriguez's decision to accept arbitration affects the Brewers' offseason plans.
  • Carlos Pena is "in play" as a possibility for the Cardinals, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network.  Heyman hasn't heard anything yet about the Cards possibly entering the Prince Fielder sweepstakes.
  • David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution hears from a friend of Tony La Russa that the ex-Cardinals skipper had already made up his mind about retirement two months before the World Series.
  • The Reds met with Brandon Phillips' agents on Wednesday and presented a new contract offer, reports John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.  “I don’t know if they were completely happy…they didn’t agree to it,” said Reds GM Walt Jocketty.  Fay's piece also mentions that the Reds were planning to make a pick in yesterday's Rule 5 draft, but the player was gone before Cincinnati would draft in the 14th overall spot.
  • The Pirates took the "portfolio approach" at the Winter Meetings, GM Neal Huntington tells Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  The Bucs addressed several needs during the Meetings and Huntington said the team has enough payroll flexibility to make more moves if necessary this offseason.
  • Contract details for some of these new Pirates are provided by MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch.
  • The Astros have some quality prospects, but John Manuel of Baseball America writes that their farm system still needs major help after years of bad drafts.

NL Central Notes: Cardinals, Luhnow, Pirates, Poreda

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Wrapping up a few NL Central loose ends from the Winter Meetings:

  • GM John Mozeliak said Thursday that the Cardinals will "redeploy the resources" that had been allotted for Albert Pujols, writes MLB.com's Matthew Leach.
  • Jon Heyman of the MLB Network tweets that the Cardinals figure to non-tender Ryan Theriot, and names the Mets, Braves, Astros, Reds, Blue Jays, and Royals as teams who may have interest in the infielder.
  • New Astros GM Jeff Luhnow was introduced today and said he's "very optimistic" about taking the club in the right direction, as MLB.com's Brian McTaggart writes.
  • The Pirates' deal with Erik Bedard includes $500K in potential innings bonuses, tweets ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick.
  • In the Triple-A portion of today's Rule 5 draft, the Pirates selected Aaron Poreda, tweets John Manuel of Baseball America. The former first-rounder was part of the trade that sent Jake Peavy from the Padres to the White Sox in 2009.

2011 Rule 5 Draft Results

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Rule 5 players must stay with their new big league club all year or be offered back to the old team. MLB.com has a full recap of both the Major League and minor league portions of the draft. The results of the Major League phase are listed below:

  1. Astros take Rhiner Cruz from Mets.
  2. Twins take Terry Doyle from White Sox.
  3. Mariners take Lucas Luetge from Brewers.
  4. Orioles take Ryan Flaherty from Cubs.
  5. Royals take Cesar Cabral from Red Sox; traded to Yankees for cash.
  6. Cubs take Lendy Castillo from Phillies.
  7. Padres
  8. Pirates take Gustavo Nunez from Tigers.
  9. Marlins
  10. Rockies
  11. Athletics
  12. Mets
  13. White Sox
  14. Reds
  15. Indians
  16. Nationals
  17. Blue Jays
  18. Dodgers
  19. Angels
  20. Giants
  21. Braves take Robert Fish from Angels.
  22. Cardinals take Erik Komatsu from Nationals.
  23. Red Sox take Marwin Gonzalez from Cubs, traded to Astros for Marco Duarte
  24. Rays
  25. Diamondbacks take Brett Lorin from Pirates.
  26. Tigers
  27. Brewers
  28. Rangers
  29. Yankees take Brad Meyers from Nationals.
  30. Phillies

Overnight Links: Wise, Gonzalez, Fielder, Rule 5

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Some links for the bleary-eyed readers still awake at their computers/smartphones/tablets:

  • The Yankees are discussing a minor league deal with outfielder Dewayne Wise, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). A strong defender, Wise is probably best known for preserving former teammate Mark Buehrle's 2009 perfect game in the ninth inning by robbing a home run off the bat of Gabe Kapler.
  • Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets that the Rangers met with Scott Boras to discuss Mike Gonzalez today, and they also checked in on Prince Fielder.
  • Brewers GM Doug Melvin said his team probably won't make a pick in Thursday's Rule 5 Draft, tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
  • The Pirates have at least thought about picking Nationals lefty Josh Smoker in the Rule 5 Draft, though it's not a lock according to John Perotto of Baseball Prospectus (on Twitter). Smoker was selected 31st overall by the Nats in 2007.
  • Even with tonight's hiring of Jeff Luhnow as the new Astros GM, it will be interim GM Dave Gottfried and scouting director/assistant GM Bobby Heck calling the shots at the Rule 5 Draft tomorrow, tweets Alyson Footer of the Astros.
  • Baseball America's John Manuel writes that reports of the Twins focusing on pitching led to speculation on Mets righty Rhiner Cruz, but a club source said the team is looking in another direction.
  • The Red Sox compensation from the Cubs for Theo Epstein is expected to be sorted out after the Rule 5 Draft, writes MLB.com's Carrie Muskat.

NL West Notes: Rockies, Stewart, Dodgers

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Earlier today we saw a rare trade between division rivals when the Rockies sent Huston Street to the Padres for a player to be named later and cash. Let's take a look at some other news and rumors from the NL West…

Pirates Release Ross Ohlendorf

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The Pirates have released Ross Ohlendorf, tweets MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch. The 29-year-old had been a Pirate since the Yankees traded him to Pittsburgh in 2008's Xavier Nady/Jose Tabata deal. As Langosch writes, releasing Ohlendorf today will give the Pirates roster space to make a selection in tomorrow's Rule 5 draft.

Ohlendorf was coming off a dismal 2011 campaign in which he posted an 8.15 ERA in nine starts for the Pirates. He was arbitration eligible, and MLBTR's projected a salary of about $2.1MM if the Pirates retained him.

Pirates Acquire Yamaico Navarro

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The Pirates have acquired Yamaico Navarro from the Royals in exchange for Brooks Pounders and Diego Goris, reports Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star first broke news that Navarro was heading to Pittsburgh (Twitter link). The teams have confirmed the deal in respective press releases.

Earlier today, Dutton reported that the Royals were shopping Navarro in an attempt to clear a 40-man roster spot for the Rule 5 draft. The 24-year-old was acquired by the Royals from the Red Sox in the Mike Aviles trade and saw limited big league action in 2011 for both clubs.

NL Central Notes: Brewers, Betemit, Wood, Young

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Some tidbits from the NL Central….

  • Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, GM Doug Melvin and agent Scott Boras (who represents Prince Fielder) had a meeting late last night that Melvin tells Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was unplanned and more of a check-in session.  "Scott just said he wanted to give us an update," Melvin said.  "You never really close the door on anything because you don't know what's going to happen. You can't really read anything into it."
  • Haudricourt doesn't think the meeting is a sign that the Brewers could re-sign Fielder, believing that "Boras basically was giving them a chance to jump in and make an offer that he could shop around to other clubs….More likely, [the team] gave an indication of what they might be willing to do if Fielder decided he wanted to seriously entertain the possibility of staying in Milwaukee."
  • Boras also represents Francisco Rodriguez, and Haudricourt reports the Brewers "got the feeling" in speaking to the agent that Rodriguez will reject the club's arbitration offer today.
  • The Pirates are no longer pursuing Wilson Betemit, reports Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Twitter link).  Biertempfel reported yesterday that the Bucs were close to deals with both Betemit and Nate McLouth, and the club agreed to terms on McLouth's contract today.
  • Kerry Wood wants to return to the Cubs but wants a raise, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  Wood has said he will either pitch for Chicago next season or retire, and last winter signed a one-year, $1.5MM contract with the Cubs that was well below what other teams offered him. 
  • The Reds have spoken to the un-retired Dmitri Young, reports John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link).  Young, 38, has lost 70 pounds and is looking to make a comeback in either the Major Leagues or Japan.  Young played in Cincinnati from 1998-2001.
  • The Astros are looking at Marlins assistant GM Dan Jennings as a candidate for their open general manager's job, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link).  Jennings' name has been connected to several GM openings in recent years but the Marlins have turned down at least four clubs' requests for interviews.  Jennings is under contract to Miami for four more years.

Pirates Sign Nate McLouth

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The Pirates have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with Nate McLouth, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). It's a big league deal worth $1.75MM, tweets Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.  The Pirates have officially announced the signing.

The deal represents a reunion for the Pirates and McLouth, who was drafted by Pittsburgh in 2000 and spent nearly a decade in the organization before being traded to the Braves in 2009. After a disappointing two and a half year stint in Atlanta, the Braves declined McLouth's option for 2012, making him a free agent.

MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch and Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported earlier today that the Pirates were getting close to a deal to bring back McLouth.

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