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Players To Avoid Arbitration: Saturday

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We'll recap all of the players who agree to deals to avoid arbitration throughout the day here. Be sure to check back in, there's bound to be plenty of updates. Here's yesterday's list.

  • The White Sox avoided arbitration with both Bobby Jenks and Carlos Quentin, signing both to one-year deals. Jenks will earn $7.5MM in 2010, while Quentin will receive $3.2MM after earning just $550K in 2009.
  • The Giants and reliever Brandon Medders avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $820K deal, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.
  • MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reports that the Reds and Nick Masset have avoided arbitration, agreeing to a two-year deal.  Masset is set to earn $1.035MM this season and $1.545 next season, according to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Players Tendered Contracts

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Midnight ET is the non-tender deadline, so we'll keep track of all the players who are offered and/or agreed to contracts today in this post. Keep coming back throughout the day for updates.

Odds & Ends: Mora, Figgins, Tejada, Rangers

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Links for Day 2 of the Winter Meetings, which are taking place in Indianapolis…

  • Add Robb Quinlan to the list of utility men on the Rockies' radar, according to Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post.  Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports names Melvin Mora as another target.  MLB.com's Lyle Spencer tweets of interest from the Twins in Quinlan.
  • The Mariners' deal for Chone Figgins is official, tweets the Brock & Salk show. The team press release notes it's a four-year deal with an option for 2014.
  • Cardinals manager Tony La Russa acknowledged interest in Miguel Tejada, talking to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  By the way, Astros GM Ed Wade is certain he won't re-sign Tejada, tweets Alyson Footer.  Tejada apparently wants multiple years.
  • MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan says the Rangers are considering free agent catchers such as Rod Barajas, Jason Kendall, Yorvit Torrealba, and Jose Molina.
  • WEEI's Alex Speier passes along Scott Boras' comments from an XM Radio appearance.  Boras discussed Matt Holliday, Johnny Damon, Ivan Rodriguez, and Adrian Beltre. 
  • The Brewers are discussing relievers Kevin Gregg and Mike Gonzalez at least internally, writes MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.  The Crew recently lost reliever Mark DiFelice for the 2010 season.  Gonzalez would cost good money and the Brewers' second-round pick (currently #50).
  • Yahoo's Kevin Kaduk asks whether Twitter is helping or hurting the Winter Meetings.  My opinion: hurting.  The information crush was tolerable when reporters all got blogs a few years back, but now it's excessive.  Of course, we're not helping.
  • Jamey Carroll would love to play for the Reds but hasn't received an offer yet, writes MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.
  • The D'Backs offered Chris Snyder to the Rangers for C.J. Wilson and were turned down, reports MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan.  Wilson tweets that he's "borderline offended" by Arizona's offer.
  • The Pirates have had further talks with free agent hurler Justin Duchscherer, says Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but don't expect him to sign soon.  We learned yesterday that the Rockies have cooled on Duchscherer.  Kovacevic also reports that despite scouting Aroldis Chapman, the Pirates are not a player for him.  ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. indicates that Chapman will be showcased in Houston later this month.
  • The Rays and White Sox discussed a Carlos Quentin–Carl Crawford trade, says Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.  Manager Ozzie Guillen implies that nothing is cooking on that front though.  The two clubs also discussed closer Bobby Jenks, but the Rays did not like the asking price.
  • Angels GM Tony Reagins admitted to interest in Hideki Matsui, reports Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times.  Keep in mind, though that the Japanese press is apparently grilling every GM on Matsui.  Reagins also said he hasn't ruled out re-signing Vladimir Guerrero.
  • Carl Pavano explained his decision to accept arbitration from the Twins, in an email to Kelsie Smith of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.  La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune suggests retaining Pavano makes Glen Perkins expendable.
  • The Rangers are not interested in trading for Pirates catcher Ryan Doumit, reports MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch.

Odds & Ends: Pirates, Mets, White Sox

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Lots of teams are packing their bags today. But every trip has a destination…

  • Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette chats with readers. Among other moves, he expects the Pirates to shop Matt Capps.
  • The incomparable Marty Noble quotes a Mets official as saying, "There's more of an understanding now that we need to fix things on more than the Major League level."
  • Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune thinks Carlos Quentin could help himself from "a slight weight loss."
  • Nick Piecoro believes the Diamondbacks have no choice but to pick up Brandon Webb's $6.5MM option for 2010, which is actually an $8.5MM option minus a $2.0MM buyout Arizona can exercise.

Chone Figgins Too Pricey For White Sox?

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Recently, the South Side of Chicago has been identified as a logical destination for Angels third baseman Chone Figgins as he heads into free agency.  However, manager Ozzie Guillen doesn't envision the 31-year-old utility player fitting into the White Sox' budget, reports Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Cowley says that in 2010 high-priced pick-up Alex Rios will take over in center field and Carlos Quentin will move from left to right in place of Jermaine Dye, whose $12MM option is not likely to be picked up.  This leaves one spot open, which could be solved by signing Figgins or retaining Scott Podsednik, who Guillen would "love" to have back.

Podsednik played a slightly below average left field this season, posting a UZR/150 of -3.4 at the position.  Figgins, meanwhile, hasn't played the outfield regularly since 2006. 

Can Figgins be had for less than $10MM per year in a depressed economy?

Odds And Ends: Wagner, Peavy, Melhuse

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Some links for Wednesday morning…

  • Billy Wagner says he could be pitching in the majors within 30 days, according to Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News. If he returns in mid-July, the Mets would have time to evaluate Wagner before deciding whether to acquire more arms via trade.
  • The Royals signed ten of their draft picks, according to MLB.com's Rustin Dodd.
  • Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post reports that Evan Longoria never wonders what it would be like to play for the Rockies. Colorado, who selected Greg Reynolds instead of Longoria back in 2006, has probably wondered what it would be like to have Longoria.
  • Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union-Tribune says the Padres have an insurance policy in place that would potentially recoup money for the team should Jake Peavy miss much time. The details aren't clear, as GM Kevin Towers hasn't looked at the policy yet.
  • Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that catcher Adam Melhuse retired. He had been playing for the Pirates' Triple A affiliate.
  • Carlos Quentin has had second thoughts about his decision to turn down an extension from the White Sox, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.  

White Sox Sign 22

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10:28pm: Quentin gets $550K, while Floyd and John Danks get $520K according to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.

11:42am: The AP reports today that the White Sox signed 22 players, including Carlos Quentin and Gavin Floyd.  Par for the course with prearb players, and we don’t always mention these signings on MLBTR.  I am curious, though, to see if the Sox threw Quentin and Floyd a few extra hundred thousand bucks over the minimum as teams sometimes do.

White Sox Thinking Long-Term With Youngsters?

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MLB.com’s Scott Merkin spoke with White Sox GM Ken Williams on Friday.  The general manager hinted that he’s not planning on rushing into long-term contract talks with young players like John Danks, Carlos Quentin or Gavin Floyd.

"You are way, way too far ahead there," Williams told Merkin. "I have to look at how the Dow Jones did today and see the general state of the economy before we start committing large sums of money out there."

Assitant GM Rick Hahn provided a more optimistic outlook, noting that multi-year contract talks don’t typically take place in early February.  "Historically, you talk about it in Spring Training, in a more relaxed atmosphere," Hahn said. "There has to be a meeting of the minds, with a willingness also on the part of the player and the agent."

Stark’s Latest: Cain, Beltre, Burrell, Wigginton

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Let’s take a look at the latest column from ESPN’s Jayson Stark.

  • Stark wonders why no one has questioned MLB’s apparent trade deadline extension for the Manny Ramirez deal.
  • Currently the idea of the Brewers swapping Prince Fielder for Matt Cain is just fun speculation.  However, it is true the Brewers will listen on Fielder (he is about to get expensive).  The Giants are known to like the big first baseman.  The hangup is Brian Sabean’s reported unwillingness to trade Tim Lincecum or Cain.
  • The Giants also have their eye on Adrian Beltre.  The Mariners want starting pitching, but one year of Beltre is not equal to four of Jonathan Sanchez.
  • The Phillies still don’t want to go past two guaranteed years for Pat Burrell.  Stark points out another complication – Burrell would gain 10-and-5 rights early in a Phillies contract.  Any NL team inking Burrell for four years is a risky proposition given his defense.  If Burrell leaves the Phillies, Stark doesn’t expect the team to sign a major free agent as his replacement.
  • The Indians deserve props for acquiring Anthony Reyes.  Let’s not overdo it though – it’s only been five starts, and his strikeout rate is just 4.0 per nine in Cleveland.
  • The Indians talked to multiple teams about Cliff Lee last winter.  Interestingly, they thought the hardest about swapping him for Carlos Quentin.
  • The Astros were quite willing to trade Ty Wigginton, prior to his massive August.

Gammons’ Latest: Martin, Dunn, Quentin

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Here’s the latest blog post from ESPN’s Peter Gammons…

  • Takashi Saito is mentioned as a free agent this winter, but I believe it’s a situation where he can only re-sign, return to Japan, or retire.
  • Gammons heard talk that Russell Martin could be switched permanently to third base.  In that scenario, the Dodgers would sign a pitching-oriented catcher such as Jason Varitek.  Would that be a good move?
  • Adam Dunn knows it’s cliche, but he intends to prioritize winning over money when he hits free agency.
  • The D’Backs were asking a lot for Carlos Quentin last winter, with the White Sox, Red Sox, and Indians interested.  Josh Byrnes was not able to get Michael Bowden, Jed Lowrie, or Cliff Lee.  Arizona ended up getting Chris Carter from Chicago and flipping him to Oakland in the Dan Haren deal.  Carter mashed 39 home runs in A ball this year.  You can’t say the Diamondbacks gave Quentin away for nothing, since they acquired a crucial component for the Haren trade.
  • A year ago, Yankees GM Brian Cashman asked Joe Torre and his coaches their opinion on a Robinson Cano for Orlando Hudson swap.  Don Mattingly and Larry Bowa were heavily in favor of keeping Cano.
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