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Yoenis Cespedes

Tigers Rumors: Cespedes, Stewart, Ayala

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Some late night Tigers links…

  • Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that general manager Dave Dombrowski's trip to see Yoenis Cespedes in the Dominican Republic is a strong sign of Detroit's interest in the Cuban defender. A team official told Morosi he couldn't remember Dombrowski ever taking a similar step before.
  • Morosi adds that the Tigers checked in with the Rockies on Ian Stewart, but cautions that there have been no serious talks yet.
  • Luis Ayala is a bullpen target as a candidate to fill a seventh inning role, tweets MLB.com's Jason Beck.
  • We heard earlier tonight that Detroit may stay in-house to fill its fifth starter vacancy.

Free Agent Notes: Young, Ross, Cespedes, Oswalt

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Stray notes on various free agents…

  • Dmitri Young is attending the Winter Meetings in Dallas, searching for a contract offer. Danny Knobler of CBS Sports tweets that Young has lost 70 pounds and would go to Japan if he can't land a job with an MLB team. The 38-year-old last appeared in the bigs in 2008 with the Nationals.
  • Outfielder Cody Ross seeks a three-year deal, an NL official tells ESPN's Buster Olney.  The 30-year-old hit .240/.325/.405 in 461 plate appearances for the Giants this year, playing all three outfield positions. He told Jaymee Sire of CSN Bay Area that the Giants are his "number one choice" (Twitter link).
  • The agent for soon-to-be free agent center fielder Yoenis Cespedes is telling teams he'll require twice what fellow Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman received, tweets ESPNBoston's Gordon Edes.  That is, $60MM.  The Rangers, by the way, are unlikely to pursue Cespedes, hears MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan.
  • Roy Oswalt's camp is waiting for C.J. Wilson and Mark Buehrle to sign to see the exact market, as most teams view Oswalt as a fallback option, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
  • Free agent shortstop Rafael Furcal underwent an appendectomy last week, tweets Yahoo's Tim Brown, and is recovering well at home in Florida.
  • Teams are looking at Edgar Renteria as a multi-position utility guy, including third base, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Renteria wants to play for a contender.

Phillies In On Aramis Ramirez

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TUESDAY, 2:19pm: Phillies advisor Pat Gillick met with Ramirez last month in the Dominican Republic, reports Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com.  Gillick also scouted Yoenis Cespedes on the trip, though the Phillies are unlikely to bid.

MONDAY, 9:32am: The Phillies are strong players for free agent third baseman Aramis Ramirez, tweets Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post.  MLB.com's Todd Zolecki confirmed the interest, and guesses Ramirez is a backup plan for Jimmy Rollins.  

A week ago, Ramirez's agent Paul Kinzer named the Angels as one of four or five teams with serious interest in his client, and an offer from the Halos seems likely after Ramirez visited the club.  The Brewers are also in the mix.  Kinzer said in November that Ramirez seeks a four-year deal or three-year contract with an option.

The Phillies have third baseman Placido Polanco under contract for 2012, though the 36-year-old had double hernia surgery in October.

Morosi’s Winter Meetings Preview

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Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports covers some of the major headlines that we'll be seeing over the next four days during baseball's Winter Meetings. Here's a late night look at the highlights:

  • Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder are still the headliners, and Morosi thinks that Pujols will sign first (although not necessarily this week). Once Pujols signs — Morosi predicts he'll remain in St. Louis — it's possible that his the increased number of suitors for Fielder will land him more money than Pujols. Fielder, of course, is also four years younger than Pujols.
  • Fielder prefers teams east of the Mississippi River and teams that can win the World Series in the near future. The list of known interested parties includes the Brewers, Mariners, Cubs, Rangers, Blue Jays, and Nationals. Seattle's rebuilding status and geographic location may remove them from the mix, while the uncertainty around how much Chicago's new front office is willing to spend may remove them as well.
  • Morosi doesn't think Angels GM Jerry Dipoto would've moved Tyler Chatwood without knowing the acquisition of another starting pitcher was close at hand.
  • The Twins remain interested in Edwin Jackson, according to Morosi's sources, but the Scott Boras client isn't likely to sign before fellow free agents C.J. Wilson and Mark Buehrle.
  • The availability of Andrew Bailey, Huston Street, and Brandon League slows down the market for free agent closers, and Morosi speculates that a few wise teams in search of closers will be able to wait out veteran bargains as potential closing gigs dwindle.
  • The Yankees, Tigers, Marlins, and Nationals have been the most active in scouting Yoenis Cespedes. While he's not a free agent yet, his market will be dictated by whether or not teams like Miami and Washington land their other targets at the Winter Meetings and in the coming weeks. Detroit would be most interested if they decide that Cespedes can bat leadoff for them right away.
  • Robert Whiting, an expert on Japanese baseball, told Morosi over the weekend that there's still no word on whether or not Yu Darvish will be posted.
  • Whiting told Morosi that Darvish became disillusioned with the posting process, partly because of the failure of Hisashi Iwakuma and the A's to work out a deal last year. He is also wary of the struggles and ridicule that other NPB stars have incurred in their transition to MLB, Whiting told Morosi.

East Links: Damon, Reyes, Nats, Orioles, Manny

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Some links pertaining to baseball's Eastern division teams as the Winter Meetings draw near…

  • Don't rule out Johnny Damon for the Orioles, tweets Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
  • Marlins people are saying it's still possible Hanley Ramirez could move to center field but a source close to Ramirez says he's already agreed to play third base, tweets Jayson Stark of ESPN.com.
  • Ramirez's agent will not comment on the Marlins' signing of Jose Reyes, writes Tim Brown of Yahoo.  The Fish are expected to ask Ramirez to shift from shortstop to third base to accommodate Reyes.
  • The Orioles are looking for a left-handed hitting outfielder who can back up in center field and possibly platoon in left field, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com.
  • The Nationals center field targets include Peter Bourjos, B.J. Upton, and maybe Angel Pagan if he is non-tendered, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
  • Yankees GM Brian Cashman doesn't think he'll have any interest in Manny Ramirez if he makes a comeback, tweets Daniel Barbarisi of the Wall Street Journal.
  • The Nationals are one team that is maintaining interest in Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes despite his increasing price tag, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Their pursuit of the center fielder may hinge on their negotiations with Mark Buehrle, C.J. Wilson, and Prince Fielder though.
  • Former Red Sox first base coach Ron Johnson will manage the Orioles' Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk, according to the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo (on Twitter).
  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out (via Twitter) that it was new Orioles GM Dan Duquette who signed Manny Ramirez to his eight-year, $160MM contract with the Red Sox and wonders if he might sign Ramirez once more.
  • SI.com's Jon Heyman tweets that Duquette called Ramirez's attempted comeback an "interesting development." The Orioles are in the market for a designated hitter.

Latest On Yoenis Cespedes

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1:15pm: According to an executive familiar with the international market, the Yankees, Tigers, and Marlins have been the clubs with the strongest interest in Cespedes, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.

8:40am: Teams will be lining up to sign 26-year-old Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes as soon as he is declared a free agent, though we still don't know exactly when that will happen. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports spoke to a source (Twitter link) who indicated that the "time frame difficult to say," but it could happen during the "latter half (of the winter meetings) or after."

In yesterday's feature, ESPN's Jerry Crasnick says industry buzz is that it will take upwards of $50MM to sign Cespedes, if not more. Roughly two-thirds of the teams pursuing him believe he can remain in center field with the others expecting him to move to right. One executive compared Cespedes to Cameron Maybin, albeit with more power and less speed.

The Latest On Yoenis Cespedes And Jorge Soler

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ESPN's Jerry Crasnick posted a must read feature on a pair of Cuban outfielders today, 26-year-old Yoenis Cespedes and 19-year-old Jorge Soler. You do not need Insider to view the article. Here's a roundup of the pertinent hot stove news…

  • Cespedes is moving closer to establishing residency in the Dominican Republic, which will then allow him to apply for free agency through MLB. His agent, Adam Katz of the Wasserman Media Group, declined to pinpoint a timetable for when that might happen.
  • "The buzz in baseball circles is that it will take north of $50 million to sign Cespedes," says Crasnick, who notes that estimates have climbed higher in recent weeks.
  • A large number of teams have expressed interest in signing Cespedes, and Crasnick says about two-thirds of those teams project him to play center field. The rest expect him to shift to right.
  • Some clubs have turned their attention to Soler as Cespedes' price climbs, but Pirates director of Latin American scouting Rene Gayo says Soler is "not in the same class."
  • "[Cespedes is] more likely to hit 30 homers than hit .300 and probably compares best to somebody like Cameron Maybin, but with more power if less range and speed," said one executive. "He's stronger and more stocky and may end up on an outfield corner in a few years, but for now he can play center field … For a club like the Yankees or Boston who can afford those investments, he makes some sense.''

Red Sox Notes: Ortiz, Cespedes, Madson, Bell

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Now that they have a new manager, the Red Sox can focus on improving their roster at next week's winter meetings. Here's the latest from Boston…

  • Bobby Valentine was introduced as the Red Sox's new manager yesterday, and today he flew down to the Dominican Republic to meet with free agent DH David Ortiz according to Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe. "I've said 1,000 times that I want to come back to the Red Sox," said Ortiz.
  • Valentine's trip to the Dominican Republic will not include any kind of visit with Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes due to a schedule conflict, reports Jim Bowden of MLB Network (on Twitter).
  • The Red Sox continue to maintain dialogue with agent Scott Boras about free agent closer Ryan Madson, tweets Bowden. They also had discussions with Heath Bell's agent before he agreed to join the Marlins, reports WEEI.com's Rob Bradford.
  • Boston's priorities (in order) are Ortiz, a closer, a starting pitcher, and a right-handed hitting outfielder tweets Bowden.
  • Regardless of who they hired to manage, the Red Sox did not intend to lose hitting coach Dave Magadan according to The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo (on Twitter).

Pirates Interested In Cespedes, Chen, Wada

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The Pirates are interested in outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and free agent left-handers Wei-Yin Chen and Tsuyoshi Wada, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Twitter links). However, they'll quickly back away if the bidding on Cespedes gets "crazy." Cespedes is expected to become a free agent relatively soon and Wada and Chen have been able to negotiate with MLB teams since free agency began Thursday.

Wada posted a 1.51 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 184 2/3 innings for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in 2011. The 30-year-old is a Dallas Braden type with "a 86-87 mph fastball, a good circle change, and a solid slider," according to Patrick Newman of FanGraphs. 

MLBTR's Tim Dierkes suggested last month that a four-year, $20MM deal might be enough to sign Chen. The 26-year-old posted a 2.68 ERA with 5.1 K/9 in 164 2/3 innings this past season.

NL East Notes: Cespedes, Soler, Mets, Posada

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Here's the latest from the NL East…

  • The Braves are not planning to bid on Yoenis Cespedes, despite having some front office officials at one of the Cuban outfielder's recent workouts in the Dominican Republic, reports Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com.  David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says the Atlanta officials were making the trip to visit the team's Latin American operations (both Twitter links).
  • Nationals GM Mike Rizzo was scouting Cespedes in the Dominican, but Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post reports Rizzo was also there to check out Cuban outfielders Jorge Soler and Henry Urrutia, plus right-hander Armando Rivero.  Rizzo predicts Soler will receive a richer deal than Leonys Martin's $15.5MM contract with the Rangers.
  • Mets GM Sandy Alderson talked to reporters today (including Andrew Keh of the New York Times) and said he had had no contact with Jorge Posada's representatives.  It was reported earlier today that Posada approached the Mets about a job and been rejected, though Posada's agent Seth Levinson denied the rumor.   
  • "The reliever market right now is a little bit hard to predict,” Alderson said. “The signings that have taken place so far I think have emboldened agents to this point.”  Alderson was still confident the Mets will obtain some bullpen help at a reasonable price, pointing out that the number of quality arms still on the market.
  • An unnamed NL executive tells Joel Sherman of the New York Post that the Marlins have been "very active.  It'd be no surprise to me if they opened [their] new stadium with Jose Reyes, C.J. Wilson and a new good closer."  The Marlins got the first piece of that puzzle tonight by agreeing to terms with Heath Bell. 
  • Wilson Valdez is a non-tender candidate, but Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer thinks the Phillies should hang onto the utilityman.
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