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NL Central Links: Molina, Cards, Dempster, Reds

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Congratulations to Brewers GM Doug Melvin for his induction into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.  Joining Melvin in the 2012 CBHOF class are former Major Leaguers Rheal Cormier and Rusty Staub, plus Canada's gold-medal winning baseball team from the 2011 Pan Am Games.  The official induction ceremony takes place on June 23 in St. Marys, Ontario.

Some news from around the NL Central….

  • Yadier Molina's contract negotiations shouldn't impact either his or the Cardinals' performance in 2012, manager Mike Matheny tells Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  Matheny said that Albert Pujols' departure won't influence Molina's own contract situation, though Molina is understandably disappointed that his good friend left St. Louis to sign with the Angels.
  • Also from Strauss, he runs through 11 outstanding questions facing the Cardinals heading into the season.
  • Ryan Dempster expressed an interest in remaining with the Cubs for the rest of career during an interview on MLB Network Radio's First Pitch on Thursday (interview highlights courtesy of CSN Chicago's Patrick Mooney).  Dempster exercised a $14MM player option to stay with the Cubs in 2012 but it's uncertain if the rebuilding Cubs would try to bring him back in free agency.
  • The Reds' current TV contract is believed to run through 2016 and pays the team around $10MM per year, reports John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.  Fay thinks the Reds will need a major upgrade in their next cable contract to compete with teams like the Angels and Padres, who have completed, or are close to competing, much more lucractive TV deals.
  • MLB.com's Tom Singer thinks Edwin Jackson (and agent Scott Boras) made a mistake in turning down one-year and three-year offers from the Pirates to sign a one-year, $11MM deal with the Nationals.  Singer feels Jackson would've re-established his value better pitching in the NL Central on the one-year contract, and the three-year deal would've given Jackson some security against either a drop in form or getting "swallowed up by a market that might include the likes of Matt Cain, Zack Greinke and Cole Hamels."

Quick Hits: Oswalt, Renteria, Pirates, Indians

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Links for Friday…

  • ESPN.com's Jayson Stark says Roy Oswalt is not going to sign with the Rangers or Phillies. The right-hander could end up in Boston, where he doesn't seem to want to play, or with the Cardinals, who are interested if Oswalt agrees to their terms.
  • Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com suggests the Brewers, Cubs and Astros are all fits for Edgar Renteria, who intends to play in 2012 (Twitter link).
  • Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review discusses the difficulty of luring free agents to Pittsburgh and points out that the Pirates have never signed a free agent for more than $10.5MM, which is what Clint Barmes obtained earlier in the offseason.
  • The Indians don't have any guaranteed contracts on the books beyond 2012, MLB.com's Jordan Bastian points out (on Twitter).
  • Keith Law lists sleeper prospects for all 30 teams at ESPN.com.
  • Matt Eddy of Baseball America has the complete minor league transactions for February 2nd-7th.

Cardinals Sign Scott Linebrink

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The Cardinals have signed Scott Linebrink to a minor league deal that includes an invitation to Spring Training, B.J. Rains of FOXSportsMidwest tweets. SFX represents the right-hander.

Linebrink posted a 3.64 ERA with 7.0 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 38.8% ground ball rate in 54 1/3 innings for the Braves in 2011. The 35-year-old owns a 3.51 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 12 MLB seasons. The Angels were the one team that was publicly linked to Linebrink this offseason. Given their interest in Luis Ayala and others, it appears that GM Jerry Dipoto still seeks relief help.

The Cardinals have also added J.C. Romero and R.J. Swindle to the bullpen mix since winning the 2011 World Series.

Cardinals Sign Dominican Prospect Serrano

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The Cardinals signed Dominican right-hander Andres Serrano for $750K, Ben Badler of Baseball America reports. The agreement, which dates back to October, is still pending an MLB investigation into the prospect’s age and identity.

The 17-year-old Serrano stands 6’3” and has a fastball that clocks in from 90-95 mph. He also has a curveball and change-up, Badler reports. The bonus would be the highest of 2011 for a pitcher from the Dominican, assuming MLB approves the deal.

Central Links: Gordon, Molina, Astros, Braun

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Seven years ago today, the Cubs traded Kyle Farnsworth to the Tigers for Scott Moore, Roberto Novoa, and Bo Flowers. Farnsworth spent half-a-season in Detroit before being traded to the Braves at the deadline. Here's the latest on baseball's two central divisions…

  • Alex Gordon told Rustin Dodd of The Kansas City Star that he and his agent wanted to work out a one-year deal for 2012 before discussing a longer contract (Twitter link). He also confirmed that the Royals have offered him a long-term deal. Gordon avoided arbitration with a one-year pact earlier today.
  • "I love the city. I love the fans, I love the park. But it's out of my hands," said Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch when asked about a new contract (Twitter links). "Whatever they like to do is how it is … They let Albert [Pujols] go. It's business for the team, too. It's out of my hands." Molina can become a free agent after the season.
  • "We're very active in terms of looking at transactions that are happening out there," said Astros GM Jeff Luhnow to Examiner.com's Stephen Goff. "Right now, most of the free agents have signed. Roy Oswalt is probably the last guy out there. We've got our fingers in everything. Are we actively looking to move a player or sign somebody at this point? No. We have got 61 guys coming to camp. From that group of 61, we believe we can get a real good 25-man roster to start the season."
  • Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter) that the arbitrator in Ryan Braun's case won't be limited to the usual 25-day window, so a decision isn't necessarily expected by this Sunday. The Brewers slugger is appealing his failed banned substance test.

NL Central Notes: Greinke, Cardinals, Rodriguez

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All three of the National League's unsigned arbitration eligible players play in the NL Central, as MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows. Here are the latest links from the division…

Latest On Roy Oswalt

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10:45pm: The Reds continue talking to Oswalt, though he'd prefer to pitch for the Cardinals or Rangers, Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports report. Cincinnati would have to clear payroll to add Oswalt and Homer Bailey would be the most likely candidate to be dealt.

9:33pm: Cardinals GM John Mozeliak acknowledges he’ll be ‘opportunistic’ about potential deals, but says he’s not expecting significant moves before Spring Training, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Though the Cardinals and Roy Oswalt had mutual interest in a deal, they couldn’t reach an agreement.

Oswalt was asking for a significant guarantee in terms of role and salary, but the Cardinals aren’t looking to add payroll. The Cardinals haven’t spoken to Oswalt’s agent in the past week or so, Goold writes. The Reds appear to be kicking the tires on the right-hander, but the Rangers aren’t likely to sign him.

Cardinals Sign Alex Cora

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4:19pm: Cora would get $800K in the Major Leagues, the Associated Press reports (via ESPN.com).

12:00pm: The Cardinals agreed to a minor league deal with a spring training invite with infielder Alex Cora, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  On Saturday, MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez reported a deal was close.

Cora will compete for a utility infield role, writes Goold.  The 36-year-old Scott Boras client hit .224/.287/.276 in 172 plate appearances for the Nationals last year, spending most of his time in the field on the left side of the infield.

Cardinals Close To Signing Alex Cora

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The Cardinals are close to signing Alex Cora to a minor league contract reports MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez. The team didn't confirm that a deal was close. Cora is a Scott Boras client.

Earlier this month we learned that the 36-year-old infielder intended to play in 2012, though he was drawing interest as a coach. Cora hit just .224/.287/.276 in 172 plate appearances with the Nationals last season while playing all four infield spots.

Nationals To Sign Edwin Jackson

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The Nationals haven't finished above .500 since moving to Washington in 2005, but there's reason to expect significant improvement from the 2012 club. GM Mike Rizzo continued bolstering his pitching staff today, agreeing to terms with free agent right-hander Edwin Jackson.

Edwin Jackson

The team announced the one-year deal, and Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, who first reported the news (all Twitter links), says the agreement is valued at $11MM. The Scott Boras client will earn $11MM plus incentives this year, Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post reports.

The Nationals' projected starting rotation includes Jackson (pictured), Gio Gonzalez, Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann and Chien-Ming Wang. Every one of the starters except Wang had an average fastball velocity of at least 92 mph in 2011. John Lannan and Ross Detwiler would provide rotation depth, though Lannan is now on the trade block.

Jackson, 28, posted a 3.79 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 with a 43.8% ground ball rate in 199 2/3 innings for the White Sox and Cardinals this past season. The hard-throwing right-hander has averaged 208 innings per season with a 3.96 ERA since 2009, but has a career ERA of 4.46 with 6.7 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 since he debuted with the Dodgers on his 20th birthday in 2003. Jackson ranked sixth on MLBTR’s list of top free agents entering the offseason.

Jackson profiled as a Type B free agent after the season and the Cardinals offered him arbitration. They'll obtain a compensatory draft pick in the supplementary first round of this year's amateur draft, but it won't come from the Nationals. 

As MLBTR's Agency Database shows, the Boras Corporation has quite a presence on the Nationals' roster. Danny Espinosa, Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon, Stephen Strasburg and Jayson Werth are all Boras clients.

Last week the Nationals added Brad Lidge to a bullpen that includes Drew Storen, Tyler Clippard and Henry Rodriguez. Washington's offense finished 24th in MLB in runs scored last year, but improvements to the pitching staff could make them a threat in the NL East this coming season.

Photo courtesy Icon SMI. Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio first tweeted the value of the deal. 

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