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Odds and Ends: Bordick, Sheets, Bowden

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Here are your Thursday links…

  • Former MLB shortstop Mike Bordick has been hired by the Blue Jays as a minor league infield instructor.
  • Richard Durett of the Dallas Morning News has the transcript of a radio interview with Rangers owner Tom Hicks.  It sounds like his club will make another run at Ben Sheets once he’s back to full health.
  • The Orioles and Cardinals might share players this spring, according to Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun.  "My gut is there would be nothing wrong with it,” said St. Louis manager Tony La Russa. "We’re in different leagues."  UPDATE: That idea was shot down pretty quickly.
  • Mark DeRosa told Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com that he left the Cubs on good terms.  There were rumors of a feud between he and manager Lou Piniella.
  • Contrary to some reports, the Nationals have absolutely not contacted Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava about possibly replacing Jim Bowden.
  • Check out Tim’s interview with "The Yankees: Minors to Majors," a blog.

Cardinals Rumors: Hudson, Schumaker, Ryan

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In a blog update for the Daily News, Tony Jackson reports that, according to the second baseman himself, "several other teams" had multi-year offers out to Orlando Hudson. Who were those teams?

According to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals may have been one of them. Strauss has a quote from Cardinals’ GM John Mozeliak: “We checked it out because we obviously are looking at ways to fill the position, and somewhat to gauge where the market was going."

As for what the Cardinals plan to do with second base in the near future, Strauss writes:

The Cardinals continue to audition Skip Schumaker at the position with Brendan Ryan and Joe Thurston representing his primary competition.

“I’m comfortable with what we have in camp,” Mozeliak said. “Ultimately, if we have to address it, we have another five or six weeks to do so.”

I understand the Cardinals’ perspective here, but I still wonder if Mozeliak isn’t even thinking about calling the agent of Mark Grudzielanek.

Odds And Ends: Royals, Zimmerman, A-Rod

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Links for Saturday…

Orlando Hudson Rumors: Thursday

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Yesterday we learned from MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick that Dodgers GM Ned Colletti has ongoing talks for free agent second baseman Orlando Hudson.  Today, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says the Dodgers appear to be the front-runner for Hudson.  Signing him wouldn’t affect their chances of locking up Manny Ramirez.  MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick says Colletti has also not ruled out relief help from guys like Joe Beimel, Dennys Reyes, or Jason Isringhausen.

Even as divisional rivals the D’Backs may be rooting for the Dodgers to sign Hudson, since they’d receive L.A.’s #17 pick in the June draft as part of the compensation.  Rosenthal says the Royals and other unknown clubs remain in the mix for him, with the White Sox, Cardinals, Yankees, and Mets seemingly not seriously involved.  Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star discusses the Royals angle in a column today.

Cardinals May Have Interest In Juan Cruz

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According to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals took note of the recent sign-and-trade allowance by MLB.  They’re said to have a "passing interest" in Juan Cruz.  Wouldn’t hurt to add another power arm to the bullpen if the price is right.

Strauss doesn’t say it, but the Cards could also look to pull off a sign-and-trade for Orlando Hudson (pure speculation on my part).  The Cardinals have not been linked to Hudson in recent days; the Dodgers and Royals are the rumored suitors.

Cardinals Finish Arbitration Cases

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The Cardinals have reached agreements with their five arbitration-eligible players.  Here are the details, courtesy of Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball:

2009 Cardinals Players in Salary Arbitration
#
Date
Player Name
Service Time
Position
Agreement
1
1/19/09
 Chris Duncan
2.144
OF
1/$825K
2
1/19/09
 Todd Wellemeyer
5.009
RP
1/$4.05M
3
1/20/09
Brad Thompson
3.11
RP
1/$650K
4
2/12/09
‡ Rick Ankiel
5.033
OF
1/$2.825M
5
2/16/09
 ‡ Ryan Ludwick
3.109
OF
1/$3.7M

‡ Settlement reached after player exchanged figures with club

Cardinals Avoid Arb With Ryan Ludwick

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5:26pm: That was quick.  ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark has learned that the deal is worth $3.7MM and carries another $100K in incentives.

5:22pm: Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Cardinals have reached agreement with Ryan Ludwick on a one-year deal.

The exact financial terms are not yet available, but Goold believes "that the two sides settled for above the midpoint of the two salaries entered into arbitration."  Ludwick filed for $4.25MM and the Cardinals offered $2.8MM back when figures were due.

The Cardinals have now settled with all of their arbitration-eligible players.  The club hasn’t required a hearing since 1999.

Isringhausen Could Return To Cards?

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MONDAY, 5:12pm: MLB.com’s Matthew Leach spoke to Cardinals officials Monday, and it doesn’t sound like the club wants Izzy back for another season.

"I think the attitude for most of the winter has been for him to find a situation someplace that wasn’t us," manager Tony La Russa said. "And if that doesn’t work, it’s [already] the third day here. Not that it doesn’t ever happen — it does happen sometimes — but you don’t like guys missing the first three days. I don’t know. We talk about him, and it’s a complicated situation."

3:18pm: Strauss spoke to Isringhausen, who is still interested in signing a minor league deal with the Cards if they’ll have him.  The Dodgers and Brewers are known to have interest, if that doesn’t work out.

SATURDAY: Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said in a radio interview on the Team 1380 that the Cardinals have spoken with Jason Isringhausen’s representatives and could still sign him. The Cardinals are keeping their options open and they could strike a deal if Izzy doesn’t yet have a job in a few weeks.

The Isringhausen discussion comes up near the end of the chat.

Albert Pujols Discusses His Future

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8:22pm: MLB.com’s Matthew Leach gathered a ton of relevant quotes from Albert during the first baseman’s sitdown with reporters on Sunday.

"Do I want to be in St. Louis forever? Of course," Pujols said.  "People from other teams want to play in St. Louis and they’re jealous that we’re in St. Louis because the fans are unbelievable. So why would you want to leave a place like St. Louis to go somewhere else and make $3 or $4 more million a year? It’s not about the money. I already got my money. It’s about winning and that’s it."

5:59pm: Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols was reluctant to speak about his future with the club during the annual Winter Warm-Up in St. Louis back in January.  Well, Sunday morning he opened up a bit more to the Associated Press, via USAToday.com.

"It’s not about the money all the time," the first baseman said. "It’s about being in a place to win and being in a position to win.  If the Cardinals are willing to do that and put a team (on the field) every year like they have, I’m going to try to work everything out to stay in this town. But if they’re not bringing championship caliber play every year, then it’s time for me to go somewhere else that I can win… When I signed my contract I was really happy with what I got.  When that time comes (for another contract) then we’re going to figure it out."

MLBTR had a nice discussion on Albert’s free agent value earlier this winter.  Barring an extension, El Hombre will be free to test the market after the 2011 season.  A .334/.425/.624 career hitter, he is currently just 29 years old.

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