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Nationals Sign Waldis Joaquin

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The Nationals signed right-hander Waldis Joaquin to a minor league deal that includes an invitation to Spring Training, MLBTR has learned. The hard-throwing 24-year-old became a free agent in November after the Giants designated him for assignment. 

Joaquin made 19 relief appearances for the Giants from 2009-11, including five this past season. He spent most of 2011 at Triple-A Fresno, where he posted a 3.44 ERA with 4.9 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 in 49 2/3 innings. After the season Joaquin pitched in the Dominican Republic to get some work in.

Nationals Interested In Greg Dobbs

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Seeking an upgrade for their bench, the Nationals have expressed an interest in Greg Dobbs according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson. Ladson also reiterates the team's interest in Mark DeRosa.

Dobbs, 33, hit .275/.311/.389 with eight homers for the Marlins last season, playing mostly third base but also seeing time at first and in both outfield corners. He's a .259/.316/.430 hitter in 316 career pinch-hitting appearances, which would be a huge upgrade over the .186/.291/.240 line Washington's pinch-hitters produced in 2011.

National League Non-Tenders

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Here are this year's National League non-tenders. You can also keep track of all teams with our non-tender tracker and check out our list of non-tender candidates:

East Links: Cespedes, Nationals, Hanley

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Some afternoon reading pertaining to Eastern division teams…

  • The Orioles traveled to the Dominican Republic to scout Yoenis Cespedes this past weekend, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNSports. Among those in attendance were manager Buck Showalter, executive director or international recruiting Fred Ferreira, director of international operations David Stockstill, scout Carlos Bernhardt, and bullpen coach Bill Castro. Kubatko says O's brass is staying tight-lipped about whether or not they'll attempt to sign Cespedes.
  • Kubatko's colleague Pete Kerzel writes that the Nationals could non-tender Jesus Flores, Doug Slaten, and Tom Gorzelanny before tomorrow night's deadline.
  • There have been some reports that the Marlins have discussed trading Hanley Ramirez, but MLB.com's Joe Frisaro writes that the Fish aren't looking to Ramirez and those discussions were all intitiated by other teams.

Quick Hits: Pujols, Lee, Davis, Buehrle

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On this day in 2008, the Rays traded Edwin Jackson to the Tigers for Matthew Joyce.  In his first full season for Tampa Bay in 2011, Joyce hit .277/.347/.478 with 19 homers and received his first All-Star nomination.    Here are some links for Saturday afternoon..

  • The personal services clause in Albert Pujols' contract ties him to the Angels for ten years beyond his playing contract, tweets Scott Miller of CBSSports.com.  In total, Pujols and the Angels are set to be in business together for 20 years.
  • The Angels were the only team to call the Cardinals about a possible trade for Pujols in recent years, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links).  The talks never advanced, however, as the Cards wouldn't consider trading him (via Twitter).
  • There's no evidence of any interest in Carlos Lee yet, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network.  Heyman suggests that the 35-year-old might need Prince Fielder to come off the board first before the Astros can trade him.  Last year, Lee hit .275/.342/.446 with 18 homers for the Astros.  The Indians have reportedly considered the veteran but are wary of his price tag.
  • The Athletics’ haul for right-hander Trevor Cahill should be a pretty good indication of what the Rays might expect for righty Wade Davis, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com.  Clubs might not view Davis as highly, but his contract might make him even more appealing to teams such as the Reds and Marlins.
  • According to a person with knowledge of the situation, the Nationals’ final offer to Mark Buehrle was $39MM over three years, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.  Ultimately, the right-hander signed with the Marlins for $58MM over four years.  Ultimately, the Nats' offer was $19MM less in overall guaranteed money and $1.5MM less in average annual value.

Nationals, Tigers Swap Collin Balester For Ryan Perry

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The Nationals have traded right-hander Collin Balester to the Tigers in exchange for another right-hander, Ryan Perry.  The Tigers just announced the move via a team press release.

Balester, 25, has posted a 9.8 K/9 rate over the last two seasons but also has given up a lot of hits (8.4 H/9) and walks (4.0 BB) in that span.  Balester is yet another right-hander in a Tigers bullpen that also features Jose Valverde, Joaquin Benoit, Al Alburquerque and the newly-signed Octavio Dotel.

Perry, who turns 25 in February, was taken by Detroit with the 21st overall pick of the 2008 draft.  After two solid seasons in relief in 2009-10, Perry struggled to a 5.35 ERA in 37 innings last season and only recorded 24 strikeouts against 21 walks.

NL East Notes: Marlins, Rollins, Mets, Zimmerman

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Here's the latest from the NL East, including several aftershocks from the Albert Pujols signing…

  • After missing out on Pujols, it has been speculated that the Marlins could turn their attention to Prince Fielder.  FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reported yesterday that Miami wasn't interested, and today adds that the Marlins' club policy against no-trade clauses would probably keep them out of the running for Fielder anyway.  The Marlins' insistence on avoiding no-trade clauses was a "big reason they lost" Pujols.  (All links are to Rosenthal's Twitter account.)
  • It seemed as if the Phillies could have been the last suitor left for Jimmy Rollins after the Brewers signed Alex Gonzalez, but with Pujols gone, the Cardinals have money to spend on a Rollins contract, writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer.  Gelb's Inquirer colleague Bob Brookover wonders if a Rollins/Cardinals match could be impacted by the fact that Rollins' agent Dan Lozano also represents Pujols.
  • When asked if he would sign with the Phillies, Omar Vizquel told Manuel Lira of the Venezuelan newspaper Lider en Deportes (passed on by ESPN's Enrique Rojas) that "We're working on it."  Vizquel turns 45 in April and would be playing his 24th Major League season in 2012.  Vizquel played under Charlie Manuel when Manuel managed the Indians from 2000-02.
  • David Wright may be the only "untouchable" on the Mets roster, writes Mike Puma of the New York Post.  The Mets seem willing to listen to offers on everyone, though young, controllable players such as Ike Davis would naturally require a high price.
  • What the Mets are paying new bullpen acquistions Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch and Ramon Ramirez isn't out of line with other reliever contracts this winter, notes Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger.
  • Mark Zuckerman of Nats Insider thinks the Nationals should look at Pujols leaving the Cardinals as incentive to re-sign Ryan Zimmerman to an extension.  Zimmerman is under contract in Washington through 2013 and Zuckerman says the club's desire to save money for a Zimmerman extension is a reason the Nats haven't pushed for Fielder this offseason.

Quick Hits: Wilson, Jays, Rule 5, Pudge, Ekstrom

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Let's round up a few Winter Meetings leftovers…

Bidding For Yu Darvish Ends Wednesday

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6:22pm: The Nationals have interest in Darvish, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. GM Mike Rizzo didn't divulge whether the Nats plan to bid, but his refusal to comment suggests to Kilgore that they will.

4:50pm: Now that Darvish has been posted, teams will have until 4:00pm CST on December 14th (four business days) to submit bids, tweets Buster Olney.

12:40pm: The Yankees are unsure about whether they'll bid on Darvish, tweets Buster Olney.  He considers their interest lukewarm.  I think everyone's playing coy at this stage; we'll see where the bids were when the dust settles.  By the way, Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski said this week he will not be bidding on Darvish, according to Jason Beck.

11:07am: The Dodgers won't be bidding on Darvish, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times, but A's assistant GM David Forst wouldn't rule it out in talking to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.  Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News hears the Rangers aren't willing to gamble $100MM on Darvish.  The Red Sox will discuss Darvish but feel pretty good about the front end of their rotation already, GM Ben Cherington told reporters.

4:56am: Following the announcement last night that the Nippon-Ham Fighters will post ace Yu Darvish, Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports write that the Rangers, Blue Jays, and Yankees are all expected to bid on the Japanese righty. ESPN's Buster Olney also tweets that rival executives are expecting both the Rangers and Blue Jays to bid big Darvish, with the Rangers fueled by the expected loss of C.J. Wilson to the Angels or Marlins.

Rosenthal and Morosi write that the Red Sox could be a wild card for a big Darvish bid, as new manager Bobby Valentine, who saw Darvish first-hand many times as manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines from 2004-2009, is said to "love" the 25-year old. FOX's duo also note that both Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos and Rangers GM Jon Daniels saw Darvish pitch in Japan last season.

The posting period will last four days, and the winning team will have a 30-day exclusive negotation period with Darvish and his representatives Don Nomura and Arn Tellem. If a contract agreement cannot be reached between Darvish and the winning team, that team will be refunded the total of the posting fee.

Tim Dierkes and Luke Adams contributed to this post.

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
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