Rays Don't Offer Arbitration To Russ Springer

Left-hander Brian Shouse and catcher Gregg Zaun were both offered salary arbitration Tuesday night, but the team did not offer arbitration to right-hander Russ Springer.

Rays Official Site

Nationals Don't Offer Arbitration To Ron Villone, Dmitri Young

The Nationals did not offer arbitration to any of their free agents, which include catcher Josh Bard, right-hander Livan Hernandez, outfielder Austin Kearns, left-hander Ron Villone and first baseman Dmitri Young.
Nationals Official Site

Villone is arguably the only Nationals free agent, who has a chance of coming back to the organization. Manager Jim Riggleman called the reliever a leader by example, because he wants to pitch on a regular basis and watches the game from the dugout after completing his work on the mound. Villone pitched in 63 games and had a 4.25 ERA.
All Nats All The Time

Mets Don't Offer Arbitration To Fernando Tatis

The Mets accomplished something Tuesday by doing nothing. The deadline for offering salary arbitration to the free agents who were with the club last season approached, and the club announced it would make no offers to its six remaining free agents -- Carlos Delgado, Fernando Tatis, Gary Sheffield, J.J. Putz, Elmer Dessens and Ramon Martinez.

Mets Official Site

Cardinals Advent Calender, Day One: Jason LaRue

Cowboy continued his role as a contributing backup catcher in 2009, giving the Cardinals a positive return ($1.4m) on their investment ($.95m)

Fungoes

Cardinals Offer Arbitration To Three

The Cardinals shifted course a bit from recent years on Tuesday, offering arbitration to three free agents.
Cardinals Official Site

The Cardinals offered salary arbitration to Matt Holliday, Joel Pineiro and Mark De Rosa but did not offer it to Troy Glaus, the Post-Dispatch’s Joe Strauss is reporting.
Cardinal Beat

The St. Louis Cardinals offered arbitration to three free agents, Matt Holliday, Joel Pineiro and Mark DeRosa and passed on doing so to Troy Glaus.
The Cardinal Nation

Tom Ricketts Meets With Florida Governor

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is trying to persuade the Cubs to move their Spring Training facilities from Arizona to Florida.

Cubs Official Site

Brewers Don't Offer Arbitration To Felipe Lopez, Braden Looper

The Brewers did not offer arbitration to any of their ranked free agents ahead of Tuesday's deadline, meaning the club won't reap any Draft compensation in the event that outfielder Mike Cameron, catcher Jason Kendall, infielder Felipe Lopez or pitchers Braden Looper and David Weathers sign with other clubs this winter.

Brewers Official Site

Tigers Don't Offer Arbitration To Placido Polanco

The Tigers decided to offer arbitration to Type B free-agent relievers Fernando Rodney and Brandon Lyon, but not to Type A free agent Placido Polanco.

Tigers Official Site

Athletics Don't Offer Arbitration To Adam Kennedy, Brett Tomko

None of Oakland's other free agents -- righty Brett Tomko and infielders Nomar Garciaparra, Bobby Crosby and Adam Kennedy -- are ranked, so the A's needn't offer them arbitration. Kennedy is the only one among them in whom Oakland has much interest in bringing back.

Athletics Official Site

Marlins Don't Offer Arbitration To Kiko Calero

Florida did not offer salary arbitration to Type B free agents Nick Johnson and Kiko Calero on Tuesday. Had the club extended arbitration to either of the two, it would have been eligible to receive compensation in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft if they signed elsewhere.

Marlins Official Site

Ruben Amaro Jr. Comments On John Smoltz Rumor, Jamie Moyer Out Of Hospital

"I guess he'd fit the bill (of low risk, high reward). We've talked to several agents about a bunch of different guys. But we don't talk about specific guys unless we're signing them. But he would kind of fit the ball, certainly. I'm not sure if that's a role he wants to play, but we've had some discussions with some of those guys who could give us some more pitching depth."

The Zo Zone

Dodgers Don't Offer Arbitration To Ronnie Belliard

Randy Wolf and Orlando Hudson are Type A free agents. Type B free agents are Ronnie Belliard, Jon Garland, Guillermo Mota, Will Ohman and Vicente Padilla. Rankings are based on a two-year statistical formula for each position group. A Type A player ranks in the top 20 percent at his position; a Type B player ranks in the top 40 percent but not in the top 20 percent.

Dodgers Official Site

Cardinals Leaders Of The 1890's

If we had been alive back in the 1890's we as Cardinal fans would've come out of the 80's thrilled with the 4 straight AA pennants and 2 (one disputed) World Championships. The 1890's would find us thrilled to finally get rid of Chris Von Der Ahe as the owner and happy that the Redbirds would move to the NL. But, we would be less than thrilled by the results.

Redbirds Rap

Astros Don't Offer Arbitration To Miguel Tejada, Cardinals Interested

Jon Heyman Twitter

Red Sox Interested In Adam Kennedy

The Red Sox are leaving few stones unturned in their search for finding an extra infielder. You can now add the name of free agent second baseman-third baseman (and outfielder) Adam Kennedy and free agent shortstop Adam Everett to the list of names the Red Sox have contacted multiple times this offseason to express preliminary and ongoing interest, according to major-league sources.

Boston Herald

Ken Davidoff Talks About Changing His Kind On Mark McGwire

Newsday columnist Ken Davidoff joined us and explained why he is now voting for former Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire on his HOF ballot.

101 ESPN

Royals, Pirates Interested In Jamey Wright

Bob Dutton Twitter

Phillies Interested In John Smoltz

Could the Phillies take a shot at another veteran arm?
ESPN

John Smoltz: Philly Showing Interest

Keith Hernandez Deserving Of Hall Of Fame

To the folks who believe the Mets ought to retire No. 17 in honor of Keith Hernandez, I suggest something greater, a plaque in the Hall of Fame for the former first baseman.

Mets Official Site

Round Two: What Must Cardinals Get Done Next Week?

QUESTION: What do you think Cardinals GM John Mozeliak’s top priorities will be at next week’s Winter Meetings?

STL Today

Tim Kurkjian Comments On Whitey Herzog & The Hall Of Fame

Tim Kurkjian of ESPN joins the show, and he thinks Whitey Herzog has a good chance of making the Hall of Fame this year since he was one vote short last year and he had such a great record.

101 ESPN

The F.A.T. Of The Land: Cardinals Sign Ruben Gotay

As far as NRI’s go, this one is worth a mini-fist pump, even if it’s at the price of looking like a nerd. Gotay is some decent F.A.T. Freely Available Talent, that is.

Play A Hard Nine

Brian Walton & John Sickels On Cardinals Prospects On Tuesday Fantasy Focus Show

I will be back again as one of Jeff Erickson’s guests on Tuesday’s Fantasy Focus show on Blog Talk Radio. This segment is part of a continuing series of “slow reviews” of each organization’s farm system that also feature John Sickels of minorleagueball.com. Tuesday’s show, focusing on St. Louis Cardinals prospects, can be heard live starting at 1:00 p.m. Eastern on December 1 and on demand afterward.

The Cardinal Nation Blog

Cardinals Winter League Notebook 12-1-09

Josh Dew is the player of the day in our daily report on Cardinals prospects past and present in winter ball.

The Cardinal Nation

Cardinals Can Send A Message By Keeping Matt Holliday

By acclamation, outfielder Matt Holliday is the prize of this free-agent class, both in terms of on-field value and the contract he'll command.

Fox Sports

The Declines Of Derek Lowe & Takashi Saito

Looking for a high-priced starter? How about a middle-aged middle reliever? Be careful if those searches take you to Derek Lowe and Takashi Saito. The erstwhile Dodgers have not only left Los Angeles behind, but possibly their best form.

The Hardball Times

DG's 10@10: Your Hall Of Fame Ballot

This past weekend, Newsday baseball columnist Ken Davidoff wrote that he’s changed his mind about Mark McGwire. For the first time, Davidoff wrote, he will be voting for the former St. Louis Cardinals slugger on the Hall of Fame ballot, and it has nothing to do with McGwire emerging from the wilderness as a hitting coach.

Birdland

Graph: When Is The Hot Stove Hottest?

Blogger Peter Hjort at Capitol Avenue Club yesterday tweeted what many baseball fans have been feeling: “My opinion of the hot stove season thus far: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ…” Indeed, the activity on the MLB transaction wire has so far consisted mostly of outrightings and DL activations, with only two trades and a handful of minor signings.

Fungoes

Rockies Offer Arbitration To Jason Marquis

Right-handed pitchers Rafael Betancourt and Jason Marquis have been offered arbitration by the Rockies.

Inside The Rockies

Arbitration Day For Cardinals

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe holiday weekend. Now the calendar has turned, the weather has chilled, and the hot stove is starting to be warmed.

C70 At The Bat

Greene-r Pastures

Selected just two spots after Colby Rasmus in the 2005 draft, Tyler Greene has steadily moved his way through the farm system. Often regarded as something of a raw college talent who had some bad metal bat tendencies, Greene struggled to make consistent contact through the minors and did little to offset that with plate discipline. Defensive metrics for the minors show Greene having everything from slightly below average seasons to well above average ones. His defense is generally regarded as above average for a shortstop and he exhibits good range and a strong arm.

Future Redbirds

Mike Cameron Centered On Playoffs

A longtime NL advance scout watched Mike Cameron late in the 2009 season and came away thinking that even at age 36, Cameron remains one of the game's better center fielders. "He covers a lot of ground out there," said the scout. "He can still play the position."

ESPN

Mets Not Likely To Make Big Push For Matt Holliday

The Mets like Holliday, but it's pretty apparent, whether it's that they don't have the money or don't want to spend it, that they're not going after him the way they pursued Carlos Beltran five years ago.

Newsday

Brewers Might Offer Arbitration To Felipe Lopez, But Not Braden Looper

By midnight Tuesday, teams have to offer salary arbitration to their ranked free agents to keep draft-pick compensation in order should they sign with other teams.

Journal Sentinel

In Any Era, Numbers Are Huge

When the Baseball Writers Association of America announced that St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols won the National League Most Valuable Player Award on Tuesday, it wasn’t a surprise.

Peoria Journal Star

Cardinals Must Offer Arbitration By Tonight

The Cardinals finalized their first free-agent additions of the winter Monday, but the decisions looming today will determine whether the club wants to gamble on potential subtractions.

STL Today