21 Former All-Stars Headline 2018 MLB Draft Club Reps

Twenty-one former Major League All-Stars -- including three Hall of Famers, five Most Valuable Players, four Rookies of the Year, three Managers of the Year, two batting champions and one Cy Young Award winner -- are among the baseball dignitaries scheduled to represent the 30 Clubs at Major League Baseball's 2018 Draft, it was announced today. Amateur players who will attend the 2018 Draft will be forthcoming.

St. Louis Official Site

Could A Cardinal Get The Call From Cooperstown Next Year?

After a winter spent hand-wringing and ballot-parsing, the chewed-over Hall of Fame vote was officially announced Wednesday and the Tim Raines-led Class of 2017 introduced.

Bird Land

Cardinals Trying To Trade For Heath Bell, Jason Bartlett

When it comes to relievers, the Padres, according to multiple officials, want to get out in the market quickly with Heath Bell and Chad Qualls; word is the Cardinals are trying to land Bell and shortstop Jason Bartlett. The Yankees are more interested in Mike Adams, who is earmarked as San Diego’s closer of the future and would come with that price tag. Washington is willing to move ex-Yankee Tyler Clippard, but specifically is looking for a center fielder and has focused on the Rays’ B.J. Upton.

NY Post

Bullpen Help A Hot Commodity

Relief pitchers are viewed by many as the most volatile assets in baseball.

That remains the case now, maybe more than ever before. And that is why relievers will again be among the most desired – and fickle – commodities at the trade deadline.

Fox Sports

Twins Make Kevin Slowey Available, But Where Will He Go?

The Minnesota Twins have chosen Scott Baker over Kevin Slowey as their No. 5 starter, and sources say they are willing to trade Slowey for a late-inning reliever.

Fox Sports

Joel Pineiro Continues Strong Spring In Angels Loss

Few Major League players come to Spring Training as prepared as Joel Pineiro. It shows.

Angels Official Site

Athletics Designate Clayton Mortensen For An Assignment

Oakland designated right-hander Clayton Mortensen for assignment to clear a 40-man roster spot for Balfour. In addition, right-hander Philip Humber was claimed off waivers by the Chicago White Sox.

Athletics Official Site

Cardinals May Not Offer Albert Pujols An Alex Rodriguez Type Deal

Albert Pujols' decision, via agent Dan Lozano, to set a deadline of spring training for a new multiyear deal with the Cardinals, could be a sign things aren't going all that well in the negotiations. But it could also be an attempt to force a deal.

Sports Illustrated

Athletics, Brian Fuentes Agree On Two-Year Contract

The Oakland Athletics have made another move to boost their bullpen, agreeing to terms with free-agent lefty reliever Brian Fuentes on a two-year contract, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Sunday night.

Sports Illustrated

Albert Pujols Serious About Contract Deadline

Logic tells us that the St. Louis Cardinals and Albert Pujols will work out their differences, because the first baseman is to St. Louis what Stan Musial used to be, and Stan The Man has been omnipresent around the Cardinals in the half century since his career ended. The folks who run the Cardinals know how much Pujols means to the franchise and what his departure would mean.

ESPN

Cardinals Have Minor Interest In Jeremy Bonderman

2. Jeremy Bonderman, RHP, free agent — He still hopes to hook on to the end of a rotation somewhere. The Yankees have been in contact with Bonderman’s agents, and there’s minor interest from Texas and St. Louis. Bonderman made 29 starts last season for the Tigers but had a 5.53 ERA and an 8-10 record. He is only 28 and did not suffer any aftereffects from the blood clot in his shoulder that essentially took away almost two years of his career. But he just hasn’t returned to his previous form.

Boston Globe

Free Agent Bargain Bin: Relief Pitchers

Relief pitchers and designated hitters have more in common than it appears at first blush. Sure, when they face off they are tasked with opposing goals, but at a basic level both are asked to sit for large sections of the game, then hop up to ply their trade at a moment’s notice.

Baseball Prospectus

Mets Could Dump Luis Castillo & Oliver Perez Before 2011 Season

Heard this: Among the possible moves that the Mets have discussed internally is simply releasing Luis Castillo, the second baseman they repeatedly have tried and failed to trade. Castillo is about to enter Year 4 of a four-year, $24 million deal, and he is owed $6 million for 2011. Castillo, 35, posted a .604 OPS in 2011, which ranked 291st among 305 players with at least 250 plate appearances in the majors last year. It would not be a surprise to anyone, either, if the Mets dumped Oliver Perez sometime before Opening Day.

ESPN

Brian Fuentes Wants To Close

Jon Morosi Twitter

J.D. Drew's Final Season With Red Sox?

If J.D. Drew has a monster year in his contract year, do you think there is any chance that the Red Sox will re-sign him?
-- Michael F., Winthrop, Mass.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Drew retires after the 2011 season. He would love to spend more time with his family and pursue his "outdoorsman" hobbies. But he will likely take a wait-and-see approach and see how his body feels at the end of the season. The Red Sox have a fairly strong crop of outfield prospects, so I'd expect this will be Drew's last season in Boston no matter what.

Red Sox Official Site

11 Teams Interested In Brian Fuentes

Jon Heyman Twitter

Prospectus Perspective: What's Left On The Shelves?

Where past markets left lots of quality on the shelves for post-Christmas shopping, this year's has been characterized by early response and quick solutions. The risk for the players who have remained aloof is obvious—there are only so many jobs to go around, and as the number of interested parties shrinks, so too do the opportunities to avoid ignominies like unpacked bags in February, taking those phone calls from Japan or Korea, or wondering what kind of time serving a few months in the Atlantic League would be: quality, or slow.

Baseball Prospectus

Rockies Possibly Interested In Brett Tomko

The relief and catching jobs are major ones to fill, but the Rockies also will need to add depth to the rotation. A veteran like Bartolo Colon or Brett Tomko could help in that regard. As it stands now, there are seven viable candidates for the five rotation jobs, so there isn't much protection in case of injury.

Rockies Official Site

Tony LaRussa's Take On The Hot Topics

In the same setting he once used to describe the Scott Rolen situation in irreversible details and to insist that lefty closer Brian Fuentes was the team's "top priority," St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa was relatively tame Wednesday when he met with the media at the annual Winter Meetings.

STL Today

Brian Fuentes Looking For $6-8 Million A Year

Buster Olney Twitter