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Chicago Cubs’ shortstop Starlin Castro became the latest pre-arbitration/arbitration eligible player to receive a contract extension, with the finalization of his seven-year $60 million dollar contract on Tuesday. Castro’s contract is the third major contract of its type for the 2012 season, with the first two going to Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates’ centerfielder, and Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles’ centerfielder. Castro, Jones, and McCutchen are the core players for their respective teams and three of the top young players in baseball.  Below are some interesting numbers to look at in respect to each contract and the player themselves. Guaranteed Years: Castro  7, Jones  6, McCutchen 6 Arbitration Years Bought: Castro  4, Jones  1, McCutchen 1 Guaranteed Millions: Castro $60, Jones $85.5, McCutchen $51.5 Player Age: Castro  22, Jones  27, McCutchen 25 2011 Precontract Stats: Castro 10 HR/66 RBI/.307 BA/.773 OPS/22 SB/-8.7 UZR, Jones 25 HR/83 RBI/.280 [...]

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• Category: Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Miami Marlins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Teams
• Tagged as Adam Jones, Andrew McCutchen, arbitration, contract, Dan Duquette, Giancarlo Stanton, Peter Angelos, pre-arbitration, Starlin Castro

All-Star catcher and first baseman Joe Mauer was placed on waivers Tuesday by the Minnesota Twins, multiple sources have reported. The Twins are in an interesting place with Mauer. At age 29, he remains one of the best catchers in the majors, and although injuries the past 2-1/2 years have taken their toll on him, he is obviously someone the Twins can rebuild around. And with first baseman Justin Morneau’s impending free agency this offseason, a move of Mauer to first base full-time would make sense if Morneau leaves. In addition to filling the hole left by Morneau, it would save a lot of wear-and-tear on Mauer’s body. Mauer’s current contract locks him up through the 2018 season, giving Minnesota [...]

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• Category: Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Minnesota Twins, Rumors
• Tagged as Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins, Terry Ryan, waivers

It looks as though Cliff Lee may be on the move again this season. With the Seattle Mariners underperforming according to expectations, Jack Zduriencik, may be in the market for fresh young talent. Lee is possibly the most coveted arm that is available this season.

• 1 Comment
• Category: Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins, Rumors, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays
• Tagged as Aaron Hicks, B.J. Upton, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Ted Lilly, Wilson Ramos, Yonder Alonso

Baseball is like no other sport in terms of its fans embracing their favorite teams young talent making an impact in the big leagues. Already in this brief season, Jason Heyward of the Atlanta Braves and Ike Davis of the New York Mets have sent their teams fans into a frenzy over their successful debuts. Later this year, we should see even more highly anticipated debuts as such names as Stephen Strasburg, Aroldis Chapman, Justin Smoak, and Starlin Castro are expected to make the jump to the big leagues. I am just like most baseball fans and love to see young talent succeed in the big leagues and with that I decided to compile a list of the top 25 [...]

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• Category: Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Fantasy, Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Teams, Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals
• Tagged as Adam Jones, Alcides Escobar, Andrew McCutchen, Aroldis Chapman, Asdrubal Cabrera, Austin Jackson, Billy Butler, Cameron Maybin, Carlos Gonzalez, Chris Coghlan, Chris Davis, Colby Rasmus, Cristian Guzman, Curtis Granderson, Delmon Young, Dexter Fowler, Elvis Andrus, Evan Longoria, Everth Cabrera, Gordon Beckham, Ian Desmond, Ike Davis, Jason Heyward, Jay Bruce, Julio Borbon, Justin Smoak, Justin Upton, Kyle Blanks, Matt Wieters, Pablo Sandoval, Reid Brignac, Sean Rodriguez, Starlin Castro, Stephen Strasburg, Tyler Colvin

On November 19, 2006, I received a text message from my friend Dan that read “What do you think about the Cubs getting Soriano?” I thought to myself, Alfonso Soriano…the guy that just went 40/40 for the Washington Nationals…my favorite player? As a Chicago Cubs’ fan this was hard to comprehend as the organization does not have a history of going after high profile free agents–let alone getting the best free agent on the market.  I quickly checked ESPN for confirmation of this exciting, yet ambiguous text and was overjoyed to find out that the Cubs were indeed set to sign Soriano. The deal was $136 million over 8 years. No big deal.  Sure, we have “The Fonz” under contract until 2014 and the Cubs will be paying him $18 million [...]

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• Category: Chicago Cubs, Fantasy, Teams, Washington Nationals
• Tagged as Alfonso Soriano, Barry Zito, Derrek Lee

After taking a look at the bounceback candidates in the AL last week, it’s time to take a look at the NL, where some quality names are in line for bounceback seasons in 2010. Brandon Webb (RHP) Arizona Diamondbacks – The former 2006 NL Cy Young winner made only one appearance last season after experiencing shoulder pain during his Opening Day start. After a few months of rest and rehab, Webb finally decided to undergo arthroscopic right shoulder surgery last August, which ended his season. In his last full season in 2008, Webb almost added his second NL Cy Young Award as he finished the season with a 22-7 record to go along with a 3.30 ERA in 226.2 IP. [...]

• 3 Comments
• Category: Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs, Fantasy, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, Teams
• Tagged as Brandon Webb, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Carlos Zambrano, Corey Hart, Dan Haren, David Wright, Jason Bay, Jose Reyes, Ricky Nolasco

It’s that time in free agency where the unsigned are left scrambling to find a new team in time for Spring Training or have to settle for a one-year deal with the hopes of establishing value for a bigger payday next off season. Over the past few days some quality free agents have found new teams for 2010. Ben Sheets – The former Milwaukee Brewers right-hander signed a one-year deal worth $10 million plus incentives with the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday. Sheets is looking to prove to the A’s that he is fully recovered from elbow surgery that caused him to miss the entire 2009 season. The A’s were in attendance for Sheets throwing session last week and came away impressed [...]

• 8 Comments
• Category: Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, Free Agents, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Rumors, San Diego Padres, Teams
• Tagged as Adam Jones, Ben Sheets, Billy Beane, Denard Span, Jason Giambi, Jason Kubel, Jim Thome, Joe Mauer, Jon Garland, Justin Morneau, Kosuke Fukudome, Matt Wieters, Michael Cuddyer, Miguel Tejada, Nick Markakis, Nolan Reimold, Xavier Nady

Free agent pitcher Ben Sheets, formerly of the Milwaukee Brewers, made his biggest step in his path back to the majors yesterday when he held a throwing session for MLB scouts at his alma mater, the University of Louisiana-Monroe. Last off season, Sheets agreed to a two-year deal with the Texas Rangers. However, Sheets failed his physical due to the necessity of surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in his right elbow, which effectively called off the deal and his season. The oft-injured 8 year veteran is now looking to find a market for his services this off season and looks to have found one with yesterday’s session. It is not known exactly how many teams where present for yesterday’s [...]

• 4 Comments
• Category: Chicago Cubs, Free Agents, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, Rumors, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, Teams, Texas Rangers
• Tagged as Ben Sheets, Brad Penny, Jack Zduriencik, Kerry Wood

According to Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com, the Chicago Cubs and Jermaine Dye have mutual interest in each other and are rumored to be in preliminary discussions on a deal. If signed by the Cubs, Dye would be used primarily as a fourth outfielder and as a platoon partner in right field with current outfielder Kosuke Fukudome. Dye has spent the last five seasons on the South Side of Chicago with the White Sox, where he was a productive member for the team during his tenure. Dye has found the free agent market unkind to him as the only other known team interested in his services was the Texas Rangers, who recently signed Vladimir Guerrero to a deal to fill their [...]

• 4 Comments
• Category: Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Free Agents, Rumors, Teams, Texas Rangers
• Tagged as Alfonso Soriano, Jermaine Dye, Kosuke Fukudome, Vladimir Guerrero, Xavier Nady

According to ESPNChicago.com Bruce Levine, the Chicago Cubs have brought future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux back to the organization as the special assistant to GM Jim Hendry. Maddux is expected to provide instruction to the players in Spring Training and aid in scouting during the season. He also will be working with Hendry in the evaluation of the minor league affiliates and potential trades and free agent signings. For his career, the 4-time Cy Young Award winner was one of the smartest pitchers in the game. He was able to dominate opposing hitters by knowing how to pitch the corners and get plenty of movement on his pitches. Sometimes it felt like he knew the hitters strengths and weaknesses [...]

• 5 Comments
• Category: Chicago Cubs, Rumors, Teams
• Tagged as Greg Maddux, Jim Hendry, Lou Piniella, Ryne Sandberg