Cashman believes Hendry will be an “invaluabe resource” (via Levine). “He can scout amateur players; he scouts pro players for us,” he said. “He’s as connected in the game as you can possibly be. Everybody loves this man.”

According to a source close to Levine, the 56 year old Hendry agreed to a multiyear deal with the Yankees. And another source close to Levine said Hendry’s duties will include “looking at minor league players, major league players and spending time with the major league team.”

The Cubs fired Hendry in August 2011. During Hendry’s tenure as a General Manager, the Cubs were 749-748, one game above .500 and won three division titles(2003, ‘07, ‘08).

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Larkin enters the Hall on his third year of eligibility with 495 of 573 possible votes – giving hm 86.4%.   Players must be named on 75% of the ballots submitted to be elected into the Hall of Fame.

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All of those pitchers are available for trades. Floyd, Danks and Gonzalez would probably cost the Red Sox top prospects, but to land Rodriguez, the team would probably have to eat most of his salary.

Danks went 8-12 with a 4.33 ERA in 170.1 innings and Floyd went 12-13 with a 4.37 ERA in 193.2 innings with the White Sox in 2011. Gonzalez went 16-12 with a 3.12 ERA in 202.0 innings with the A’s in 2011. Rodriguez went 11-11 with a 3.49 ERA in 191.0 innings with the Astros in 2011.

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– Carlos Pena remains a possibility to the St. Louis Cardinals to replace Albert Pujols according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports. He adds the the Cardinals could also look at Carlos Beltran and Jimmy Rollins. Whether the will pursue Prince Fielder remains unknown.

– The Texas Rangers are among the teams currently talking to the Oakland Athletics regarding left handed pitcher Gio Gonzalez reports Buster Olney of ESPN. He adds that at least two teams “seem to match up” the A’s demands.

– Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports believes that one of the reasons the Marlins won’t pursue Prince Fielder is because his agent, Scott Boras, would probably insist on a no-trade clause and the Marlins would not change his policy on no-trade clauses. They didn’t do it for Albert Pujols, and they’re probably not doing it for Fielder either.

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If that means the Brewers are moving on even though Fielder’s market is shrinking, as Haudricourt points out, they will probably give Mat Gamel a shot at first base. If Gamel fails, Haudricourt says that a “contingency plan” for the Brewers could be moving Casey McGehee from third to first base.

Fielder hit .299/.415/.566 with 38 HR’s and 120 RBI’s in 569 AB’s for the Brewers in 2011.

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The signing was first reported by Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated.

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The 61-year-old was an ESPN analyst before agreeing to be the Sox’s next manager.  He last managed the Chibba Lotte Marines from 2004-2009, and he last managed in the Majors when he skippered the New York Mets from 1996-2002.

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“Brian and Bruce are certainly two of the finest professionals at their respective positions in all of baseball. They have effectively built and fostered a winning tradition at all levels of our organization. I have no doubt that they will achieve continued success for the Giants in the coming years and beyond,” said CEO Larry Baer.

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– The Chicago White Sox have been trying to move left handed pitcher Matt Thornton since July according to Buster Olney of ESPN. He is owed $12 million over two seasons.

– Olney also points out that the White Sox are “devoted” to the idea of trading John Danks, Gavin Floyd and Carlos Quentin.

– The Colorado Rockies have inquired about catcher Dioner Navarro according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post. He would be the team’s backup catcher if they end up signing Ramon Hernandez. Renck adds that if they sign Hernandez they would probably move Chris Iannetta as well.

– Renck says that the Rockies are exploring trades for Ian Stewart. He adds that the Cubs are apparently interested in Stewart although he’s not sure “what degree” of interest they have.

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The press release continues:

“The search for a new General Manager begins immediately. We are searching for a candidate who has the knowledge, skills and experience to build a winner and a strong commitment to player development in order to sustain success. Our goal is to consistently compete for a championship, and we know the first step towards that goal is to develop one of the top farm systems in baseball. We will hire the best candidate available to achieve our goal.

“Our Assistant General Manager Dave Gottfried will serve as Interim General Manager until the new General Manager is hired. Dave is not a candidate for the permanent position.”

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Even though Blanco has only played three years in the Majors, and last season he hit .201/.350/.327 in 199 AB’s for the Royals’ and Nationals’ Triple-A team. I believe he has the tools to become a solid lead off hitter for a Major League team.

This year in Venezuela Blanco is hitting .336/.486/.500 with 2 HR’s, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 2 HR’s and 13 RBI’s in 110 AB’s as a lead off hitter for Tiburones de la Guaira. In 2009, Blanco won the Final Series MVP in the Venezuelan Winter League. He also walked 30 times and stole 10 bases in 12 attempts.

In my opinion his offensive downsides could be his strikeout rate (28 this season), the fact that he strikes out looking way too much, and his lack of power. But besides that, he is an outstanding lead off hitter, he would make every pitcher work, and has a good approach in most of his AB’s. To be honest, I believe he is the best lead off hitter in the Venezuelan Winter League, and he is, definitely, one of the central pieces of his team Tiburones de la Guaira.

Defensively, Blanco has a career .972 fielding % in nine Minor League Seasons. In Venezuela he has shown he’s a great defender, probably one of the best center fielders in the league. Besides his fielding capabilities, Blanco has shown a good range and a good arm too.

Unless the Giants end up signing Jose Reyes or Jimmy Rollins, I believe they should give Blanco a serious chance to become the team’s new lead off hitter. He would not only help in the outfield, but his OBP (career .367 in nine Minor League seasons and career .358 in three Major League seasons), and stealing abilities would give the Giants a chance to improve their run average per game.

So if you ask me, Vote for Blanco as the new Giants lead off hitter!, but that’s just me. As I said, I’m a huge Blanco fan.

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Even though Ortiz, a Type-A free agent, is looking for a multi-year deal, he could end up accepting arbitration from the Red Sox and forcing the team to reach an agreement before December, 7. McAdam speculates that Ortiz would probably get a salary somewhere between $13.5-$15 million next season.

That would be a lot of money for a Designated Hitter, but it would only represent about $1 million more of Ortiz’s 2011 salary of $12.5 million. Besides that, “it would limit the team’s commitment to the 36-year-old to one season,” as McAdam says.

Also, former Red Sox GM, Theo Epstein, said (via McAdam) that “There’s no such thing as a bad, one-year contract.”

Ortiz hit .309/.398/.554 with 29 HR’s and 96 RBI’s in 525 AB’s for the Red Sox in 2011.

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Ramos had returned to Venezuela to play in the country’s winter league, but before his first game, he was kidnapped while signing an autograph.

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This winter, the closer market has a lot of interesting choices, like Heath Bell, Matt Capps, Joe Nathan, Ryan Madson, Jonathan Papelbon and Francisco Rodriguez. Olney says Bell, Papelbon and Nathan have come up in the conversations.

Another name that has been mentioned is Andrew Bailey, although they would have to trade for him because he’s not a free agent. If they decide to go after a free agent they would have to pay a “premium salary” and surrender a draft pick. If they decide to trade for Bailey the would have to surrender prospects, but they would have control over Bailey through the 2014 season.

According to Olney, Blue Jays GM, Alex Anthopoulos, places a “very high value on player control,” giving the edge of this competition to Bailey. He also adds that it would make sense for the Athletics to trade Bailey now. They won’t be contenders in 2012 and they would get a better deal in return now before Bailey becomes pricey through arbitration.

Bailey was 0-4 with a 3.24 ERA and 24 saves in 41.2 innings for the Athletics in 2011.

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Sullivan says that the Rangers will probably dangle Torrealba to other teams to see what kind of interest they draw. He believes there should be enough interest to get bullpen help in return for the catcher, especially left handed relievers.

Torrealba signed a two-year, $6.25 million deal with the Rangers in November 2010 and is set to earn $3.25 million in 2012. In 2011, Torrealba hit .273/.306/.399 with 7 HR’s and 37 RBI’s for the Rangers.

Napoli, was traded from the Angels to the Blue Jays this past January and four days later, he was shipped to Texas. In 2011, Napoli hit .320/.414/.631 with 30 HR’s and 75 RBI’s for the Rangers.

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“No one in the Twins’ organization wants to win any more than Bill,” Twins Owner and CEO Jim Pohlad said. “He is unquestionably loyal, committed and talented. The Twins goal is to get better in 2012 and beyond. Bill was equally motivated to achieve that goal but we differed in the scope and approach that was required. Going forward, we intend to have additional discussions with Bill about an ongoing role within the organization. We wish Bill, Becky and the entire Smith family nothing but the best.”

“We are fortunate and grateful for Terry Ryan’s willingness to step in as interim general manager,” Pohlad continued.

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The Mets are definitely trying to rebuild the team, and it seems it will be without Wright and Jose Reyes, who will probably leave via free agency. Sherman says that if the Mets could find the young center fielder they’re looking for plus an arm or two, they would seriously consider trading Wright.

Sherman believes the Mets could find a match in the Angels. The Angels have shown interest in Wright previously and they have two outstanding center fielders in Peter Bourjos and Mike Trout. Even though the Angels probably won’t trade Trout, Bourjos remain a possibility for the Mets.

Wright hit .254/.345/.427 with 14 HR’s and 61 RBI’s in 389 AB’s for the Mets in 2011.

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– The Rockies are interested in bringing Jamey Carroll back, but Renck isn’t sure if the Rockies can afford a hitter with no power. He also believes that Carroll’s market value is about $8 million for two years. The same deal that Omar Infante got.

– A return of Mark Ellis hasn’t been ruled out says Renck. Ellis was traded to the Rockies from the A’s back in June.

– Last week, we learned that the Braves were willing to listen to offers for Jair Jurrjens and Martin Prado. Renck believes that Prado is more likely to be moved, and with a rough estimate of $4.5 million for next year, he’s quite affordable for the Rockies. Renck wonders if dangling Seth Smith to the Braves could get the trade talks going, since they need a “corner bat.”

– According to Renck, there’s “mixed opinions on how available” Kevin Youkilis is, but he would be a perfect fit for the Rockies. He can provide some offensive pop and play both first and third base. He will make $12 million in 2012 with a $13 million club option in 2013.

– The Rokcies are exploring the possibility of moving their closer Houston Street, and according to Renck, the Blue Jays and Phillies are possible destinations for the right hander.

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According to CSNBaltimore’s Rich Dubroff, Duquette’s deal appears to be for three-years.

Duquette interviewed with the Orioles on Friday and traveled to Baltimore on Saturday to finalize his contract and met with owner Peter Angelos on Sunday.

Duquette was the GM for the Expos from 1991-1994, then held the same position with the Red Sox from 1994-2001. Though he does have experience running a ball club, Duquette has been out of the league for nearly a decade.

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The Rockies reliever didn’t take well a decision his manager in Venezuela, Tim Teufel made. The team is not willing to take this kind of behavior from anybody says Victor David Melo of El Universal (Venezuelan newspaper).

“Escalona behaved in a way we don’t want out ballplayers to behave. That’s why he’ll be suspended for ten days without payment,” said team president, Luis Avila. “I can’t tell you how he took the disciplinary action, but he didn’t take well the game situation.”

The right hander was taken out of the game after allowing two singles and walking one batter in the top of the ninth and not recording an out. According to team executives his attitude wasn’t appropriate after being taken out of the game. “In this team there’s no room to tolerate indiscipline and we wanted to clear this up so nobody get surprised when they don’t see him in next week’s roster,” added Avila.

Escalona had a 1.75 ERA in 25.2 innings for the Rockies in 2011.

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When this happens the Giants will have to make some difficult decisions. As Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports points out, they will probably not be able to afford all of them, so trading at least one of them for an “impact bat” sounds like a good strategy.

Hoping that Buster Posey and Freddy Sanchez return to their pre-injury performance level for the Giants in 2012 is a strategy the Giants can’t rely on for the off season. So Rosenthal suggests they either spend big on one of the free agents out there like Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols or Jose Reyes, or they trade one of their young starters.

If they decide to trade one of their pitchers, Lincecum appears to be the most “practical move” according to Rosenthal. He is coming off a two-year, $23 million deal and if he keeps performing like he’s been he’ll probably earn about $17 million in 2012 and north of $20 million in 2013.

With that kind of earnings before he reaches free agency he’ll have little incentive to sign a long-term deal. “He can take his chances on the market while perhaps setting a record or two in the process,” according to Rosenthal.

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Crasnick says that Jose Reyes is the “dream candidate,” but that David DeJesus and Kelly Johnson are among the more likely candidates for the spot as they would be “lower-cost free agents.” By signing DeJesus or Johnson, the Tigers will have more money left over to fill the other holes they need to address this offseason.

Yesterday, we learned that the A’s are likely to part ways with DeJesus and he could fill the void that was created when Magglio Ordonez departed.

Johnson hit .222/.304/.413 with 21 HR’s and 58 RBI’s in 545 AB’s with the Blue Jays and Diamondbacks in 2011. DeJesus hit .240/.323/.376 with 10 HR’s and 46 RBI’s in 442 AB’s with the A’s in 2011.

The A’s are on a “holding pattern,” according to Rosenthal until they hear from Major League Baseball if they can build a stadium in San Jose or not, but he says that whatever happens, “they again figure to go young.”

In addition to Willingham, Rosenthal believes the team will probably part ways with “30-something free agents” such as  David DeJesus and Coco Crisp.

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The team recently traded Derek Lowe to the Indians, and by trading either one of Jurrjens or Prado, they would gain more financial flexibility to search for a short stop and to add some power to their outfield adds Bowman.

The Royals have shown interest in Jurrgens, and according to Bowman, the Braves “are interested in a number of Kansas City’s highly-regarded young prospects, including outfielder Wil Myers.” The talented outfielder has been playing great this year in the Arizona Fall League.

Jurrjens was 13-6 with a 2.96 ERA in 152.0 innings and Prado hit .260/.302/.385 with 13 HR’s and 57 RBI’s in 551 AB’s for the Braves in 2011.

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