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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Last season, Pena posted a .225 avg for the Cubs but hit 28 home runs in 606 plate appearances while earning $10mm on a one-year deal.

Pena’s return to Tampa is a sort of a home coming, as he spent 2007-10 in Tampa where he averaged 36 home runs and a .238 avg.

Image taken by Keith Allison and used under the Creative Common License Agreement.

The deal was just announced at the Cubs Convention.

The deal will be for one-year at $3mm and will include a team option for 2013 at $3mm (no buyout) as well.

Last year with the Cubs, the reliever signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract and finished with a 3-5 record with a 3.35 ERA.

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This past season, Maholm posted an ugly 6-14 record but had a 3.66 era in 162 1/3 innings. In seven seasons, all in Pittsburgh, Maholm accumulated a 4.36 era with a 53-73 record.

Maholm made $5.75mm last season and became a free agent after his $9.75mm team option was declined for ‘12.

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We are proud to announce that our PRO Rumors Android app version 1.0 is available on the Android Market.  We spent a lot of time on the app’s design and functionality, and we are sure that you’ll love it.  To download the app for an introductory price of $2.99 you can click here.

Here are a few features:

– Push Notifications to get the latest news and rumors for your favorite MLB team

– Pulse-like view of articles – it’s beautiful

– Real-time scoreboard

– Real-time box scores of in-game action

We’re working hard to add more features, so if you have any questions or feature requests, please send an email to support@prorumors.com.  We promise to write you back.

Allan

Wood, on the other hand, lives in Chicago and would like to stay with the club that he spent most of his career with.

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Rizzo who appeared to be blocked now by the recent acquisition of Yonder Alonso will be reunited with his old bosses, Jed Hoyer and Theo Epstein who drafted him in the sixth round of the 2007 draft while in Boston. Rizzo was traded to the Padres last offseason as a piece of the Adrian Gonzalez trade.

Rizzo hit only .141 in 151 at-bats but posted better numbers at Triple-A hitting .331.

Cashner posted a 1.69 ERA in 10 2/3 innings as he was dealt with rotator cuff issues this past season.

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Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun Sentinel adds that the deal is not finalized, but the Marlins have agreed to pick up $2.5 million of Zambrano’s $18 million salary for 2012.

Zambrano went 9-7 with a 4.82 ERA last season with the Cubs. Zambrano appeared on his way out of Chicago as he was suspended twice by the team for his actions and comments.

Back in October, Zambrano first made it known that he wanted to join Ozzie Guillen down in Miami during a radio interview.

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Johnson hit .309 with 76 hits in 246 at-bats with a .348 OBP. Johnson earned $900k last season which breaks down to $11,842 per hit.

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Crisp will earn $6mm in 2012 and $7mm in 2013. The team option has a salary of $7.5mm for 2014 or a $1mm buyout. If Crisp is traded, he gets a one-time bonus of $250K.

Yesterday, Crisp made his decision to sign with the A’s, his agent Steve Comte told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. “Basically, we just have to let that team know.” At the time, the A’s, Blue Jays and Orioles were rumored to have interest, along with the Cubs.

If he signed with the Cubs, he would re-joined another A’s outfielder, David DeJesus who signed a two-year deal earlier in the offseason.

Crisp hit .264 with 140 hits, 49 stolen bases and an OBP of .314.

Image taken by Keith Allison and used under the Creative Common License Agreement.

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Rosenthal says that the team’s financial flexibility isn’t as “significant” as everybody expected, and that’s why they are exploring “more cost-effective moves” like trading for pitchers such as Matt Garza, Gio Gonzalez and Wade Davis.

With Fielder on his way to commanding at least a $150 million contract, and Darvish about $100 million including the posting fee and his contract, the Rangers have cheaper options by trading for any of the above named pitchers.

Garza was 10-10 with a 3.32 ERA in 198 innings with the Cubs in 2011.

Gonzalez went 16-12 with a 3.12 ERA in 202.0 innings with the A’s in 2011 and Davis went 11-10 with a 4.45 ERA in 184 innings with the Rays in 2011.

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– The Houston Astros have hired Jeff Luhnow as their new general manager. (Brian McTaggart, MLB.com)

– The Pittsburgh Pirates have released Ross Ohlendorf. (Jenifer Langosch, MLB.com)

– John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle says the Giants are out on Carlos Beltran. Jon Heyman adds that Beltran’s market appears thin.

– Jimmy Rollins’ agent, Dan Lozano, and manager Charlie Manuel are saying that a deal between the Phillies and Rollins will get done.  (Jim Bowden, ESPN XM Radio).

– Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post says the Washington Nationals are now targeting Roy Oswalt.

– Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports reports that the Detroit Tigers are considered front runners to land veteran right hander Octavio Dotel. Rosenthal also adds that a NL team is also in the mix.

– The New York Mets are shopping Jonathon Niese according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. He adds that the Padres and Rockies are among the teams interested in him.

– Mark Buehrle has narrowed his choice to three teams and according to Juan Carlos Rodriguez of the Sun Sentinel the Marlins are one of them.

– The Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, the Arizona Diamondbacks are among the teams interested in Hiroki Kuroda according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports. He adds that the right hander may go back to Japan.

– According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Athletics will not move left handed pitcher Gio Gonzlaez during the Winter Meetings.

– The Kansas City Royals are looking for an utility infielder, and according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN, they are considering Edgar Renteria and “several others.”

– The Cleveland Indians are interested in first baseman Derek Lee, and according to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com, they are waiting until after Lee decides if he’ll accept the arbitration offer from the Pirates.

– The Colorado Rockies are interested in trading for Edinson Volquez or signing free agents Hiroki Kuroda or Kevin Millwood according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post. He adds that the teams has the money to make the next move.

– According to Buster Olney of ESPN, the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres are talking about a deal involving Huston Street.

– First baseman Carlos Pena said that he will not accept the Cubs’ arbitration offer according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.

– Sussan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle confirms that the Phillies are indeed interested in Gio Gonzalez, and adds that they are also interested in reliever Craig Breslow.

– According to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports, Gio Gonzalez’s “known suitors” are the Tigers, Diamondbacks, Marlins, Reds and Phillies.

– Veteran short stop, Miguel Tejada, is working out in Fort Lauderdale and is hoping to get a Major League deal according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. He adds the the Orioles have no interest in signing him.

– According to the New York Post (via Guillermo Celis of ESPNDeportes), the New York Yankees are listening to offers for A.J. Burnett. He adds that the Yankees are willing to eat about $8 million of the $33 million owed to Burnett.

– The Detroit Tigers are apparently trying to make a strong push for left handed pitcher Gio Gonzalez according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

– Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports says that the Angels and Brewers are among the teams interested in Aramis Ramirez. He adds that the Phillies are no longer interested in the third baseman.

– Peter Gammons says that the Oakland Athletics are considering Josh Reddick and propects for Andrew Bailey.

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– The Minnesota Twins are interested in Jeff Francis according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports. A source close to him says the team already had initial talks with Francis’ agent, and the sides will probably have further discussions at the winter meetings in Dallas next week. The team is also interested in right handed pitcher Edwin Jackson according to Morosi.

– The Nationals, Rangers, Indians and Pirates have all spoke to free agent infielder Mark DeRosa. (Ken Rosenthal, FOX Sports)

– According to Tom Haudricourt of the Journal-sentinel, the Milwaukee Brewers and third baseman Aramis Ramirez have mutual interest. “He has expressed interest in us, too,” GM, Doug Melvin said. “That’s something I always like to hear.”

– Short stop Alex Gonzalez has been drawing interest from the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers according to Jon Heyman of Sprots Illustrated (via Francisco Zambrano of LiderEnDeportes)

– Jorge Posada, who owns a house in Miami, says he still wants to play if he finds the right job reports Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated. He adds that Posada would like to join the Marlins if they consider him.

– The Houston Astros are apparently shopping not only Wandy Rodriguez, but Brett Myers and Carlos Lee too says Heyman.

– The Rockies, who are willing to trade Ian Stewart, say that they are interested in Cubs’ infielder Blake DeWitt according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post.

– The Minnesota Twins are interested in left handed pitcher Chris Capuano according to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

– Infielder Eric Chavez wants to play in 2012 and according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, there are several teams interested in signing him. She adds that the Yankees might be one of them.

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Earlier this month, we learned that the Tigers were interested in DeJesus to be their lead off hitter. DeJesus hit .240/.323/.376 with 10 HR’s and 46 RBI’s in 442 AB’s with the A’s in 2011.

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In the book’s preface, the author quotes work done by a Manhattan lawyer named Doug Pappas. Pappas, says that a team with only minimum wage players, both on the Major League roster and the rest of the 40-man, would still probably win 49 out of the 162 games played.

In 2011, the minimum wage for a player on the 25-man roster was $414,500. The minimum wage for a player on the 40-man roster, with at least one day of MLB service time or had been on the 40-man roster for a year was $67,300.

The minimum that a team could spend on their 40-man roster in 2011 was: $11,397,000. That’s $10,387,500 for their 25-man roster and $1,009,500 for the rest of their 40-man roster. If a team could get approximately 49 wins with a $11,397,000 payroll, that means that if you divide the total wins a team got above their 49th win by the total dollars they paid over the minimum, you get the “price” each team paid for each win they got.

After this brief introduction of the “marginal win” formula, I’m going to say what this report is all about. I’m going to analyze the “price” for each win a team got in 2011 so we can determine which teams were the most cost effective. Besides that, I’m going to list the top 5 paid players on each team and give you their performance line, to see how much they actually contributed to their team.

I’ll also list each team’s OBP, runs and SLG totals so we can see for ourselves how related these stats are at the moment of scoring runs and winning games. So get ready to experience a thoughtful analysis of every 2011 Major league team.

The team’s payroll was taken from USA Today and the individuals salaries from About.com.

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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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Rosenthal adds that although the Rangers moved Neftali Feliz to the starting rotation after signing Joe Nathan, they can’t be ruled out on Garza.

The 27-year old Garza was 10-10 with a 3.32 ERA in 198.0 innings throughout 31 starts with the Cubs in 2011.

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A close source to the hitting coach said that he “doubted” Sveum would take the Cubs’ job without speaking with the Red Sox first.  Yet another source said that his “gut feeling” tells him that Sveum would take the Chicago job over the Boston job if offered both.

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“The managerial search process begins immediately,” Epstein said. “We are looking for someone with whom and around whom we can build a foundation for sustained success. The next manager must have leadership and communication skills; he must place an emphasis on preparation and accountability; he must establish high standards and a winning culture; he must have integrity and an open mind; and he must have managerial or coaching experience at the major league level.”

“Theo called me 10 minutes after they issued the press release (on Quade) and told me that they have a list of guys and I’m not on it,” Sandberg said. “He wished me good luck and said he hoped I got a chance somewhere soon.

“He didn’t owe me that at all. He didn’t have to do that. It was a classy move and I’m very appreciative of the phone call. In the end, I wished him and everybody there good luck.”

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