Wednesday Hot Stove

The Hot Stove continues to crawl along at a snail's pace, but there were a few happenings today.

The Cubs are bringing back Jon Lieber, who pitched for the north siders from 1999-2002 and was their last 20 game winner.

The Tigers have signed left-hander Nate Robertson to a 3-year, $21.25 million extension. It's amazing how much you can make at mediocrity.

Marlins pitcher Anibel Sanchez, who tossed a no-no in 2006, won't be ready for the start of Spring Training after undergoing labrum surgery.

The A's are bringing back Kirk Saarloos, who spent the last year plus with the Reds. Saarloos, who was with the A's from 2004-6, signed a minor league deal.

Jose Valentin is going to continue playing and is going to do it as a Met. The 16-year vet signed a minor league deal and accepted an invite to Spring Training.

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Wednesday Hot Stove

Ken Rosenthal reports that the Orioles and Mariners in serious talks about Erik Bedard. The M's are thought to be willing to part with top prospect Adam Jones.

K-Ros also reports that the Marlins are interested in free agent outfielder Luis Gonzalez.

The Chicago Tribune's Phil Rogers believes that an Orioles-Cubs trade for Brian Roberts will happen, and it's just a matter of time.

The Rockies have signed Marcus Giles to a minor league deal, and the Mariners have inked former Yankee Miguel Cairo to a deal. Cairo will try to push Jose Lopez for the starting 2nd Base job.

The Braves are thought to be talking to the A's about centerfielder Mark Kotsay.

Matt Mantei is trying to make a comeback, with the Detroit Tigers showing interest.

Tony Pena and Brandon Lyon are the front-runners for the Diamondbacks' closer job.

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Wednesday Hot Stove

We told you yesterday that the Padres are constantly on the prowl for outfielders. They lost out on Fukudome, but now they are talking to the Pirates about Jason Bay, Nate McLouth, and Xavier Nady. The Pads are also expected to non-tender veteran 3rd baseman Morgan Ensberg. Source

Mark Prior's days in Chicago could be coming to an end. The one-time can't miss, who became can't stay healthy, may be non-tendered by the Cubbies. The team has to decide today whether or not they want to offer arbitration to the right-hander. Source

Jeff Kent was mulling retirement, but has officially told the Dodgers he will be back for the 2008 season. Source

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Wednesday Hot Stove

ESPN News reported this morning that spurned by the Yankees, and not necessarily thrilled by the Red Sox offer, the Twins have reached out to the Mets, Angels and Dodgers about Johan Santana.

One pitcher who won't be on the market any time soon is Jake Peavy. The Padres and their ace agreed to a 3-year, $52 million extension that will keep Peavy in a Pads' uni thru 2012. Source

The Brewers have added reliever David Riske with a 3-year, $13 million deal. Starting with Scott Linebrink's deal, its the setup man's turn to get overpaid. Source

The Rockies are working on a 3-year extension with right-hander Aaron Cook. Cook has seniority among the Rock's home grown starters. Source

The Blue Jays are talking with the Giants about a deal that would swat star-in-the-making outfielder Alex Rios for pitcher Matt Cain or pitcher Tim Lincecum. While you always want pitching, and the Jays would love to deal A.J. Burnett, how do you give up a guy like Rios already? Source

The Orioles turned down an offer from the Mets for Erik Bedard. Reportedly it was Aaron Heilman, Carlos Gomez, and Phil Humber. Omar, what are you smoking? Source

In a minor deal, the Cubs traded relief pitcher Will Ohman and infielder Omar Infante to the Braves for right-handed reliever Jose Ascanio. Source

Now that the Royals have brought in Jose Guillen, they are also considering making a run at Andruw Jones. Source

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Wednesday Hot Stove

The Orioles continue to shop Erik Bedard, with the Dodgers and Mets showing a lot of interest, but the team hasn't decided if they really want to move their best pitcher. The O's have denied having any interest in free agent outfielder Jose Guillen.

Melvin Mora is working in the outfield while playing winter league ball. The O's may move Miguel Tejada to 3rd next season, if they decide to hold on to him. Source

The Rays are sending Rocco Baldelli for extensive tests to determine if is continual hamstring problems are being caused by an underlying problem. It's not the 1st time a team has had an issue like this. The Mets actually re-taught Jose Reyes how to run to help prevent hamstring injuries. Source

The Padres have had extensive talks with free agent outfielder Geoff Jenkins, who has indicated he would like play for them. Source

The Rockies have reached the conclusion that they will most likely not be able to re-sign left-hander Jeremy Affeldt. Amazing how much attention there is for mediocre lefties. Source

According to Newsday, the Mets have set their sites on the A's Danny Haren and Joe Blanton. It's not the 1st time the Mets have tried to acquire one of the right-handers. Source

It's not looking like Aaron Rowand will be returning to his original team. The White Sox and Rowand were on completely different pages in their contract discussions. Source

HA - the Twins have signed utility man Howie Clark to a minor league deal. Who cares? A-Rod has to know what town to yell "HA" in.

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Wednesday Hot Stove

Not too much going on with the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, so today we'll combine the Daily Yankeeland with the daily hot stove report.

First off, MLB can go shove it. Why? They're auctioning off one of the cans of bug spray from the Yankees-Indians-Midge series. Maybe Bug Selig can use it to keep his toupee in place.

People are still questioning the decision by White Sox GM Kenny Williams to trade Jon Garland for Orlando Cabrera. Another questionable deal was brought back to the forefront yesterday when the White Sox released Scott Podsednik. Though Podsednik was part of the 2005 series winner, Williams traded Carlos Lee for him.

The Yankees officially introduced their coaching staff, which was exactly as previously reported. 1B-Tony Pena, 3B-Bobby Meacham, Pitching-Dave Eiland, Hitting-Kevin Long Bench-Rob Thomson, Bullpen-Mike Harkey.

During the conference call to announce the staff, Joe Girardi said that he had recently spoken with Andy Pettitte and will again after Thanksgiving. Source

"I think it's very important that he comes back," Girardi said. "He knows the Yankee way, he was a big plus in the clubhouse as well as on the field, and I know what Andy Pettitte is all about. I would love to have him back."

"I don't have a sense on which way he might be leaning, because I think it's too early to tell," Girardi said. "You can ask any player right after the season how they're feeling and they're all ready for a short break. When you get away from the game for a month or a month and a half, that's when you start missing it.

"It's a family situation," Girardi added. "Andy needs to decide what he feels is best for him and his family, and none of us can make that decision for him.

The direction the Yankees take in putting together their rotation will hinge largely on Pettitte's decision.

Shelley Duncan was hospitalized for 2 days last week with an unknown arm ailment. It's said not to be a long term situation. Source

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