The Texas Rangers placed Vincent Padilla on outright waivers yesterday, one day after he returned from the disabled list only to last 3 2/3 innings while beaning Mark Teixeira twice.
Padilla, who had been targeted to fill the second spot in the Rangers rotation, has expressed a strong desire to stay with the team, according to [...]

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4 sources have reportedly informed Sports Illustrated that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two different steroids in his MVP season of 2003.

The positive tests were allegedly part of MLB’s survey testing which was used to determine if regular random testing would be instituted. However, the federal authorities seized the records as a part of their investigation into BALCO and while the records are still under seal, 4 different sources leaked the information to SI with the condition of anonymity.

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The New York Mets and Yankees are reportedly the favorites to land free agent pitcher Freddy Garcia who is seeking a guaranteed deal despite having only pitched 73 innings combined in the past two seasons.

Garcia, who topped 200 innings pitched in the 04-06 seasons, had shoulder surgery in 2007 and returned to action in September of last year, making three starts for the Detroit Tigers going 1-1 with a 4.20 ERA over 15 innings.

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The Chicago Cubs finished out 2008 by trading super-sub Mark DeRosa to the Cleveland Indians for three minor league pitchers and signed former St. Louis Cardinal, Aaron Miles, to replace him. Miles’ deal is a 2 year agreement reportedly worth $4.9 million. Along with the three young hurlers, right-handed closer Jeff Stevens, right-hander Chris Archer and south-paw John Gaub, the Cubs gained more payroll flexibility for next year with DeRosa due $5.5 million next year.

That payroll, along with the savings from trading starting pitcher Jason Marquis, was used, as expected to ink the switch-hitting outfielder, Milton Bradley to a 3 year deal worth $30 million.

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The Free Agent pool of players got a bit bigger at midnight on Friday when players who were not tendered contract offers from their teams became free agents. I’ve broken the list down by position and as you can see, there are a few surprises here including former Dodgers closer Takashi Saito (2.49 ERA and 18 saves) and Nationals starter Tim Redding (10 wins).

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The Detroit Tigers can check “catcher” off their offseason shopping list after they, according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthall, acquired Gerald Laird from the Texas Rangers in exchange for right handed pitching prospect Guillermo Moscoso as well as a 17 year old pitching prospect.

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Teams have until midnight eastern time tonight to extend offers of arbitration to their free agents and I’ll be updating this page as often as news becomes available about teams’ arbitration actions.

Update

The offers are all in, and according to the AP only 24 players were offered arbitration. The list is as follows:

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MLB.com is reporting that the the Reds have shipped outfielder Josh Hamilton to the Rangers in exchange for two pitchers, righty Edinson Volquez who was 14-6 in the minors last year and lefty Danny Herrera who made 34 relief appearances in Double-A last year.
Hamilton has had a career troubled by legal and drug problems but [...]

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The list of teams interested in non-tendered Mark Prior is getting longer by the day. We already knew the list included the likes of the Reds, Astros, Padres, Nationals, and Rangers but today the Star Ledger is reporting that both New York teams are interested as well. Prior is still coming back from injury but [...]

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Amid conflicting reports that Japanese free-agent Hiroki Kuroda has signed with the Dodgers or the Mariners and that he was “visiting Southern California” it’s hard to know exactly where he will end up. but the Mariners did make a real change to their roster according to a report in the News Tribune. They traded Ken [...]

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