Winter Meetings: Heyman's updates
The D-Backs’ rotation is exceptional with the addition of Shelby Miller and Zack Greinke, but they start shifting their focus on bullpen help now. Dansby Swanson, who was the top overall pick of the June draft, is said to be thrilled to be going home to Atlanta. He’s a Marietta, Ga. product. The Orioles are in on Scott Kazmir. They need a lefty because there’s a good chance they lose Wei-Yin Chen to free agency … Baltimore met with Justin Upton‘s representative. Here’s more on the Orioles’ search for an outfielder … The O’s have shown interest in starting pitching. Other teams looking for young arms: Marlins and Yankees. The Cards and Giants are among teams needing starters … After the Aroldis Chapman disaster, the Orioles have received calls on star closer Zach Britton. It appears they prefer to hang on to him for now … The Orioles are one of a few teams to check in on Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. The Cubs are still in the outfield market, and have shown interest in Jason Heyward, Denard Span and possibly others. Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun Times first reported. Here’s more on the Cubs’ search for OF help … Ben Zobrist breakdown: $2M signing bonus; $10M in 2016, followed by $16M in ’17, $16M in ’18 and $12M in ’19. Carlos Gonzalez’s name is getting out there as a possible trade candidate now. Teams seeking OF bat: O’s, Giants, Royals, Cardinals, etc. Here’s the latest on Gonzalez. Hector Santiago‘s name is out there on the market. Alden Gonzalez and T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com first reported. The O’s are one of the teams that has talked about Santiago … The Angels are considering trading from pitching strength. They need third base, outfield and maybe second base help. The O’s are one team that has shown interest. The Marlins first asked for both A.J. Pollock and Patrick Corbin from D-Backs in a big package for Jose Fernandez. Miami later asked for Corbin and four others. Both sides didn’t get close. The Mets and Pirates are discussing a deal involving Mets pitcher Jonathon Niese and Pirates second baseman Neil Walker, as first reported by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Rob Biertempfel. Brett Gardner‘s name is still out there but there’s no evidence of anything close, at least for now. The Mariners, Cubs and Royals have all reached out to the Yankees … The Yankees could now use a Aaron Hicks and Dustin Ackley platoon in left field now that Starlin Castro is at second base. They like Ackley’s bat but Castro is obviously a better fit at second base. John Axford has agreed to a deal with the A’s, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle first reported. His total package with the A’s is $10 million for two years. The Phillies are among teams considering Doug Fister … Houston is making a push to land Ken Giles … Phils have reached a deal with David Hernandez. At this point, Neil Walker seems pretty likely to go somewhere this offseason. The Angels have had talks about Walker, and the Nats and Mets, runners-up for Ben Zobrist, are both targeting him. The Mariners have landed Adam Lind from the Brewers. Both sides talked about a bigger deal that would have included Mike Zunino, though he is not in the current version of this possible trade … Here’s a remarkable Lind stat: Even though he’s played home games in hitter’s parks (Toronto, Milwaukee), he has 83 homers at home and 83 on the road. The Giants are active in outfield market, and open to any of Yoenis Cespedes, Justin Upton, Jason Heyward, Alex Gordon, Dexter Fowler or Denard Span. Here’s the latest on San Fran’s OF search. The Nats are now showing interest in Mike Leake, reports Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, which makes sense. Dusty Baker has link to Leake and Cueto from his days with the Reds … The Nats and Mets, runners-up for Ben Zobrist, are both looking at Neil Walker … The Nats have made Leake an offer. Read more about the team’s pursuit of the free agent here.

Major League Baseball News

Clubs have been informed Hiroshima Carp right-hander Kenta Maeda will be posted. Process begins tomorrow. Any team willing to meet $20 million fee has 30 days to sign Maeda (Reminder: process changed to this before Masahiro Tanaka deal).

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