Arbitration and More!

Almost every team in the league is working on arbitration deals for their players and here is how that is going:

Tigers sign Cabrera: The Tigers avoided arbitration with Miguel Cabrera, but are hoping that they can work out a long term deal. Cabrera is young, he lost some weight, and is gearing up for another big year. If he isn't resigned soon, he could be looking at a nine to ten year deal worth 200 million dollars.

Phillies, Howard not close: It is believed that Howard is looking for ten million dollars while the Phillies are offering just about seven. If this were to head to arbitration, I think that Howard would win.

Nationals not finished yet: The Nationals still have two cases to workout: One with John Rauch, who lead the majors with 88 appearances, and Felipe Lopez, who is coming off a poor season.

Yankees likely heading to arbitration: The Yankees are likely heading to arbitration with Chien-Ming Wang and Robinson Cano. No worries here if you are a Yankees fan. The Yankees are known to dish out long term deals only when they need to.

Youkilis wants to go long term: The Red Sox and Kevin Youkilis are still working on a one year deal. Youkilis would love to work out a long term deal though.

In other news....

- The White Sox have not yet finished a deal with Octavio Dotel, but I am hearing they are close.

- According to the Chicago Sun Times, Orioles owner Peter Angelos called off a deal that would have sent seven prospects, one of them Rich Hill, to the Orioles for Erik Bedard and Brian Roberts. One Cubs source I talked to late last night said that they were hoping to get a deal done so they could announce it at this weekends convention.

Orioles President Andy McPhail calls the report pure-fiction and says talks with both the Cubs and Mariners are not dead.

- One unknown team has pulled out of the running for Bartolo Colon, another sign that he is not healthy yet. However, the White Sox and Royals are still interested.

- Sammy Sosa will not be back with the Rangers, and is looking for a job where he can have at least 450 at bats. I wonder where he will end up, if anywhere.

- Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz has been doing a lot of work this off season to strengthen his shoulder, and according to a close source, all is well.

Executives favor Andy LaRoche: According to one major league source, Dodgers executives favor Andy LaRoche at third base over Nomar Garciaparra. Maybe this means Garciaparra will be used as a utility infielder.

Rays make room for Longoria: The Rays are hoping that Evan Longoria will be ready to play everyday at third base next season. Hoping that this will happen, they have told Aki Iwamura that he will be playing second base next season.