White Sox shopping jose abreu ??!!?

MCDOC:

Still several caps on the Indians team store site with the Chief on them:

http://www.mlbshop.com/Cleveland_Indians_Caps

Over 20 t-shirts with him, too:

http://www.mlbshop.com/Cleveland_Indians_T-Shirts

Plenty of sweatshirts, too:

http://www.mlbshop.com/Cleveland_Indian ... weatshirts

A bit of a surprise:

Cleveland Indians sign Abraham Almonte to a 1-year deal to avoid arbitration

By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com

phoynes@cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Indians have signed switch-hitting outfielder Abraham Almonte to a one-year deal to avoid arbitration. Earlier on Friday they signed right-hander Dan Otero to a one-year $1.3 million deal to avoid arbitration as well.

The Indians have five other players eligible for arbitration this winter. Danny Salazar, Cody Allen, Lonnie Chisenhall, Zach McAllister and Trevor Bauer were all tendered contracts for 2018 before Friday's 8 p.m. contract.

Almonte, 28, has spent the last three seasons with the Indians. This year he appeared in only 69 games because of right shoulder and left hamstring injuries.

The switch-hitting Almonte made 28 starts in right field, eight starts in center and 10 starts in left field. He started the season well, hitting .289 (17-for-57) with 11 runs and six RBI.

Otero too.

Cleveland Indians‏ @Indians 3 hours ago
We’ve reached a one-year deal with reliever Dan Otero for 2018, avoiding salary arbitration.

As the article said, " Earlier on Friday they signed right-hander Dan Otero to a one-year $1.3 million deal to avoid arbitration as well."

Oops, saw the news on social media earlier so didn't read the article you posted. My bad.

By the way, Adams can now be signed as a FA.


Matt Adams non-tendered by Braves, hits FA

Braves non-tendered 1B Matt Adams.

The Braves tried to shop him around the league prior to Friday's deadline but couldn't find any takers. Adams filled in well while Freddie Freeman recovered from a broken hand but the Braves don't have a place for the defensively-challenged veteran to play heading into the new season.

He hit .274/.319/.522 with 20 homers and 65 RBI in 131 games between the Cardinals and Braves this year. He was projected to make $4.6 million via arbitration and the Braves decided that money would be better spent elsewhere.

Why am I not surprised that a Napoli lover wants to sign a guy who gets on base at a .319 clip...

Seriously though, dude strikes out once every 4 at bats. And K's 4 times for each walk. I pass.

Besides, we don't need another lefty. We need someone who can help us out against lefties. Especially if Santana walks. Which I assume he does in a scenario where Adams is signed.

We've signed Michael Martinez again!

Unbelievable

Carlos Santana - 1B - Indians

Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports that the Angels "remain interested" in free agent slugger Carlos Santana.

Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports first mentioned the Angels as a Santana suitor in mid-November, among a list of teams that included the Red Sox, Mariners, Phillies, Mets, and Indians. Santana, 31, batted .259/.363/.455 with 23 home runs and 79 RBI in 154 games this past season for Cleveland. He rejected a one-year, $17.4 million qualifying offer from the Tribe last month.

2 year deal for Otero.

Jason Kipnis - 2B - Indians

Marc Carig of Newsday reports that the Mets have had talks with the Indians regarding second baseman Jason Kipnis.
Kipnis had a rather disappointing and injury-plagued 2017 campaign for the Tribe, slashing just .232/.291/.414 with 12 homers, 35 RBI and six swipes in 90 games.

The Mets have also spoken to the Tigers about Ian Kinsler and Carig notes that they may approach the Pirates about Josh Harrison at the upcoming Winter Meetings.

Dumping Kipnis would solve a few problems.

Dumping Kipnis would deprive us of an alternative to Brantley in Left Field. Jason had a lousy 2017 and is sort of a loudmouth but still could be a very useful player. I'm willing to trade him, but hope it's part of a package to get someone significant.