The Phillies could be major players in the outfield free agent market, CBS Sports' Jon Heyman writes. That means they could pursue Jacoby Ellsbury, Shin-Soo Choo, Nelson Cruz or Curtis Granderson. (Of those, Cruz might make the most sense, since the Phillies have expressed interest in right-handed hitting to balance out their lefty-heavy lineup.) They're also interested in the Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton, but it does not appear the Marlins will trade him. Other than Domonic Brown, Philadelphia got little out of their outfield positions last year. Heyman notes that the Phillies also would like relief help. Here are more notes from the East divisions.
- The Braves could increase their payroll from about $90MM to about $100MM in 2014, David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweets. Even if Brian McCann departs via free agency, however, much of that money could be consumed by arbitration raises.
- Of their free agents, the Orioles are most interested in keeping Scott Feldman, Brian Roberts and Nate McLouth, Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com reports. Their other free agents include Francisco Rodriguez, Jason Hammel, Michael Morse and Chris Snyder. They will likely decline their options on Tsuyoshi Wada ($5MM) and Alexi Casilla ($3MM), and they've already outrighted Dan Johnson ($800K). When they decline Wada's option, it will bring his two-year, $8.1MM deal to an end before he even pitched an inning in the big leagues.
