Starting Pitching Notes: Miller, Leake, Dodgers

Braves president of baseball operations John Hart says that the club is “absolutely not in the mode” of shopping pitcher Shelby Miller, according to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (on Twitter).  For his part, O’Brien (on Twitter) has a feeling that the Braves have not given up on getting infielder Javier Baez or outfielder Jorge Soler from the Cubs in exchange for Miller.  On top of that, a few teams have also reached out with interest in Braves hurler Julio Teheran, as Mark Bowman of MLB.com writes.

Here’s more out of Nashville:

• The D’Backs, Dodgers, and Red Sox are staying in touch with the Braves regarding Miller, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets.
• A person familiar with Mike Leake’s talks thinks he could land a five-year deal for $75-80MM, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com tweets.  To some, that would appear to mark a spike in his market value, though MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes predicted that Leake could net a five-year, $80MM deal way back in early November.
• Agent Rob Martin told MLBTR (Twitter link) that pitcher Brandon Beachy is “100% healthy” as he seeks his next deal in free agency.  Beachy will be prioritizing the best pitching opportunities without any real preference for geographic location.   Beachy was designated for assignment by the Dodgers in July before accepting an outright assignment in August.  From 2010-13 with Atlanta, he posted a 3.23 ERA, 9.2 K.9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 267 2/3 innings. Durability has been an issue since reaching the Major Leagues, however, as he’s topped 100 innings just once in his career and made 10 starts in a season just twice.
• Chris Young turned down the opportunity to sign a three-year deal elsewhere to return to the Royals on a two-year pact, according to Andy McCullough of The Kansas City Star (on Twitter).
• There are five teams in on Justin Masterson, including the Pirates, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).
• As many as a dozen teams are already showing interest in Henderson Alvarez, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets.
• The Tigers and Cardinals both tried to land Jeff Samardzija, according to Heyman (on Twitter).  The Tigers, predictably, were out on Shark once they inked Jordan Zimmermann.