• Left-hander Scott Rice signed with the Cubs.  Rice was picked 44th overall by Baltimore in the 1999 amateur draft, but has yet to get a cup of coffee in the majors after appearing in 377 minor league games.
• Right-hander Jon Huber re-signed with the Dodgers.  Huber last pitched in the majors in 2007 with Seattle.
• Veteran right-hander Scott Patterson re-signed with the Mariners.  Patterson has four major league games to his name, with the Padres and Yankees in 2008.
• The Marlins re-signed Vinny Rottino, and also signed relievers Victor Garate and Frank Mata.  The Fish also removed right-hander Brett Sinkbeil from their 40-man roster.  Sinkbeil was Florida's first-round pick (19th overall) in the 2006 draft, drafted ahead of such notables as Daniel Bard, Joba Chamberlain and Chris Perez.
• Former Tigers outfielder Jeff Frazier signed with the Nationals.  Frazier made his major league debut with Detroit last season, posting a .511 OPS in 24 plate appearances.
• The Orioles removed right-hander Armando Gabino and first baseman Rhyne Hughes from their 40-man roster, and Gabino elected free agency.  Gabino has a 15.12 ERA in 8 1/3 major league innings with Baltimore and Minnesota.  Hughes posted a .530 OPS in 51 plate appearances for the O's last season.
• Pittsburgh released a number of minor leaguers, including a few notable international players.  Taiwanese prospects Sheng-Cin Hong and Chih-Wei Hsu, both signed by the Pirates at the start of the 2009 international signing period, have been let go by the club.  Also released was Dinesh Patel, signed by Pittsburgh in 2008 after being a finalist on the Indian reality show "Million Dollar Arm." Patel, a cricket player, had never pitched or even picked up a baseball before appearing on the show.
• The Rangers reinstated Nathan Haynes from the inactive list and released the outfielder.  Haynes hasn't actually played since 2008.  Drafted 32nd overall by Oakland in the 1997 amateur draft, Haynes never caught on in the bigs, managing 95 career plate appearances with the Angels and Rays in 2007-08.
• Right-hander Chad Reineke, best known for being traded straight-up for Randy Wolf in 2008, has re-signed with the Reds.
• The Tigers outrighted Fu-Te Ni to Triple-A and removed the Taiwanese southpaw from their 40-man roster.  Ni had an impressive 2.61 ERA in 36 outings in his 2009 rookie season, but his ERA ballooned to 6.65 in 22 games with Detroit last year.

Haynes played with the Rays last year and with the Angels in 2007. He’s played all three outfield positions in the majors, but his OPS is .565 in limited playing time.

• Twins reliever Pat Neshek has an acute partial tear of the UCL. Yes, that’s the Tommy John ligament. He won’t throw for at least three months, so his season is essentially over. There’s no word on whether he’ll undergo surgery. I remember hearing over the winter that Neshek was having elbow problems.
• Not that we didn’t pretty much know this already, but Yovani Gallardo has confirmed that he’ll have surgery on his torn ACL. My fantasy team weeps.
• With Ramon Castro coming off the DL, the Mets have DFA Raul Casanova. The best bet is that he’ll clear waivers and head to AAA.
• The Padres have claimed LHP Sean Henn off waivers. He was DFA by the Yankees last week. He was once a highly touted prospect, reportedly hitting 100 on the gun (though I think those reports were exaggerated).
• With the return of Cliff Floyd from the DL, the Rays have no room for OF Nathan Haynes, and have designated him for assignment.

Posted by Joe Pawlikowski.

Cruz’s release was expected. There was some light talk of him possibly being moved to Tampa last week, but that evaporated when the Rays acquired former Angels prospect Nathan Haynes. Ironically, according to Lone Star Ball, Haynes was once offered to Texas along with Casey Kotchman in a proposed deal for Mark Teixeira. Sands through the hourglass…

Control problems have always plagued Tejeda (67/60 K/BB in 2007), but he’s got a live fastball that touches the upper 90s and a decent change to compliment it. Plus he owns Orlando Cabrera (1 for 10 lifetime). It seems likely someone might give the 6′ 3" Dominican another shot.

Aaron Shinsano writes for East Windup Chronicle.

MLB.com’s Lyle Spencer speaks of Haynes’ "sprinter’s speed" and defensive talents at all three outfield positions.  Haynes’ prospect status expired years ago, but he seems equally as valuable as many free agents signed for millions in the last few years.  I think there’s still a lot of talented late-20s players who just need a chance, guys like Haynes, Marcus Thames, and Jack Cust.  Haynes’ path has been slowed by many knee and hernia issues.

PECOTA has Haynes hitting .265/.334/.405 this year; ZiPS is far less optimistic.  I’ll be curious to see how this no-risk move pans out.

• The Rays have claimed left-hand-hitting Nathan Haynes off waivers from the Angels. Rocco Baldelli will be moved to the 60-day DL to make room on the 40-man. Marc Lancaster speculates that Haynes, who is out of options, will take a roster spot that was presumed to be Eric Hinske’s.
• The Mets have given up trying to trade for Rule V pick Steven Register, and are letting him go back to Colorado. He’ll report to Triple A.
• Ruben Gotay, who had been DFA’d by the Mets, has been picked up by the Braves. Adam Rubin also notes that Anderson Hernandez has been optioned to AAA. UPDATE: To make room for Gotay on the 25-man, the Braves have asked for waivers on Scott Thorman. He has cleared, and will report to Triple A Richmond.

Posted by Joe Pawlikowski

• Kevin Towers expects to fill his center field vacancy via trade.  He may first want to wait to see if Mike Cameron accepts the team’s upcoming offer of arbitration.  Cameron is a Type B free agent.  Remember that he will be limited to 137 games in ’07. 
• As for trade candidates, Coco Crisp is on the radar but the Padres smartly won’t part with Chase Headley. 
• Krasovic notes that Bud Black’s connection with Angels manager Mike Scioscia could play a role now that Trader Bill Stoneman isn’t the GM.  Reggie Willits or Nathan Haynes might be in play for the Padres.
• The Padres really seem to like Felix Pie, and could re-open talks that would include Khalil Greene.  They’ve asked about Tony Gwynn Jr. of the Brewers in the past.  And it does sound like the Royals are willing to talk about David DeJesus.
• Sounds like the Padres will offer Andruw Jones $14-16MM on a one-year contract.  Scott Boras hasn’t seemed open to this with Jones, but time will tell.
• The Tigers will have competition from the Padres for Geoff Jenkins.  Krasovic envisions a Jenkins/Scott Hairston platoon in left and expects the Friars to make an offer.
• Two starters will be acquired even after Greg Maddux is retained.  Rehabbing former Mark Prior and Matt Clement would both like to play in San Diego.  There has to be some sort of cosmic rule about having three ex-Cubs in the rotation.  That is not recommended.  Plus the Padres were on Curt Schilling’s list.  And don’t forget the team’s previous trade interest in Josh Towers, who seems likely to be non-tendered and could be solid in PETCO.
• The Padres could pursue David Eckstein as a second baseman and leadoff man.  But that would seemingly block Matt Antonelli for longer than necessary.  Plus such a switch wouldn’t be in Eckstein’s best interests financially.
• Towers likes Jason Kendall, perhaps as a backup, but faces opposition in the organization.
• In another article, Towers lends credence to the theory that the Marlins could sign Alex Rodriguez. 

Perhaps there is some middle ground, like a Hank Conger, Sean Rodriguez, or Erick Aybar?  The L.A. Times says the door is not completely closed on Teixeira but the Angels won’t relent to Jon Daniels’ list.

Meanwhile, the L.A. Daily News sings a different tune.  Doug Padilla suggests an offer of Kotchman, Adenhart, and Reggie Willits.  He does not believe the talks to be dead.

Jermaine Dye or Mike Piazza look like the logical alternatives for the Angels.  Buster Olney believes Piazza to be a fine idea, and I agree.  Interestingly, the Angels kicked the tires of Miguel Cabrera but were rebuffed.

Teixeira may now be left to the Braves, Dodgers, and Red Sox.  I still expect a deal to be made.  The sticking point for an Atlanta appears to be John Schuerholz’s demand to get a solid reliever back with Teixeira if he is to include Elvis Andrus.

The only other major player seems to be the Angels.  The Halos recently tweaked their original offer of Casey Kotchman plus Nathan Haynes or Terry Evans.  There’s now a pitcher in the mix, apparently one of Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders, or Nick Adenhart.  I’d consider this a comparable offer, especially if Adenhart was the one. 

The Dodgers aren’t out of it, but I don’t see them getting Teixeira.