Cubs News at MLBTradeRumors.com

Wednesday afternoon linkage as the news continues to fly in from the Milwaukee meetings.. A number of teams remain in play for Grady Sizemore including the Giants, Rockies, Cubs, Red Sox, Rangers, Mariners, and Nationals, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter). The Athletics met with Sidney Ponson's agent today, a source tells Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Twitter). Braves GM Frank Wren and agent Adam Katz are now meeting in Milwaukee, tweets MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith. Katz is a part of Wasserman Media Group and represents a number of players, including Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes.... Zach Links

Here are some notes from the GM Meetings as team owners and presidents check in to Milwaukee’s Pfister Hotel in anticipation of the quarterly Owners Meetings: Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos is strongly considering re-signing free agent second baseman Kelly Johnson. “There’s a lot of scenarios and ways that we could go and bringing Kelly back is certainly one of them,” Anthopoulos said. He declined to comment on possible changes to the Elias rankings system, but it’s something the Blue Jays will monitor closely given the many ranked free agents they have this offseason. Johnson is a Type A free... Ben Nicholson-Smith

The Cubs are telling teams they'll listen to trade offers on everyone this winter while trying to rebuild the team to be competitive in the future, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Danny Knobler of CBS Sports tweeted something very similar around the same time, so perhaps the Cubs are trying to get the word out. ESPN's Buster Olney also joined in, saying Sean Marshall and Matt Garza figure to draw the most interest between now and July 31st. The concept of listening to offers for any player is not unexpected for new Cubs president Theo Epstein and GM Jed... Tim Dierkes

Lefty Bruce Chen has multiyear offers, tweets SI's Jon Heyman. He says the Royals and Cubs are among the teams talking to Chen, with the Royals perhaps focused on him. Chen, a 34-year-old Scott Boras client, has never had a multiyear deal in his career. This year for the Royals he posted a 3.77 ERA, 5.6 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, 1.05 HR/9, and 34.6% groundball rate in 155 innings. Tim Dierkes

It's been a busy first day of the GM meetings, but we don't want to let anything fall through the cracks. Here's a collection of assorted links from throughout the day: The Reds don't intend to make Brandon Phillips available in a trade, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers confirms a rumor we'd heard about previously, telling MLB.com's Ken Gurnick that his team has interest in Hiroki Kuroda. The Red Sox aren't the only team meeting with David Ortiz's agent tonight. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets that the Orioles will also meet with... Luke Adams

The Cubs have had multiple discussions with Mark Buehrle's agent Jeff Berry, a source tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Berry also met with Marlins earlier today. Morosi sums up the other interested clubs: the White Sox, Blue Jays, Royals, Angels, Nationals, and Diamondbacks. Earlier in November, we heard that the Cubs would have interest in the longtime White Sox pitcher if the price tag and years aren't astronomical. Considering the number of Buehrle rumors we've heard so far this offseason, there appears to be plenty of competition, but we don't have a clear idea yet of... Luke Adams

TUESDAY, 11:27am: The Rockies have examined Sizemore's medical records and believe he's worth the risk on a one-year deal, reports Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. The Rockies expect to watch Sizemore work out in the coming days. The A's have no interest in pursuing Sizemore, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. MONDAY, 7:38pm: There's no shortage of interest in Grady Sizemore this offseason. The free agent outfielder has drawn interest from eight teams, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. The Cubs, Rangers, Giants and Yankees are potential suitors for Sizemore, along with the Phillies, Rockies, Red Sox... Ben Nicholson-Smith

Here's a look at some news out of the AL East.. The Rays are concentrating on upgrading at first base, DH, and landing two relievers, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. They want to hang on to their pitching depth, but that would change if Joey Votto of the Reds became available. More from Sherman (via Twitter) on the Rays as he writes that the club is always open to anything, but have it in their budget to keep David Price at $4-$4.5MM as a Super Two. Price could earn $7-8MM in 2012 through arbitration according to MLBTR's... Zach Links

Earlier today, Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein had lunch with embattled pitcher Carlos Zambrano to discuss his future. Here are Epstein's comments on the meeting and more.. Epstein said that Zambrano has a chance to earn his way back' to being a Cub, tweets Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer. Epstein also hopes to make progress on naming a manager this week and will have follow-ups with candidates, Hoynes tweets. The Cubs conducted a phone interview with DeMarlo Hale for the managerial job, tweets Bruce Miles of The Daily Herald. Epstein said that they know the Red Sox... Zach Links

Agent Paul Kinzer confirmed to reporters today that Aramis Ramirez won’t re-sign with the Cubs. Here are the details plus more notes from the exchange (all links go to Twitter): Kinzer says Ramirez won’t be re-signing in Chicago. “That ship has sailed,” he said, according to MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat. Ramirez is looking for a four-year deal or a three-year deal with an option, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Twins GM Terry Ryan expressed interest in re-signing Matt Capps, according to Rosenthal. Kinzer has been getting lots of calls on Capps, but the Nationals haven’t called on the reliever,... Ben Nicholson-Smith

The Astros are likely to leave the NL Central after the 2012 season. Here's the latest on some teams that are staying in the division... Seven or eight teams, including the Reds, have inquired on free agent closer Francisco Cordero, agent Bean Stringfellow told Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. Cordero is interested in returning to the Reds on a multiyear deal. The Cubs announced that Shiraz Rehman joined their front office as an assistant to GM Jed Hoyer. The 34-year-old spent six seasons with the Diamondbacks after interning with Hoyer, Theo Epstein and the Red Sox in 2005. He'll provide Hoyer... Ben Nicholson-Smith

On this date last year, the Red Sox and Marlins swapped Dustin Richardson for Andrew Miller, a deal that didn't really work out for either side. Here are some notes from around the league... Sosnick Cobbe Sports will represent Korean left-handed pitcher Seung-ho Lee according to the agency's Twitter feed. The 30-year-old is a free agent and looking to join a team in MLB. MLB.com's Carrie Muskat reports that the Cubs will hold a private workout session for 26-year-old Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes at some point soon. We're looking to improve the position player side of the roster, said Indians... Mike Axisa

The Cubs, Cardinals, and Red Sox still have managerial vacancies to fill, and each club seems to have narrowed its search to a few finalists. Here are the latest links: SI.com's Jon Heyman reports (on Twitter) that the Cardinals are very high on Matheny, and the race appears to be down to him and Terry Francona. The Red Sox could conduct follow-up interviews with their managerial candidates at the GM meetings in Milwaukee next week, tweets Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald. The Sox met with Gene Lamont today, concluding their first round of interviews, as Lauber writes. GM Ben... Luke Adams

Jonathan Papelbon became the first major free agent to change teams yesterday, agreeing to a four-year contract worth $50MM with the Phillies. Reactions to the contract were generally mixed, though almost everyone agreed that the size of the deal was staggering. Let's round up the latest from the relief pitcher market... Paul Sullivan of The Chicago Tribune reports that Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein has had preliminary talks with Kerry Wood, who is expected to return next season. The 34-year-old righty pitched to a 3.35 ERA in 51 IP after returning to Chicago's north side on a below-market... Mike Axisa

Here's the latest on the search to fill the dugouts in St. Louis, Chicago and Boston.... Cards GM John Mozeliak tells Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he expects the Cardinals' new manager to be one of the team's six finalists for the job: Terry Francona, Chris Maloney, Mike Matheny, Joe McEwing, Jose Oquendo and Ryne Sandberg. Cubs GM Jed Hoyer told reporters, including MLB.com's Carrie Muskat, that the team will probably not conduct any more interviews of managerial candidates. I wouldn’t rule out an additional candidate but it’s not a certainty, Hoyer said. The Cubs have thus... Mark Polishuk

Carlos Zambrano is in no hurry to part ways with the Cubs, and by the pitcher's account the feeling is mutual. Zambrano told Carlos Alberto Zambrano at the Venezuelan newspaper Lider en Deportes (link in Spanish) that he received a friendly call from new team president Theo Epstein on Tuesday, the first contact between the two. According to Zambrano, the conversation started with introductions and ended with Epstein promising to call him at a later date to set up a personal meeting stateside. We talked for a while. Now I'm waiting for him to tell me when we'll meet, Zambrano... Nick Collias

A few odds and ends from the Windy City as Thursday winds down ... White Sox GM Ken Williams said today that the South Siders' 2012 payroll would be a little bit less than 2011's $127MM figure, writes Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. Williams also added that he has had dialogue with free agent starter Mark Buehrle but didn't offer much in regards to whether the lefty might re-sign with the only team for which he's pitched: All we can do is wait until we get to the winter meetings and then have a better idea of where we... Dan Mennella

On this date in 2004, 42-year-old Roger Clemens won his seventh and final Cy Young Award. The Astros right-hander became the oldest pitcher to win the award and the first to win it with four different teams. Here are some links from Houston's division... Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux told reporters, including MLB.com's Carrie Muskat, that he likes Chicago and is honored to be considered for the Cubs' managerial opening. As for Chicago executives Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer, Maddux says they're young and bright like Jon Daniels and others in the Rangers' front office. Highly educated, very motivated, but... Ben Nicholson-Smith

The Tigers signed Jhonny Peralta to a two-year deal on this date in 2010. The shortstop responded with 21 homers and a .299/.345/.478 line in 2011 and the Tigers won their division. Here's the latest from baseball's central divisions, starting in Detroit... Jonathan Maurer, the agent for free agent second baseman Jamey Carroll, told Lynn Henning of the Detroit News that the Tigers would be viewed enthusiastically should they approach Carroll about a deal. Obtaining a second baseman is one of the Tigers' offseason challenges. It doesn’t appear that the Tigers will talk seriously with free agent reliever Joe Nathan,... Ben Nicholson-Smith

5:02pm: Moore clarified his remarks to MLB.com's Dick Kaegel and said he shouldn't have publicly discussed a player under contract with another team (link on Carrie Muskat's blog). “It’s our job as a baseball operations department to listen and explore every potential opportunity that would improve our team,” Moore said. “We spend countless hours doing so and we invite everybody’s opinion as to how it pertains to how we could improve our team. And if one of our people brought up Carlos Zambrano, I would listen and ask questions about why they believe that. That’s all that was and I... Tim Dierkes