Julian Levine has more over at SB Nations' MLB Daily Dish with tweets from ESPN and SiriusXM's Jim Bowden. Check it out.

Now that the Rangers have signed Yu Darvish, there is talk that they may now focus their efforts on signing Prince Fielder to bolster their lineup and in response to the Angels signing Albert Pujols. But, their funds may be limited, and the Rangers front office is saying it is "unlikely" they will sign him. That's front office speak for "we are waiting for his price to come down" and "we aren't going to announce that we have interest BEFORE we sign him".

So, if the Rangers are out of the running for Fielder, who else is interested? The common belief is that the Nationals make the most sense. But, today, over at ESPN Rumor Central, there was this little nugget of info:

Sources told Rumor Central Friday that the Nationals' interest has been grossly overblown and the club now has Mike Morse and Adam LaRoche under contract for a combined $19.5 million. Morse through 2013, LaRoche through next season.

Here, again, is an example of the Nationals positioning themselves as not being interested in an attempt to reduce the price/terms of a possible deal for Fielder. Or are they, in fact, out of the running for Fielder. There has been rumors that they want to sign third baseman Ryan Zimmerman to an extension, which makes sense, as he is one of the best at his position in the game. Could the Nationals be ready to move on with Adam Laroche at first base and Michael Morse in left field this season?

And are the Dodgers ready to swoop in on Fielder? More after the jump:

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I finished writing my Top 12 for 2012 and was reading through my Twitter feed and found this tweet from RotoJesus:

I have thought all along that Fielder would sign with the Rangers, for many reasons, so I had to check out the link. The link took me to an article with quotes from Evan Grant, the Rangers beat writer for the Dallas Morning News. Here is an excerpt:

On if the Rangers' pursuit of Prince Fielder is simply a negotiating tactic for Yu Darvish:

Grant : I think there’s a lot is a lot of negotiating tactic going on here, but I think, when you cut to the chase, I think the Rangers are interest in signing both Yu Darvish and Prince Fielder. I expect the Darvish deal is going to get done. Nolan Ryan has been very upfront about saying he thinks it’s going to get done, they feel optimistic about that. But it’s very, very clear that this is where he wants to be. He’s waiting all winter, guys who normally have the kind of contract demands he has usually sign in December. We’re now in the second week of January and he’s still sitting there unsigned. It appears that he and Scott Boras have been waiting all along for the Rangers to get their Darvish situation settled so they could get down to brass tacks between Prince and the Rangers.

This might be the first time we have heard that Prince wants to play in Texas, and who can blame him? They have lost the last two World Series, and are set to be the favorites in the AL West again. Adding Prince makes so much sense for the Rangers and Fielder.

My thoughts on why Prince Fielder should sign with the Rangers after the jump:

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Greg Johns from MLB.com reports that the New York Yankees have traded catching (?) ...errr....hitting prospect Jesus Montero and pitching prospect Hector Noesi to the Seattle Mariners for starter Michael Pineda and pitching prospect Jose Campos.

@GregJohnsMLBGreg Johns

No confirmation from team, but source says Mariners sending Pineda and Jose Campos to Yankees for Jesus Montero/Hector Noesi.

At first glance, I think this deal hurts the value of both Pineda and Montero. Montero is leaving the hitter's haven in Yankee Stadium and heads to Safeco Field, a huge pitchers park. As a result, Pineda loses value as well.

The fantasy impact of this deal and tweets from Jon Heyman and Buster Olney after the jump. The Yankees may not be done dealing.

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The A's continued to blow up their pitching staff today as they traded starter Gio Gonzalez to the Nationals for 4 prospects: pitchers A.J.Cole, Brad Peacock, Tom Milone and catcher Derek Norris. The A's are rebuilding with the hopes of having a winning ballclub when they eventually move to a new stadium in San Jose in a few years, but this deal helps the Nationals now.

Actually, this deal could put the Nationals into the wildcard race in the NL in 2012, and I think the NL East could be viewed as the toughest division in baseball in 2012, with the Phillies, Braves and now the Nationals and Marlins all looking like very solid contenders.

More on the fantasy impact in a bit. Are the Nationals done trading? Will they go out and sign a Prince Fielder or get in on the Yoenis Cespedes sweepstakes?

As a Danny Espinosa owner, I am just glad he was not included in the deal.

For more on this deal, check out MLB Daily Dish and Baseball Nation.

Update: My thoughts on Gonzalez moving to the NL after the jump:

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This will be a short one as for the first time in a long while, I actually watched a few shows last night, while trying to write. This usually is not a problem, but last night was one of those nights where the thoughts weren't flowing too well. So, my apologies.

Last night we learned that the Indians have jumped into the bidding for free agent outfielder Carlos Beltran. I find this a little strange, as the Indians are a small market team, and already have a set outfield of Michael Brantley, Grady Sizemore and Shin-Soo Choo. What is also surprising is why the Red Sox haven't signed this guy yet. He would be a perfect fit to play right field in Boston. He would also be an excellent fit for the Rays, where he could be a full time DH. Beltran, when healthy, can help any of these teams, and maybe the Indians feel they need a strong veteran presence around their young core of Carlos Beltran, Jason Kipnis and Lonnie Chisenhall.

Speaking of the Red Sox, why haven't they signed Ryan Madson yet? They need a closer. Madson closes. And he needs a job. Just sign him already. Do Red Sox fans think Mark Melancon can close games in a pennant race?

More after the jump:

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It was announced just a little while ago that the Rangers have won the biddling on Yu Darvish with a record $51.7 million bid. The Rangers have 30 days to sign Darvish to a major league contract, or lose his right, whereby they will get the $51.7 million back from the Nippon Ham Fighters.

Yahoo's MLB writer Jeff Passan broke the story here. A few weeks ago, Fake Teams writer Robert Bishop ranked Darvish as his 25th ranked starting pitcher in 2012, and I imagine if he knew he was going to sign with the Rangers, he may have ranked him a bit higher.

Here is Robert's analysis of Darvish in his Top 25 Starting Pitcher profile:

25. Yu Darvish - Nippon-Ham Fighters/Free Agent

It's safe to say that Darvish will divide opinion if and when he is posted - just look to the comments on yesterday's piece, where one commenter said he would rank him no higher than 50, while another said Top 15. Part of the trepidation with Darvish is going to be his status as a Japanese pitcher. Here's an important point: Yu Darvish is not Daisuke Matsuzaka or Akinori Otsuka, anymore than Clayton Kershaw is Chris Young, even though they graduated from the same high school. The fact is that Darvish had a historic season for the Nippon-Ham Fighters in 2011, and it's not his first taste of success. If we accept that Darvish has a chance to succeed in Major League Baseball, then what can we expect? There are people out there suggesting that he could put up a 10 WAR season, based on MLE (Major League Equivalency) calculations they've done, and while I would reject those out of hand, I wouldn't be shocked to see a K/9 approaching 9 with an ERA in the low 2s and a WHIP that is above average. Of course, a lot depends on what organization he ends up with (if he does come over), but for now, 25 seems right...to me, at least.

More on Darvish, Gio Gonzalez and Matt Garza after the jump:

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After Saturday's huge trade that saw the Reds land Mat Latos in a deal for Yonder Alonso, Yasmani Grandal, Edinson Volquez and Brad Boxberger, there is now talk that the Cubs have some interest in trading for Padres first base prospect Anthony Rizzo.

In my analysis of the trade yesterday, I wrote the following:

My second reaction to this deal was what are the Padres going to do with 4 first baseman? Yonder Alonso joins Jesus Guzman, Anthony Rizzo, and Kyle Blanks. Well Bowden reported that Alonso will be the Padres starting first baseman, and Rizzo will go back to AAA for "more seasoning", or could be traded. Bowden speculated that Padres GM Josh Byrnes could offer Rizzo to the Cubs, who need a first baseman and are rebuilding, for Matt Garza. I imagine the Padres would have to give up more than Rizzo for Garza. The Cubs could get more from the Rangers for Garza, possibly pitching prospect Martin Perez.

More on this after the jump:

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