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SI.com’s Jon Heyman has reported the New York Yankees have finally landed a top free agent. All-Star closer Rafael Soriano and the Yankees have agreed to terms in a deal reportedly worth $35 million over three years, according to HardBallTalk.com.

Soriano will most likely be the setup man for the Yankees’ veteran reliever Mariano Rivera.

I reported a few days ago that the Yankees were still interested in Soriano, and yet he was still being pursued by other teams. With the signing, the Yankees will have to give up a first round pick to the Tampa Bay Rays since Soriano is a Type A free agent.

The contract is pretty hefty for a setup man, but this is the only big deal the Yankees have made this offseason. This is also a great opportunity for Soriano’s future. If Rivera retires at the end of the season or his numbers start to dwindle, expect Soriano to fulfill the closer role.

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SI.com’s baseball writer, Jon Heyman, has tweetedto the world this afternoon that long-time utility man Willie Bloomquist has agree to a one-year, $1.05 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The contract also includes a mutual option for 2012.

Bloomquist has been known to play all over the infield as well as the outfield and could probably play a little pitcher too and might need to with the way the Diamondbacks preseason is shaping up to be so far. 

Bloomquist spent last year with the Kansas City Royals and the Cincinnati Reds last season batting .267 with three home runs and 17 RBI. Bloomquist will probably come off the bench to play for Arizona in the latter part of the innings.

All in all, this is probably a better signing than Geoff Blum.

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According to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com, former New York Met and current free agent pitcher John Maine’s agent Rex Gary has been contacted by NL East rival Philadelphia Phillies along with a few other teams.

Gary has said, “We have spoken to a lot of teams and there is a lot of interest.”

Maine was non-tendered by the Mets in early December before the hot stove began heating up. There has not been a lot of news on John Maine until now. Rubin did not name any other team that was interested.

Maine is only likely to get a minor league deal. He only pitched in nine games last season and went 1-3 with a 6.13 ERA. 

If Maine joins Philadelphia, he could join a rotation that includes Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels and maybe Joe Blanton.

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This year’s AL Cy Young voting is going to be a quirky yet interesting case. I honestly believe that there are many candidates for the award. Some people that I think are candidates could be a little outrageous and yet others are a no-brainer. Let’s go through the list of potential AL Cy Young candidates.

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This is going to kill me because I am a die-hard New York Yankees fan, but in the pessimistic would that I live in, I can see the Yankees blowing it with ten games remaining and two big series coming up with their arch rival Boston Red Sox.

The Red Sox have lost their last four of six, and honestly, I think they could come back from eight back in the AL East and 6.5 back in the Wild Card. Boston is off today as they sit and wait to see what happens between the Rays and the Yankees tonight. 

I watched the Rays-Yankees game last night, and I have to say the Yankees bullpen makes me want to vomit. The Rays completely tore up relievers Royce Ring, Dustin Mosely, Chad Gaudin, and Jonathan Albaladejo. Girardi should have just let Burnett throw his arm off because he was barely dialed into the game. 

Boston should be praying that this happens. With the bullpen the way it is, and Mariano Rivera not his usual self, who’s to say that Boston cannot come back? New York should be looking over its shoulder, as I think that the battle for the East and the Wild Card may come down to the final series of the season. 

Boston has a three-game series this weekend in New York and next weekend back home Boston. In between, they’ll face Chicago, who has nothing to play for at this point. 

On the other side, the Yankees have CC Sabathia going against David Price, which could go either way. In between their Boston series, they have Toronto. Toronto isn’t an easy task because the Yanks are 7-8 against them this year!

It’ll be sad to see the Yankees blow it. I’d rather them go on to repeat as champions again and not become a disaster, but sadly, we cannot always get what we want. It will be interesting to see if Boston throws in the towel or not. This will just go to show you that every game counts and that you cannot take a day off during this part of the year.

Ryan Gaydos is the Editor of The Baseball Blog. To view the original post, go here.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers, hoping to somehow come back next season with a decent team, will try to re-sign left-handed pitcher Ted Lilly this winter. Lilly was acquired from the Chicago Cubs in a trade deadline deal that also moved Ryan Theriot to L.A. as well.

With the Dodgers, Lilly has posted a 5-3 record and a less than stellar 4.12 ERA. During the waiver period, it was also noted the New York Yankees were also trying to re-acquire the 34 year old. If Lilly were to test free agent waters, the Yankees may want to go after him too in case Andy Pettitte retires after this season.

Do not expect the Dodgers to go all out in a bidding war, since money is tight right now in within the organization due to the McCourt family divorce.

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With the 2010 season ending in a month or so, we can look toward 2011 to speculate which mangers will not be returning to their respective clubs. 

I warn you, this is speculation. Not fact.

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The Tampa Bay Rays called up left-handed pitcher David Price to relieve Edwin Jackson in New York on Sept. 14, 2008.

In that game, Price would pitch 5.1 innings and strike out four batters while only allowing two earned runs. We all pondered if this kid was real. After four more appearances, Price’s ERA was 1.93 in 14 innings. 

Price was becoming a phenomenon and was thrown into the midst of an incredible post-season for the Tampa Bay Rays. Price did not pitch in the ALDS but did find himself pitching in three of seven games in the ALCS against rival Boston. Price won once in a 9-8 game and shut the door on the Red Sox in game seven to lift Tampa to their first World Series. 

From there, Price only saw action in two World Series games as the Phillies won 4-1.

What’s my point?

Well, what is different from the Reds‘ calling up Aroldis Chapman in the midst of a battle for the NL Central? They’re using him in a relief role like Tampa was doing with Price. Chapman has shown incredible, high-speed, stuff almost to the comparison of Stephen Strasburg this year. 

Chapman could be vital to helping a more than adequate bullpen that features Francisco Cordero and Arthur “Thunder” Rhodes. 

I wouldn’t expect Chapman to be promoted to the rotation since Edinson Volquez is rehabbing in Single-A Dayton and Mike Leake is also making his way back. 

The Reds are six games up on the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central and with less than a month left in the season, it doesn’t look like they will let up. 

Cincinnati has a great team that seems to be clicking as of late.

Joey Votto is on a tear and is a prime candidate for NL MVP honors. Jay Bruce is injured right now but he is a big power threat in that lineup too. Brandon Phillips is hitting near-.300 while the leadership of Scott Rolen and veteran catcher Ramon Hernandez could give them a boost in the clutch.

Chapman is a fine pitcher for the Reds’ organization. Chapman will definitely help the Reds get some bullpen relief and save some innings for Cordero and Rhodes. I look at Chapman and I see 2008’s David Price all over him. 

John Smoltz recently commented on Chapman’s recent success on the MLB Network. Smoltz said:

““His arm is legit. It’s as dynamic as any arm we’ve seen, especially from the left-hand side. But I don’t buy the radar gun, especially when it’s down in the zone. It’s going to read a higher number. … His spin-rate and his slider with a dot like that is so tight and so nasty that it really has the hitter more confused than anything else. You throw a 103[mph fastball] down the middle; enough big league hitters are going to hit it. I’m more impressed by his slider coming off the fastball. It looks the same and you can’t tell.”

You know that you must be doing something right if a future hall of fame pitcher has something to say about you.

Will we see the Reds in the World Series? Maybe. But they will have some trouble with the rest of the top contenders in the National League like the Braves, Phillies, Rockies, Giants and Padres. 

Ryan Gaydos is the Editor of The Baseball Blog. For more posts like this one and other baseball news and notes. Go here.

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Now that the 2010 MLB trading deadline has passed, we now have to look forward to the potential waiver deals. The waiver deadline is exactly like the trading deadline except that players have to clear waivers first before they can be traded.

Here’s what waivers means according to Wikipedia:

Any player under contract may be placed on waivers at any time. If a player is waived, any team may claim him. If more than one team claims the player from waivers, the team with the weakest record in the player’s league gets preference. If no team in the player’s league claims him, the claiming team with the weakest record in the other league gets preference. In the first month of the season, preference is determined using the previous year’s standings.

If a team claims a player off waivers and has the viable claim as described above, his current team (the “waiving team”) may choose one of the following options:

• arrange a trade with the claiming team for that player within two business days of the claim; or
• rescind the request and keep the player on its major league roster, effectively canceling the waiver; or
• do nothing and allow the claiming team to (1) assume the player’s existing contract, (2) pay the waiving team a waiver fee, and (3) place the player on its active major league roster.

If a player is claimed and the waiving team exercises its rescission option, the waiving team may not use the option again for that player in that season. If no team claims a player from waivers in three business days, the player has cleared waivers and may be assigned to a minor league team, traded, or released outright.

The waiver “wire” is a secret within the personnel of the Major League Baseball clubs; no announcement of a waiver is made until a transaction actually occurs. Many players are often quietly waived during the August “waiver-required” trading period to gauge trade interest in a particular player. Usually, when the player is claimed, the waiving team will rescind the waiver to avoid losing the player unless a trade can be worked out with the claiming team.

Now that we all know, here are some players that I think could be on the move this year:

Kenshin Kawakami, RHP, Braves : Kawakami was a starter on the Braves this year but failed to produce the numbers. He’s 1-9 with a 4.75 ERA. He will have a hard time attracting interest since he still has three years left on his current contract.

Nate McLouth, OF, Braves : McLouth was traded to the Braves from the Pirates at the beginning of last season. The Braves have nowhere to put him since they acquired Melky Cabrera in the offseason and Rick Ankiel at the trading deadline .

Chone Figgins, INF, Mariners: Signed over from the Angels during the offseason, Figgins’ relationship with the Mariners is deteriorating. It doesn’t look like they even want him there since they do have Dustin Ackley and Justin Smoak now in the system. Figgins might head to Atlanta where there was interest in him on Saturday.

Manny Ramirez, OF, Dodgers : Manny? No way. Manny Ramirez being traded in August? Can’t be. Well, there is a chance that Manny can get traded. Ramirez is hitting .317 with eight homers and 39 RBI but is on the DL with a calf injury.

We saw the White Sox take a shot at him this past weekend. We also heard from Jon Heyman that the Yankees, Rays, and Angels were also interested. Who knows? Reading through the Internet, people say it’s a “long shot,” but I believe that anything is possible.

Adam Dunn, OF, Nationals : Another big name out there is Adam Dunn of Washington. Dunn was placed on waivers Tuesday and could be out of DC by the end of the month. The White Sox still look to be the prime favorites in the Dunn race. Dunn can still produce 40 homers a season and is always a threat to change a game.

Brian Fuentes, LHP, Angels : Fuentes will most likely not be traded, but it could still happen. Fuentes has 20 saves and is the closer for the team, but if the Angels can’t catch Texas then they could consider trading some of that money away.

But I just don’t see it happening. The Angels are a good team and seem to be in the thick of things.

Jeff Francoeur, OF, Mets : What about the Mets? Their money was so tight during the trade deadline that they couldn’t move anything. Deals that involved Jose Guillen, Carlos Zambrano, and Brett Myers were shot down and to make matters worse, Jason Bay was placed on the DL with a concussion . The only move they made was trading Mike Jacobs to Toronto.

Now, Bay may come back later in August, which could give them a chance to move Francoeur. There was a deal in place for Guillen but the Mets couldn’t do it. I suspect a possible Francoeur move.

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