The Indians came to terms with five of their seven arbitration-eligible players yesterday, the day when clubs and players exchange numbers.

• Shin-Soo Choo: $4.9M (second arbitration year)
  
• Justin Masterson: $3.85M (first year)
• Chris Perez: $4.5M (second year)
• Joe Smith: $1.75M (second year)
• Jack Hannahan: $1.35M (first year)

The two arbitration-eligible players not yet signed are Asdrubal Cabrera and Rafael Perez. The Indians haven't gone to arbitration with a player in over two decades, but in Cabrera's case, I'm hoping that the delay means that long-term deal negotiations are ongoing.

I apologize for the lack of content lately. Part of that is due to no real Tribe news to talk about, but most of it is due to real-life work and site work that hasn't yet seen the light of cyberspace. That behind-the-scenes work should start appearing on the site as Opening Day approaches, and will be a feature over the next year or so; it's a rather ambitious project in size and scope, so it's taking some time to do right. I believe, though, that it will be worth the wait.

In the meantime, I'll be doing some historic game recaps of important (or unimportant) Indians games of the past, with the first one to appear tomorrow morning. It will be done as if the game had just ended. If you have some suggestions of games that you'd like recapped in this odd way, please let me know, whether in the comments below, or via e-mail.

And I'll be doing the News and Notes posts. Unfortunately, there isn't much to relate about the Indians, who seem to be stuck waiting for Prince Fielder to sign somewhere. But there has been news elsewhere around the league, so I'll be covering that.

Cleveland Indians GM Chris Antonetti works on making that first decision | cleveland.com
Paul Hoynes recaps what seems to be the latest conventional wisdom. The Indians will likely attempt to sign a first baseman after the market gets unstuck. Carlos Pena, Derrek Lee, and Casey Kotchman are the three main candidates available to the Indians, but each has their drawbacks. Lee will be 36 next year, and probably isn't far from the end of his career. Pena will command the most money, and is a left-handed hitter. And Kotchman is not much of a power hitter (and before last year not much of a hitter at all.

Of course, all this assumes that Matt LaPorta will spend the season in Columbus. The Indians can't risk a premium offensive position on a player who has yet to show signs of hitting at the major-league level. LaPorta has had just over 1000 Plate Appearances at the major-league level, and a .397 Slugging Percentage. Last season, he struck out 87 times to 23 walks. A poor SO/BB ratio may be forgiven if power's there, but Matt hasn't even done that.

Yankees trade Montero for Pineda, sign Kuroda

The Yankees had been very quiet this off-season, re-signing Sabathia early but otherwise not making many moves. That changed this past weekend; they not only signed Hideki Kuroda, but pulled off a blockbuster trade. They dealt prospects Jesus Montero and Hector Moesi to the Mariners for Michael Pineda and prospect Jose Campos. All the players involved were under 23 years of age and with little or no service time. It's rare that this type of trade happens, as talented players with little service time are very valuable to a club.

Pineda had a very good rookie season, allowing only 133 hits in 171 innings pitched, and topping 9 strikeouts per 9 innings. He'll slot right behind Sabathia, and give the Yankees two outstanding pitchers who also happen to be under contract or control through 2016. Montero, who is still considered a catcher, should hit enough to stick at first or even DH, but obviously he's a much more valuable player if he can handle the tools of ignorance. He's ready for the majors, and the Yankees were likely going to give the DH duties, so that may mean New York will be looking at Carlos Pena or Derrek Lee.

As the offseason enters the final stretch, the Indians are still looking for that elusive corner bat. Meanwhile, there have been some moves elsewhere that indirectly affect the Indians:

Padres acquire OF Quentin from White Sox - Sacramento Sports - | Sacramento Bee
The White Sox dealt Carlos Quentin, who fits the profile of the type of hitter the Indians are looking for, to the San Diego Padres for two pitching prospects. Quentin is one year away from free agency, and with this and other recent trades, it looks like the White Sox are taking a step back in order to rebuild. Quentin would certainly have been on Chris Antonetti's trade radar, but making an off-season trade within the division is a rare occurrence.

For one year of Quentin, the White Sox received two pitching prospects, though neither are considered potential stars. Simon Castro has a good fastball/slider combination, and if he doesn't work out as a starter, he should move quite easily into a relief role. Pedro Hernandez could help at the major-league level, though his upside isn't that high. At first glance, it seems that the White Sox could have gotten more for Quentin.

BaseballAmerica.com: Majors: Trade Central: Blue Jays Reacquire Frasor In First Trade Of 2012
Ken Williams wasn't done dealing, as he also traded Jason Frasor, who will also be a free agent after the season, to the Toronto Blue Jays for a couple of more pitching prospects. Frasor came up with and pitched most of his 8-season career with Toronto. Frasor was dealt to Chicago last July as part of the multi-step, eleven-player deal that sent Colby Rasmus to Toronto. Logically, if you're going to deal Quentin, you also have to deal other tradable players who are that close to free agency. John Danks, who signed at extension just a couple days ago, presumably would have been trade bait as well if a deal hadn't gotten done.

RHP Myles Jaye, who is only 20 years old, has only pitched at the Rookie-League level, so is at least a couple of years away, though he does seem to have upside. Daniel Webb is also a couple years away, and projects as a reliever.

Ken Rosenthal submitted this at 9 PM:

Grady Sizemore appears to be headed back to the Indians.

 

The free-agent outfielder is in serious discussions with his previous team, according to his agent, Joe Urbon.

Now this could just be posturing from his agent so that the other interested teams up their offers, or it could just mean that Sizemore wants to play in Cleveland next year. If the Indians bring back Sizemore, he's going to be their center fielder; I'm not sure how many of the other clubs are promising that.

ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweeted another quote from Urbon:

"The #Indians came at us with an aggressive offer,'' said agent Joe Urbon. He says the two sides have "exchanged proposals.''

Obviously that doesn't mean the Indians are going to sign him, but it does hint that the Indians are at least close to any other offer.

Jordan Bastian also has chimed in, echoing Rosenthal but also including a quote from Chris Antonetti:

"I will refrain from specifically commenting on any speculation," Antonetti wrote in an e-mail to MLB.com. "But we remain interested in keeping Grady in an Indians' uniform and have expressed that sentiment to Grady and his representatives."

Bastian brought up a good point later in the article: because Sizemore can't work out for other clubs, the Indians are at an advantage because they are intimately aware of Sizemore's health.

More to come...

Sources: Baseball reaches agreement with labor deal - MLB News | FOX Sports on MSN
Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the new deal will be announced officially on Monday. Rosenthal reports that draft bonuses will be modified, and that draft compensation will be scaled back.

Owners Meetings Chatter | cleveland.com
Hoynes notes that the Indians have an interest in Jason Kubel, who is left-handed but will be come cheaper than Michael Cuddyer or Josh Willingham. I would think the Indians would use Kubel and Shelley Duncan together in left field.

Chicago Cubs hire Dale Sveum as team's new manager - MLB News | FOX Sports on MSN
Sandy Alomar interviewed for the job, but he's still in the running for the Red Sox position.

Beat reporter Jordan Bastian answers fans' questions in his latest Inbox. | indians.com: News
Among the usual questions in Jordan Bastian's inbox, this one stuck out:

While I wasn't expecting Asdrubal Cabrera to win the Gold Glove this year, I don't understand how his fielding stat of UZR is so low? We all saw many jaw-dropping plays from him this season. How accurate is UZR?
-- Dan O., North Olmsted, Ohio

In a discussion with local media at the end of this past season, Indians general manager Chris Antonetti said UZR is one of the best publicly-available defensive metrics. Cabrera made some amazing plays this year, but he rated last in UZR among American League shortstops for 2011. That said, the Indians were plenty happy with Cabrera's season -- both defensively and offensively.

Cabrera was rated by UZR at -11.8 in 2011, which was the worst rating for a starting AL shortstop. The Range component was the main driver of the poor rating, while the Error and Double Play components were either slightly negative or positive. So the real question is whether Asdrubal has the range to play shortstop, at least compared to his peers. My amateur opinion is that he shouldn't have been a Gold Glove finalist, but also that he's still adequate as a shortstop, especially given his contributions on offense and on the bases. The only other option to play shortstop on the roster in Jason Donald, and I don't think he's any better than Cabrera.

AP source: MLB players, owners close in on deal - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
Who would ever have thought that MLB would have the best labor relations of the four major sports? If the CBA is agreed to by the December 11th deadline, that would mean at least 20 years of labor peace, something unthinkable during the 80s and 90s.

The major hurdle cleared on Monday was the imposition of spending caps on bonuses. In exchange for removing draft pick compensation for free agents, the MLBPA has reportedly agree to a quasi-hard cap on bonuses for draft picks. The new cap would not specify any individual bonus caps, but would cap the overall bonuses for players selected within the first 10 rounds. If a club exceeded this cap, penalties ranging from a monetary to a draft penalty would be incurred.

The Indians have named former big league manager Edwin Rodriguez to lead Class A Carolina. | indians.com: News

Rodriguez managed the Marlins in 2010 and 2011. The Tribe's Carolina League affiliate will be moving to Zebulon, North Carolina for the 2012 season.

Some big news for other AL Central clubs today:

Terry Ryan named interim GM of Twins, replacing Bill Smith | MLB.com: News
This was a shock, especially given the timing. Usually a GM is canned either towards the end of the regular season or right after it. The Twins had their first losing season under Smith in 2011, but apparently the 63-99 record (with a $113M payroll) was horrible enough to justify removing Smith. Terry Ryan, who was Minnesota's GM from 1994-2007 will take over on an interim basis.

Royals get Sanchez from Giants for Cabrera - KansasCity.com
The Royals dealt Melky Cabrera for talented but wild Jonathan Sanchez and Ryan Verdugo, a left-handed relief prospect. Both Cabrera and Sanchez are one year away from free agency. The Royals will probably use Lorenzo Cain to replace Cabrera in the outfield next season. Sanchez struck out 9.1 per 9 innings in 2011, but also walked 5.9 per 9, and spent time on the DL.

SBN AL Rookie of the Year Results

Once again, the bloggers of the SB Nation baseball blogs voted on their version of the baseball post-season awards. Here's the results for the AL Rookie of the Year:

My ballot was Pineda, Nova, and Hellickson, in that order.

Shelley Duncan prepared to be more than a role player | indians.com: News
Duncan was one of the best hitters in the lineup late last season, though I don't think the Indians will be comfortable penciling him as a starter in left field or first base. I do think though that even if he isn't an everyday player at one position, he'll have enough opportunities to get 350-400 plate appearances. Duncan can fill in for Travis Hafner once or twice a week next season (not to mention the inevitable DL stint), and either in left field or first base, depending on who the Indians bring in.

Phils sign Thome to one-year deal | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/05/2011
A little surprising that Thome would go to an NL club for an entire season, but his mentor Charlie Manuel is there, and the Phillies will once again be a favorite to win the National League pennant. Ryan Howard may not ready to start the season, so perhaps Thome could play some first base. If you're wondering, the Indians will not get any draft pick compensation for Thome.

Ron Santo and Jim Kaat are among 10 on the Golden Era Hall of Fame ballot | MLB.com: News
Three former Indians are on the Golden Era Veterans' Committee ballot: Luis Tiant, Minnie Minoso, and Allie Reynolds. I think both Tiant and Minoso would be deserving Hall of Famers, though Ron Santo is probably the most likely player on the ballot to be voted in.