Baseball Notes – goskagit.com

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — The Chicago Cubs could use a closer, maybe someone like Wade Davis. Texas needs a center fielder, and most every team wants an extra arm.

So now that Chris Sale got traded, baseball executives are trying to figure out who’s next.

Andrew McCutchen is still available, perhaps the Tigers really would deal Miguel Cabrera or Justin Verlander, and Cincinnati speedster Billy Hamilton might be on the move.

“It’s incredible, the different directions that our conversations in the suite go,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Boston made a big splash at the winter meetings Tuesday, getting Sale. The AL East champion Red Sox sent a package of four prospects including high-priced and highly talented hitter Yoan Moncada to the Chicago White Sox for the All-Star ace.

The Red Sox also acquired top setup man Tyler Thornburg from Milwaukee for third baseman Travis Shaw and two minor leaguers, and neared a deal with free agent first baseman Mitch Moreland.

Tampa Bay closed in on a two-year contract with All-Star catcher Wilson Ramos worth about $12.5 million. The 29-year-old hit .309 with a career-high 22 home runs and 80 RBIs before tearing a knee ligament late in the season.

There’s no movement yet on star closers Aroldis Chapman and Kenley Jansen, though the New York Yankees are looking at both of them.

The Yankees already are facing the prospect of seeing Sale a lot next year after this trade put him in the same division. Sale bolstered a Red Sox rotation that also features recent AL Cy Young winner Rick Porcello, former award winner David Price and All-Star knuckleballer Steven Wright.

PHILLIES, BENOIT REACH DEAL

OXON HILL, Md. — Reliever Joaquin Benoit and the Philadelphia Phillies have finalized a $7.5 million, one-year contract. Benoit, a 39-year-old right-hander, has had an ERA under 3.00 for six of the past seven years. He was 3-1 with a 2.81 ERA last season, including a 0.38 ERA after the Toronto Blue Jays acquired him from Seattle on July 26 for reliever Drew Storen.

YANKS TO RETIRE JETER’S NUMBER

NEW YORK — Derek Jeter’s No. 2 is being retired, the last of the New York Yankees’ single digits. The Yankees said the number will be retired on May 14 before a Mother’s Day game against Houston, and a plaque in his honor will be unveiled in Monument Park during the ceremony.

METS WANT TO SEE TEBOW IN SPRING GAMES

OXON HILL, Md. — New York Mets manager Terry Collins said he’d like Tim Tebow to play in spring training games even though the former NFL quarterback has a long ways to go in his transition to baseball.

The 29-year-old aspiring outfielder hit .194 in the Arizona Fall League, striking out 20 times in 70 plate appearances.

“Our players, they’re athletes, too. They’re fans, too,” Collins said. “They would probably like to know how to run a quarterback sneak one day.”