MLB Franchise Notes: Rangers' Chuck Greenberg Stays Busy

ESPN DALLAS' Richard Durrett reported Rangers Managing General Partner & CEO Chuck Greenberg has "kept busy this offseason." Aside from the "day-to-day duties at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, he’s attended a variety of functions and has taken time to talk to fans." He was "signing autographs and answering questions during the Winter Caravan stop at Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco this past weekend." Greenberg said the team's payroll for '11 is "significantly larger than any time last year," though he declined to offer a specific figure. Also, Greenberg reiterated that contract extensions for GM Jon Daniels and his staff "are coming soon, though it still hasn’t happened yet." He said, "It's a testament to how comfortable everyone is that we can focus on the other things that were more pressing" (ESPNDALLAS.com, 1/17).

SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTS: Cardinals Chair Bill DeWitt Jr. on Sunday discussed the increase in payroll the club will see this season, saying, "We look at it year to year. This coming year, 2011, we have commitments that would suggest with normal things that occur ... that we are well beyond $100 million. Frankly, looking forward we anticipate that our payroll will continue at that level or somewhat higher" (STLTODAY.com, 1/16). FOXSPORTS.com's Ken Rosenthal wrote losing 1B Albert Pujols to free agency after the '11 season "would be a devastating blow" to the Cardinals franchise. That is "not to say the Cardinals should give Pujols a blank check,” but from the “team’s perspective, a deal must get done" (FOXSPORTS.com, 1/17).

STILL IN CHARGE: A Yankees exec said the organization still has "full confidence" in GM Brian Cashman, and said the division within the franchise about signing P Rafael Soriano was "a disagreement, not a dispute." The exec said, "Cash did not want to give up the (No. 1) draft pick. But at the end of the day, he didn't throw his body across the tracks over it, he just disagreed with it. It was a good faith dispute. Reasonable people can disagree. ... Cash has not lost one iota of credibility or autonomy over this. There has been no loss of faith in him at all. Cash is in charge of all baseball operations, but he would never in a million years tell you ownership doesn't make the final decisions. It's their money, not his" (ESPNNY.com, 1/17).