Word on the street is that former Red Sox and Cubs shortstop Nomar Garciaparra is set to sign with the Dodgers. With Los Angeles having already signed Rafael Furcal and Bill Mueller this offseason, it looks like Mr. Mia Hamm is going to find himself confined mostly to first base or the outfield. Of course, had he ended up with the Yankees, it probably would have been a similar scenario.

I have to admit that I'm a little surprised how active the Dodgers have been this offseason. I mean, granted, they sucked this year, but still, with the shuffling of managers and general managers and the whole bit, they've still been getting a lot done. I already mentioned Furcal and Mueller. They signed Grandpa Alomar to a one-year deal. They shipped Milton Bradley up north. They haven't been quite as busy or successful as, say, the Mets or the White Sox, but they might be a close third. I mean, if you don't count Florida selling everyone on the roster old enough to consume alcohol, the only four teams which really seem to be active at all this year are the Dodgers, White Sox, Mets, and Red Sox. Interestingly enough, three of those four are teams with a cross-town rival, and the fourth has one that might as well be. Who says the Yankees don't have an impact even when the Boss isn't splashing the cash?

» Reports: Nomar to sign with Dodgers [mlb.com]

I hear the Royals are going with extra-large jerseys this year. They're going to need them to fit "Mientkiewicz" and "Grudzielanek" on the back, as the two free agent infielders agreed today to one-year contracts with Kansas City. For Dougie, my only response is, "Say it ain't so! Please, Doug, not Kansas City!" How could you go from the ALCS with the Twins and a World Series ring with Boston to the Mets and now the Royals? Ouch.

The Royals also picked up free agent pitcher Scott Elarton. Elarton, who was 11-9 for Cleveland last year, agreed to a two-year deal with the perennial American League bottom-dwellers.

» Mientkiewicz, Grudzielanek, Elarton join Royals [Yahoo! Sports]

Having already lost the lottery for Bill Mueller, and apparently out of the running for Nomar Garciaparra, the Twins turned to the other side of the Pacific to find a new third baseman. The Minnesota Twins announced earlier today that they've agreed to a one-year deal with former Major Leaguer Tony Batista, who spent last season with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks. Batista is a career .251 hitter in the majors with 214 homeruns and 681 RBIs.

The Twins also announced that they signed 33-year-old catcher Shawn Wooten to a Minor League contract, and he will be invited to Spring Training.

» Twins give Batista one-year deal [twinsbaseball.com]

Things have slowed down on the player transaction front as we move away from the winter meetings. There isn't much worth mentioning except that former Cardinals pitcher Matt Morris is said to have agreed to terms on a multi-year contract with the San Francisco Giants. Full details are not yet definite, but the deal is reportedly worth about $27 million.

» Morris signs multiyear deal with Giants [mlb.com]

J.C. Romero's rocky career as a Minnesota Twin is over. The Twins traded the left-handed reliever to the Angels on Friday for Minor League infielder Alexi Casilla. Casilla in 2005 batted .325 with 62 runs scored and 47 stolen bases for Class-A Cedar Rapids. His 47 stolen bases ranked fourth in the Midwest League.

This is pure speculation, but with Romero being sent to the Angels and Old Man Mulholland not being offered arbitration, the Twins no longer have any lefties remaining in the bullpen, so don't be surprised if the team retains Kyle Lohse and Scott Baker as their fourth and fifth pitchers in the rotation, while lefty Francisco Liriano spends a year in the pen like the team did with Johan Santana before he finally made the rotation. The team also has lefty Dave Gassner, who made two starts in place of Carlos Silva in 2005 when it was thought Silva was done for the season, and he might get called upon to move into the pen as well.

This may be only of interest to me, but with Mulholland gone, do you know who the oldest player on the team's 40-man roster is? 34-year-old backup catcher Mike Redmond. Redmond turns 35 on May 5th. And the second- and third-oldest? Juan Castro and Brad Radke are both 33, with Castro four months older than Radke. I only note this because Redmond and Castro were the team's two free agent signings last off-season, while Radke, who was also a free agent at the time, re-signed with the team, meaning that if you consider Radke a free agent signing last season, then the three free agents the team signed last off-season are the three oldest players on the team. But, lest you think the older guys aren't much help, Redmond led the team in batting average in 2005 (among guys with at least 100 at-bats - Glenn Williams hit .425 in 40 at-bats, Joe Mays hit .333 in 3 at-bats, and Jason Tyner hit .321 in 56 at-bats, but Redmond hit .311 in 148 at-bats) and Castro led the team in sacrifice hits (9 - fellow utility infielders Nick Punto and Luis Rodriguez were second and third, respectively, with 7 and 6 sacrifices each). Workhorse Radke, on the other hand, was second on the team behind Santana, with 200-2/3 innings pitched.

» Twins trade Romero for Minor Leaguer [twinsbaseball.com]

The Baltimore Orioles - at least prior to the signing of Ramon Hernandez - are not exactly having the most productive offseason in the AL East. Closer BJ Ryan signed with Toronto, they lost out in the AJ Burnett lottery when he signed with Toronto, and then they declined arbitration for Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, BJ Surhoff, and Eli Marrero. Basically, it looks like the O's are headed into a rebuilding year, and shortstop Miguel Tejada wants nothing to do with it. Prior to reports being released that Baltimore had signed Hernandez, Tejada was quoting as saying, "I've been with the Orioles for two years and things haven't gone in the direction that we were expecting, so I think the best thing will be a change of scenery." The Orioles are lamenting the lack of pitching talent available on the market (which, it seems to me, is their own fault, as several other teams are stacked in the pitching ranks), but one would think that they could get a decent pitcher or two if they traded Tejada. And, in fact, considering the market value for an All-Star shortstop who is also a consistent RBI man, I could see plenty of teams being interested in a player of Tejada's caliber with four years left on a contract averaging $12 million a year. Hmmm....

» Tejada says he wants to be traded [mlb.com]

No beating around the bush today, here is the latest free agent and trade news:

The Yankees are sending disappointing second baseman (we won't even talk about his outfield abilities) Tony Womack to Cincinnati for a couple of minor leaguers.

Edgar Renteria is on the move again. Only one year after signing the shortstop as a free agent, Boston traded Renteria and $11 million to Atlanta for minor league prospect Andy Marte. The Red Sox have rebuilt three-fourths of their infield in the last few days, having sent Renteria to Atlanta and acquired third baseman Mike Lowell from Florida and second baseman Mark Loretta from San Diego. Having also sent Hanley Ramirez to Florida in the trade that brought in Lowell and Josh Beckett, it looks like the Red Sox will be turning to Alex Cora at short, who they acquired at the trade deadline in July from Cleveland. The Red Sox are also rumored to have interest in former Marlins shortstop Alex Gonzalez.

I mentioned yesterday that the Reds and Pirates were close to a deal to swap Sean Casey and Dave Williams. That move has apparently now been confirmed.

41-year-old Kenny Rogers is on his way to Detroit, where he'll be the veteran presence among a good young starting rotation after agreeing to a two-year, $16 million deal with the Tigers. I'm sure Bonderman, Maroth, and Robertson can use tips on how to properly attack a camera man and get off easy.

In one of the more surprising announcements, Baltimore and free agent catcher Ramon Hernandez have come to terms on a four-year, $27.5 million contract, which immediately inspires questions about Javy Lopez's future with the club. Judging by the fact that the Orioles did not offer arbitration to Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, B.J. Surhoff, and Eli Marrero, it looks like the O's may be looking to get younger, and if Lopez isn't moved to first base, he could be on his way out as well.

The Yankees picked up another Boston cast-off, agreeing to a two-year, $2.4 million deal with pitcher Mike Myers. I'm still confused by the Yanks blowing so much money on offense, but only going out and picking up over-the-hill has-been's and never-were's to take the mound.

The White Sox beefed up their infield and offloaded surplus from the bullpen by sending Damaso Marte to Pittsburgh for utility infielder Rob Mackowiak. Chicago has proved to have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to late-inning pitchers, making Marte expendable.

The Mets have continued their offseason spending spree, signing 36-year-old infielder Jose Valentin. Along with all the new acquisitions, the Mets have cut ties with several veterans, having not offered arbitration to Mike Piazza, Braden Looper, Miguel Cairo, Danny Graves, Felix Heredia, Doug Mientkiewicz, Jose Offerman, or Shingo Takatsu (among others).

Veteran pitcher Jose Mesa is on the move once again, having agreed to a one-year deal with Colorado, with a club option for a second year.

And finally, two bits of Twins news:

Jacque Jones' career in Minnesota might not be over just yet. The Twins offered arbitration to the free agent outfielder, meaning there's still a possibility that Double-J could be back patroling right field at the Metrodome in 2006. Who knows?

And finally, the Rule 5 Draft. Minnesota took outfielder Jason Pridie from the Devil Rays. Because Pridie will have to stay on the team's 25-man roster for the full season (or be sold back to the Devil Rays), the Twins have quite the surplus in the outfield, meaning it would be quite surprising should the team actually retain Jacque Jones. The team also added three players in the Triple-A part of the draft, getting pitcher Jose Lugo from Oakland, pitcher Alexander Farfan from Cincinnati, and outfielder Erold Andrus from the Yankees. No Twins players were drafted in the Rule 5 Draft.

Whew, that's enough for today, isn't it?

» Reds acquire Womack from Yankees [mlb.com]
» Braves get Renteria, trade Marte [mlb.com]
» Notes: Gonzalez could fill shortstop gap [redsox.com]
» Bucs get Reds' Casey for Williams [mlb.com]
» Rogers agrees to deal with Tigers [mlb.com]
» Catcher adds pop to O's lineup [mlb.com]
» Lefty Myers, Yankees agree to deal [mlb.com]
» White Sox acquire Mackowiak [mlb.com]
» Mets sign infielder Jose Valentin [mlb.com]
» Rockies sign free agent RHP Jose Mesa to one-year contract... [mlb.com]
» Twins offer Jones arbitration [twinsbaseball.com]
» Twins take outfielder in Rule 5 Draft [twinsbaseball.com]

There are so many moves going on, I'm not going to comment on any of them, but I'll at least try to list them.

The biggest move of the day so far involves Texas and Washington. Second baseman Alfonso Soriano is on his way to the Nationals, who are sending Brad Wilkerson, Termel Sledge, and a minor league pitcher to the Rangers.

San Diego was active in the trade market again, sending second baseman Mark Loretta to Boston for backup catcher Doug Mirabelli.

The Brewers cleared the way for Prince Fielder to take over at first base by sending Lyle Overbay to Toronto for Dave Bush and Gabe Gross. Both teams are also owed a "player to be named later".

I'm no expert on the Rockies, so someone will have to explain the benefit of this deal for me: Colorado sent Larry Bigbie and Aaron Miles to St. Louis for Ray King. Yeah, I'm confused too.

Also, Trevor Hoffman is staying in San Diego, and Roger Clemens was not offered arbitration by Houston, meaning if he's staying with the Astros, he can't sign with them until May 1.

» Nationals acquire Soriano from Rangers [mlb.com]
» Red Sox land Loretta from Padres [mlb.com]
» Jays obtain Overbay from Brewers [mlb.com]
» Cardinals trade King to Rockies [mlb.com]

Trading was heavy on day three of the Winter Meetings, and I'll try to recap as many of the big ones as I can.

Outfielder Juan Pierre became the latest member of the Florida Marlins to add the prefix "former-" to that title. He was sent to the Cubs for a trio of pitchers.

The Braves sent catcher Johnny Estrada out west to Arizona for a pair of righty relievers.

The Padres and Devil Rays got in on the action, as San Diego sent third baseman Sean Burroughs to Tampa Bay for pitcher Dewon Brazelton.

Journeyman pitcher Mark Redman is on the move again. The former Twin, Tiger, Marlin, and Athletic can now add Pirate to his list of formers, as Pittsburgh is sending Redman to the Royals for pitcher Jonah Bayliss.

This one isn't confirmed just yet, but the Pirates and Reds are said to be close to a deal that would send first baseman Sean Casey to Pittsburgh in exchange for pitcher Dave Williams.

I believe that's all the big moves for today so far, but the meetings are not yet over....

» Cubs fill big hole with speedy Pierre [mlb.com]
» Braves ship Estrada to D-Backs [mlb.com]
» Rays acquire Burroughs from Padres [mlb.com]
» Bucs acquire Bayliss for Redman [mlb.com]
» Pirates close to bringing Casey home [mlb.com]

The Toronto Blue Jays continue to set the trend for pricing every team not in the AL East out of the free agent market by overpaying for mediocre pitchers. Their latest acquisition is former Marlins pitcher A.J. Burnett, agreeing to a five-year, $55 million contract with the right-hander, who has a career record of 49-50 and a career ERA of 3.73. Burnett set the world alight last season with a monumental 12-12 record. Apparently being a .500 pitcher is good enough these days to net you $11 million per year. To be fair, Burnett hit .147 last year, which ought to come in handy during interleague play. I hate Canadia.

» Toronto signs Burnett to five-year deal [mlb.com]

Free agent and trade action continue to be hot-and-heavy around Major League Baseball, as three more players appear to have found new homes.

The Dodgers are yet to confirm or deny, but Rafael Furcal's agent says that the shortstop has agreed to a three-year, $39 million deal to move out west to Chavez Ravine.

Former Dodger catcher Paul Lo Duca is on his way to New York as Florida shipped off yet another veteran player. Just as he did in Los Angeles, Lo Duca will arrive in Queens to replace the departed Mike Piazza. This time around (The Mets got first baseman Carlos Delgado from Florida last week), Florida gets minor league pitcher Gaby Hernandez and a player yet to be identified.

And another Los Angeles player - recently of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - is on the move as well. Pitcher Paul Byrd agreed to a two-year, $14.25 million deal with Cleveland. The addition of Byrd to the Indians rotation could especially be important should free agent pitchers Kevin Millwood and Scott Elarton not return to the team in 2006.

» Agent confirms Furcal deal with Dodgers [mlb.com]
» Mets reel in Lo Duca from Marlins [mlb.com]
» Tribe lands free agent Byrd [mlb.com]

Gold-Glove Second baseman Luis Castillo Is Now a Twin (photo by Getty Images)

The revamp is now complete. With first baseman Carlos Delgado traded to the Mets, third baseman Mike Lowell to the Red Sox, shortstop Alex Gonzalez a free agent and possibly not returning (especially after the acquisition of Hanley Ramirez from Boston), and now second baseman Luis Castillo sent to the Twins, the Marlins have officially dismantled their entire 2005 starting infield. Wow, congratulations Florida.

On the other side of the coin, the Minnesota Twins finally found their new second baseman, and for much less than Alfonso Soriano would have cost them. The Twins sent pitchers Travis Bowyer and Scott Tyler to Florida in exchange for the 30-year-old Castillo. In acquiring the switch-hitting Castillo, the Twins get a player who has a lifetime .291 average and who has won the National League Gold Glove at second base the last three seasons. Although Castillo only hit 4 homeruns last year (he has only 20 in his career), he set a career-high with 18 sacrifices, and had an on-base percentage of .391 - his highest since 2000, when he had an OBP of .418 and stole 62 bases. He stole only 10 bases in 2005 while being slowed by hip and quadriceps injuries. Manager Ron Gardenhire says he has not decided yet whether he will use Castillo or left fielder Shannon Stewart in the Twins leadoff spot in 2006.

In sending Bowyer to Florida, Minnesota appears to be signaling that they have no intention of parting ways with closer Joe Nathan anytime soon. Bowyer had 23 saves for Triple-A Rochester in 2005 and was considered a potential replacement for Nathan should the Twins need to use him as trade bait. The trade also demonstrates that the Twins didn't feel comfortable with handing second base over to Michael Cuddyer, who is now expected to compete for the starting spot in right field with utility outfielder Lew Ford and Jason Kubel, who missed the entire 2005 season due to injury. Twins GM Terry Ryan insists that Minnesota is not done making offseason moves just yet, intending still to fill needs at third base and designated hitter.

» Twins strike deal for Castillo [twinsbaseball.com]

Unlike the Minnesota Twins, who, as reported earlier this week have unveiled ugly new sleeveless jerseys, the Milwaukee Brewers yesterday announced the revival of the jerseys they wore during the team's successful run from 1978 to 1993. The team will wear the jerseys for Sunday home games - dubbed "Retro Sundays". The announcement is the latest from a Milwaukee ballclub looking to associate itself with its successful teams of the '80s, including a coaching staff that consists of former players Ned Yost (manager), Robin Yount (bench coach), Dale Sveum (third-base coach), and Bill Castro (bullpen coach). As much as the team has tried to distance itself from those old uniforms, the fans refuse to let them go.

» Brewers to turn back clock on Sundays [mlb.com]

Tom Gordon, who spent the last two seasons as the setup man for Mariano Rivera and the Yankees, has agreed to a three-year, $18 million deal to replace Billy Wagner as the closer for the Phillies. I failed to mention it earlier, but Wagner agreed earlier this week to become the latest addition to the resurgent New York Mets. Gordon, who was a closer earlier in his career (and one-time member of the Appleton Foxes while a minor-leaguer in the Kansas City Royals farm system), has been in the role in the last four years, but it was rumored that he was itching to leave New York so he could return to the closer's role. The Yankees, on the other hand, are reported to still be chasing Kyle Farnsworth, although they've recently had to step-up their efforts after Texas joined the race for Farnsworth's services.

» Gordon on board with Phillies [mlb.com]
» Busy Mets land closer Wagner [mlb.com]
» Farnsworth expected to join Yankees [mlb.com]

You can remove Paul Konerko and Brian Giles from the list of available free agents - both have agreed to return to their current teams. Konerko agreed to a five-year, $60 million contract with the White Sox, while Giles has apparently agreed to terms on a three-year, $30 million deal with the Padres. Both teams have been active this offseason, with Chicago sending Aaron Rowand to Philadelphia for Jim Thome and San Diego sending Xavier Nady to the Mets for Mike Cameron, and getting their big free agents back will be important pieces to the puzzle if both teams are to win their divisions again in 2006.

By re-signing Konerko and acquiring Thome, it appears to signal the end of Frank Thomas's career with the White Sox. Thomas could still sign with the team, but with Konerko and Thome to split time at first base and designated hitter, that leaves no room in the everyday lineup for one of the best hitters in baseball history. I guess we'll have to wait to see now how the rest of the offseason plays out.

» Konerko re-signs with White Sox [mlb.com]
» Giles reaches agreement with Padres [mlb.com]