Odds and Ends: Lowell, Sabathia, Polanco

I’m going to start up a catch-all Odds and Ends post for smaller rumors and notes today.  Refresh to see it grow.

• A reader emailed me to tell me that Buster Olney said on XM Radio recently that there are talks of the Twins going after Scott Rolen.  These reports can be tough to confirm, but there you go.  UPDATE: Joe Christensen squashes this one.
• Mark Feinsand doesn’t think Epstein is keen on giving Mike Lowell even a three-year contract.  He might get five on the open market.  UPDATE: The Red Sox apparently have a three-year offer out to him, and he’s still mulling it over.
• The White Sox inquired about Bill Hall, but Kenny Williams and Doug Melvin couldn’t find a match.
• Baseball America weighs in on the Brad Lidge trade.  BP’s Nate Silver gives his opinion here and here.  He thinks the Phillies made a mistake.
• The Astros have contacted Jeremy Affeldt’s agent.  Also, Jim Molony speculates in this piece that speedy Josh Anderson could be expendable because of the Michael Bourn addition.
• Back to where it all began: the Dodgers have signed Chan Ho Park.  No need for more starters now! 
• Andy Pettitte hopes to tell the Yankees whether he’ll play by the New Year.  Also, Ken Davidoff notes that the Yanks would prefer to trade Hideki Matsui over Johnny Damon, but Godzilla’s full no-trade clause would be the problem.
• Theo Epstein let Scott Boras pitch his entire client list last night, A-Rod included.  There’s a very slight chance the Red Sox sign Eric Gagne, and a contract extension for Jason Varitek may have been discussed.  Also I hear Boras did the hard sell on Bruce Chen.  Just kidding.  UPDATE: That slight chance for Gagne just went away, as he’ll be closing according to Boras.
• Mark Shapiro is preparing a contract extension offer for C.C. Sabathia; he’ll have to run it by the Dolans first.  No surprise there.  Paul Hoynes notes that Sabathia gets an extra $2MM for ’08 if he wins the ’07 Cy Young.  Shapiro, by the way, would listen to offers on any player.  I get the feeling the Indians could come from out of nowhere and do something big this winter.
• Could the Tigers send Placido Polanco to the Mets?  Mark Healey suggests it.
• The Giants included a vesting option for 2009 in Omar Vizquel’s deal.  McCovey Chronicles weighs in.