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Orioles Interested In Redding, Looper, Kawakami

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9:55pm: Peter Schmuck agrees – Pavano is not on Baltimore’s radar.  Instead, they like Redding, Braden Looper, and Kenshin Kawakami.  He says they’ve extended an offer to Kawakami.  Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker learned of two new Kawakami suitors today via a Sponichi report: the Twins and Giants.  Interesting to see the Twins linked; signing Kawakami could give them the depth to make a trade.

3:07pm: MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro says the Orioles’ main focus is Redding rather than Pavano.

1:36pm: According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, the Orioles have been talking to agent Tom O’Connell, who represents free agent starters Tim Redding and Carl Pavano.  Crasnick notes that the Padres have no interest in either pitcher.  The Orioles are looking into tons of mid-rotation types.

Redding has drawn interest from the Mets and Rockies since being non-tendered Friday.  Pavano has been linked to the Blue Jays, Marlins, and Red Sox.

Four Teams Interested In Wigginton

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According to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Indians, Giants, Pirates, and Reds have expressed interest in new free agent Ty Wigginton.  Dejan Kovacevic confirms Pittsburgh’s interest.  Neal says the Twins have admired Wiggy for years as well.  He adds that Wigginton was nearly dealt to the Giants before being non-tendered.  Ken Davidoff thinks the Mets should look into it.

What will it take to sign Wigginton?  Casey Blake’s three-year, $17.5MM deal might be optimistic, but Neal figures Wigginton could get a similar average annual salary.  Still might take two years to sign Wigginton though.  Beyond Joe Crede, there’s not much else out there for third base.

Pirates Sign Ramon Vazquez

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FRIDAY, 1:51pm: Kovacevic says the Vazquez signing is official at two years and $4MM.

THURSDAY, 11:37pm: Dejan Kovacevic says the Pirates have agreed to the framework of a contract with Vazquez.  The contract is not signed yet, and Vazquez needs to take a physical.  Another note: the Twins’ signing of Nick Punto reduces the already-weak market for Jack Wilson.  Kovacevic says the Dodgers have leverage if they want to go after Wilson as a Rafael Furcal fallback.

12:32am: Vazquez’s agent told Kovacevic they’re "very, very close" but not done.  Neal Huntington also said it’s not done.

10:51am: Dejan Kovacevic phrases it as "trying to sign" Vazquez.

10:12am: According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Pirates are on the verge of a two-year, $4MM deal with infielder Ramon Vazquez.  Vazquez should be able to step in at either middle infield position if the Bucs manager to trade Freddy Sanchez or Jack Wilson.  He needs to sit against lefties though.

Twins Inquire On Joaquin Benoit?

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FRIDAY: La Velle E. Neal III has an update on this one – he says a Twins official shot it down.  He hasn’t heard anything other relievers linked to the Twins.

TUESDAY: According to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan, the Twins inquired on Rangers reliever Joaquin Benoit.  Sullivan says the Twins are willing to trade Boof Bonser.  I suppose this could have appeal to the Rangers in that Bonser could be a rotation candidate.

Benoit, 31, posted a 5.00 ERA in 45 innings this year while battling shoulder issues.  He’s set to earn $3.5MM plus games finished incentives in ’09 before becoming eligible for free agency.  Bonser is under team control through 2012.

Jake Peavy Rumors: Thursday

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10:56pm: Axelrod suggestion the Giants as a possible destination for Peavy in a talk with Tim Sullivan.  He said, "I think they’ve got the money. But I don’t know if they’ve got the prospects."

8:20pm: Jon Heyman says that Peavy is frustrated by the team’s inability to trade him. His agent, Barry Axelrod, says that Peavy had begun to get used to the idea of being a Cub, and now that opportunity is apparently gone. Axelrod says if the Padres approach he and his client with a trade, they’ll consider it, but there won’t be any more lists of approved teams.

Axelrod also criticizes the majority of baseball executives for their lack of action at the Winter Meetings.

"It’s amazing to me how many people can waste time, money and resources, and get nothing done," Axelrod said. "Baseball moved lock, stock and barrel into that town, and absolutely nothing happened."

6:45: Mike DiGiovanna at the LA Times says that the Angels are now in the mix for Peavy. Trade talks could begin as soon as next week, with Brandon Wood, Erick Aybar, Reggie Willits, Nick Adenhart, and Kevin Jepsen all names that could be talked about. The Angels will only pursue Peavy if they can’t re-sign Mark Teixeira.

5:02pm: Talked to a person familiar with the Cubs’ thinking…he really could not see the Cubs revisiting a Peavy trade.  The Padres need to get Peavy’s $63MM off the books soon, yet were trying to swing 6-for-1 or 7-for-1 deals for him despite the extremely limited market.  Marshall was never in the mix, by the way.

3:27pm: MLB.com’s Mark Bowman says the Braves "won’t even think about renewing their pursuit of Peavy unless the talks are initiated by the Padres, who will no longer find a compensation package that includes Yunel Escobar."  Escobar is apparently off the table because the Braves no longer have Brent Lillibridge.

2:56pm: Tim Brown and Gordon Edes say the Cubs "remain optimistic that they can acquire Peavy, all but ignored Towers’ self-imposed deadline."  Meanwhile, Gerry Fraley says the Angels have already put together a package for the Padres to consider.

12:01pm: Kevin Towers told reporters the proposed Peavy deal with the Cubs is dead.  The Cubs pulled out.  Mike DiGiovanna heard earlier that the Angels remain interested.  Towers is not certain he wants to engage in further Peavy discussions at this time.  I think even hot stove junkies wouldn’t mind a respite.

11:30am: Towers still hasn’t heard back from Hendry on the Peavy deal.  Ken Rosenthal says eight to ten teams have called on DeRosa, adding the A’s to the mix of known suitors.

12:33am: Multiple reports suggested yesterday that the Cubs would not trade Mark DeRosa.  But new stories in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times do not support that notion.

Paul Sullivan of the Trib says DeRosa "appears to be the key to any Peavy deal."  Gordon Wittenmyer of the Sun-Times heard the Cubs would only trade DeRosa as part of a Peavy deal, and Jim Hendry inquired on Chone Figgins as a possible replacement.  And La Velle E. Neal III believes DeRosa is fair game in a Peavy deal or separately for the Twins or Phillies.  As far as Jason Marquis, both Chicago writers see him landing in San Diego with the Cubs eating about half his salary (one sign that the Cubs have "hand," as George Costanza would say).

Padres GM Kevin Towers wants to get a framework in place today.  The Cubs have the leverage, with Wittenmyer suggesting they also want to keep Sean Marshall.  One player most writers believe will be sent from the Cubs to the Padres is Josh Vitters.  But Towers says it’s in the Cubs’ hands.

Beltre Adds Twins To No-Trade Clause

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Yesterday, La Velle E. Neal of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune heard about no-trade problems for the Twins with Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre.  Today, Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times has further detail:

When [the Twins] attempted to investigate a possible deal, they discovered that — since the last time they’d looked into Beltre during the season — he’d added the Twins to a list of teams on his limited no-trade clause. Twins officials were somewhat surprised, though it’s not unusual. When a player sees a team showing public interest in trading for him, they will sometimes amend their no-trade to include that club and then use it as a bargaining chip down the road. Usually, some kind of cash settlement is needed.

If players can freely swap out or add teams to their partial no-trade clause, why do such clauses exist?  Did Scott Boras negotiate some type of flexible no-trade clause, or are all partials like this?  I don’t have the answers, but Baker says this is a "workable" scenario in regard to the Twins and Beltre.  He seems to be the best available third baseman.  Any team acquiring him gets him for one year plus probable Type A draft pick compensation if he’s offered arb and leaves.

Odds and Ends: Rule 5, Beltre, Schmidt, Bako

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Stray links I’ve collected over the past few days…

Jack Wilson Rumors: Thursday

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Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes about Jack Wilson:

Only the Minnesota Twins are known to be interested, but the Los Angeles Dodgers could come back if their bid to re-sign free agent Rafael Furcal falls short.

Ken Rosenthal chimes in that the Astros could become an option if they first overcome the "extremely slim" odds against trading Miguel Tejada.  Kovacevic adds that in the Pirates’ final Wilson proposal to the Tigers a few days ago they sought shortstop prospect Danny Worth and one of the team’s top pitching prospects.

Jake Peavy Rumors: Wednesday

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8:36pm: MLB.com’s Corey Brock learned from Towers that he should know one way or another on a Peavy trade by the end of the Meetings.  Towers now believes a fourth team will be required.  Towers mentioned that Marquis and DeRosa may be hangups, especially Marquis’ contract.  Though he’d prefer not to, under certain circumstances the Padres might pay some of his salary.

There was some goofy Carlos Carrasco/Jason Donald stuff we didn’t link to today, and that was shot down.  Brock suggests names like Josh Vitters, Felix Pie, and Kevin Hart could be involved on the Cubs’ part.

8:31pm: Jayson Stark says Peavy to the Cubs doesn’t seem inevitable anymore, and the sides have not made progress in the last 24 hours.  The Cubs have leverage, so they’ve dug in their heels.  Stark adds that once word of the possible inclusion of DeRosa linked, Jim Hendry has been "bombarded with calls from other clubs interested" in him.  Hendry does not want to trade DeRosa.

6:00pm: Buster Olney says the Yankees have talked with the Padres recently about Peavy, but it didn’t go anywhere.

5:19pm: Brock talked to a Padres source who does not believe the Twins are involved.

4:10pm: Buster Olney says Axelrod left the Meetings with no word of a deal but the expectation is still that the Cubs will get it done.

3:48pm: Tom Krasovic reminds us that Peavy’s agent Barry Axelrod said going into the Meetings that the Yankees would be more attractive to his client if they signed C.C. Sabathia.  Still, Peavy prefers the NL.

3:17pm: Corey Brock says the Phillies might want Scott Hairston from the Padres to use in left field.

2:33pm: Carrie Muskat’s Cubs source says DeRosa will not be traded.

9:45am: LEN3 says the Twins discussed DeRosa with the Cubs yesterday.  The Cubs will present the Twins with a list of pitchers they like, which will be influenced by the Padres’ preferences.

9:31am: There’s word from Jim Salisbury that pitcher Kyle Kendrick could be included in this three-team trade.

1:19am: If you dare to sort through yesterday’s Jake Peavy rumors, click here.  Today, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times maintains that the biggest obstacle is the Cubs moving part of Jason Marquis’ contract.  Another factor – the Padres will need to free up several spots on the 40-man roster.  The Cubs’ sale will not be an issue.

Wittenmyer adds that a Phillies official didn’t expect to get Mark DeRosa from the Cubs but rather other players.  Also, Cubs officials shot down the John Perrotto rumor that the Cubs might shop Carlos Zambrano after acquiring Peavy.

Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune also weighs in.  He says the Padres have discussed Phils catching prospect Jason Jaramillo.

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