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The Red Sox will be exploring a trade for Manny Ramirez – The Mets, unsated after getting first baseman Carlos Delgado from the Marlins, still are expected to make another push for Ramirez. A year ago at these meetings, the Sox and Mets talked about a Ramirez deal, and they were at it again at the trading deadline. These meetings will be no different, although the Mets have fewer major league bodies to offer. They do, however, have outfield prospect Lastings Milledge. The Angels can expect to be engaged on this issue by the Red Sox, who also will remind the so-far-unimpressed Mariners that Ramirez really likes them.


The Red Sox could extend an offer to Billy Wagner as soon as today, and Brian Giles is back on the Yankees' radar screen. Wagner, who already has offers from the Mets and Phillies in hand, could have interesting third and fourth options in the Red Sox and Braves. Bean Stringfellow, Wagner's agent, said yesterday that he expects to speak with both clubs early this week, although there are no face-to-face meetings planned with either team.


The Devil Rays most advanced talks apparently concern centerfielder Joey Gathright, who it is believed has drawn interest from 10 teams, including the Dodgers, Marlins, White Sox, Cubs, Angels and Giants; and catcher Toby Hall, with inquires from the Dodgers, Mets, Marlins, Rockies and Diamondbacks. Andrew Friedman would not specify what he wants in return. Speculation is he asked the Mets about pitcher Aaron Heilman, the Dodgers about catching prospect Russ Martin and the Marlins about minor-league pitchers Josh Johnson, Yusmeiro Petit and Anibal Sanchez. Friedman said he wants prospects for any position who will be big-league ready some time in 2006.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman said he spoke again Saturday to the agent for Brian Giles after the news broke that Giles and the Padres are unlikely to agree on a deal for the outfielder to return to San Diego. Cashman described it as a "brief conversation" and wouldn't say anything more. But Joe Bick, Giles' rep, sounded like he was hoping to move ahead with the Yankees: "I told Brian that given the fact we were moving on from San Diego, we wanted to, sometime in the next few days, move our conversations forward. We could maybe make a decision by the end of the week, though that's not a deadline.

Finding a left-handed hitting first baseman – Free agents John Olerud and Travis Lee probably are the fall-back options in case the Red Sox cannot strike a fair deal for Milwaukee’s Lyle Overbay, Arizona’s Chad Tracy, Cincinnati’s Sean Casey or Texas’ Adrian Gonzalez in a trade.


Mets GM Omar Minaya said right now Kaz Matsui was the starter at 2B going into spring training. He sounded less than thrilled by that fact. The Mets have plenty of options, but nothing as gigantic as Wagner or Ramirez. The club isn't interested in trading for Alfonso Soriano, a source reiterated Saturday. Florida's Luis Castillo is a possible match, or they may seek a trade elsewhere. But the club has cooled on the idea of signing former Atlanta infielder Rafael Furcal to play there. The Mets told Furcal's agent, Paul Kinzer, they were busy with other matters and they could possibly get back to him later.
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<A href="http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20051127&content_id=1272517&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb">The Dodgers' managerial search will include former Boston Red Sox manager Grady Little. Little, 55, is currently a roving catching instructor with the Chicago Cubs, joining the club in 2004 as a scouting consultant and assistant to general manager Jim Hendry.


<A href="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/F4F91E4E02941E15862570C700202CC7?OpenDocument">Cal Eldred confirmed Sunday his decision to retire following a second-chance career that ended with three years in the Cardinals bullpen. Eldred, who turned 38 last week, cited personal and financial reasons in addition to a conversation with general manager Walt Jocketty and manager Tony La Russa shortly after the team's elimination from the National League Championship Series. "I think that it's common sense because of a lot of factors for me not to play anymore," Eldred said.


<A href="http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/story/369658p-314538c.html">The Mets have a three-year offer worth more than $30 million on the table for Billy Wagner now, but the Braves have gotten involved, the Phillies still hope to re-sign him and the Red Sox, according to the Boston Globe, tried to convince the lefty flamethrower to come to Boston for a tour. Wagner has 284 saves over an 11-year career.

<A href="http://www.sptimes.com/2005/11/28/Rays/Rays_lay_groundwork_f.shtml">Helping the Rays trade value of closer Danys Baez was the signing of B.J. Ryan by the Blue Jays for $47-million over five years. With Billy Wagner expected to get at least that much, Baez, at $4-million next season, is a bargain.

The Red Sox will be trying to find a right-handed hitting extra outfielder – If they don’t get Dave Roberts, someone like Philadelphia’s Jason Michaels likely will be available via trade. <A href="http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/view.bg?articleid=114455&format=text">The Red Sox continue to keep in contact with the agent for Brian Giles, who is neither a righty nor an extra outfielder. If signed, Giles would not be on the bench if Ramirez leaves.

<A href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/112805dnsporangbrief.1c71ffe3.html">Taylor Teagarden, who helped lead the University of Texas to the national championship before accepting a $700,000 signing bonus from the Rangers this summer, may not catch at all next year. Teagarden, the Rangers' third-round pick in the June draft, underwent Tommy John ligament transplant surgery on his right (throwing) elbow last week, general manager Jon Daniels said Sunday.

The Phillies have time to figure out some of those things. But in the backs of their minds, they also hope that maybe, just maybe they'll receive a nice little bonus in the dog days of July: Randy Wolf, 29, had Tommy John surgery on his left elbow in July and hopes he can return to the mound for the Phillies sometime in July. Of course, that's no guarantee. And there's no guarantee that if he is healthy, he will be as effective as he wants to be at the jump. Wolf knows that. "When you hear the new general manager say we need pitchers, there's no doubt about that," Wolf said in a recent telephone interview. "As much as I don't want this to be true, I'm still a question mark until I'm back and healthy. There's no guarantee. The realistic part of me knows that. But I believe I'll be back. I believe I'll be back and hopefully better than I was. But I think from an organizational standpoint, you can't just really rely on that." Wolf began to throw earlier this month. He throws three times a week and lately has been throwing about 50 to 60 throws from about 45 to 50 feet. He hopes to begin throwing off a mound around the time spring training starts in mid-February. He says he feels great.

The Blue Jays plan a press conference this afternoon to formally, finally, confirm the signing of free-agent closer B.J. Ryan. Reached at his home in Worcester, Mass., yesterday, general manager J.P. Ricciardi persisted in saying, one more time, that "nothing was finalized." When it was suggested we'd probably see him today, though, he replied, "I think you will." And we're not going to Worcester. Ricciardi, of course, will have some explaining to do, particularly in that the widely reported numbers — five years for $47 million (all figures U.S.) — are stunning. If correct, it would be the largest contract, in total dollars, ever given a reliever, never mind one coming off just one full season as a stopper.
 

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