Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun reports that the San Francisco Giants and the New York Yankees have discussed left fielder Hideki Matsui for a starter. Matsui does have a complete no-trade clause.

Matsui, 33, went .285 with 25 HRs, 103 RBIs while scoring 100 runs. He currently has $26 million left on his contract over the next two seasons. His deal also includes a no-trade clause.

Update 2:35PM - Peter Abraham of the Journal News has picked this up as well. He notes that Matsui also would become San Francisco’s best power threat with Bonds gone. Abraham suggests a package of SP Noah Lowry and INF Rich Aurilia or Lowry and RP Kevin Correia.

Earlier today, MetsGal noted that the Mets selected right-handed pitchers, Stephen Register and Garry Bakker in the Rule 5 Draft this morning.

Baseball America’s Will Kimmey has a bit more on Stephen Register from a Scout’s point of view for when he was a prospect in the 2004 MLB Amateur Draft. The scout has been quoted to say that he’s a strike-thrower with good command and an average fastball that can top out at 93mph. He’s got an “average to plus slider with a short break and some tilt.” He also throws an average changeup.

The Mets also lost a prospect in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 Draft, giving up SP Jose Mejias to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Chris Kline of Baseball America has an update on the Rule 5 Draft which is set to commence tomorrow. The big name in this year’s Rule 5 Draft appears to be Indians outfielder Brian Barton.

The Tampa Bay Rays currently have the first overall pick, though several sources tell Kline that the Padres are planning on moving up to the 1st overall pick and selecting Barton.

A few first-round draft picks from the 2003 MLB Amateur Draft are eligible for tomorrow’s draft. No. 3 overall pick Kyle Sleeth (Tigers), No. 5 overall pick Chris Lubanski (Royals), No. 6 overall pick Ryan Harvey (Cubs), No. 16 pick Jeff Allison (Marlins), No. 21 pick Matt Moses (Twins) and No. 27 pick Eric Duncan (Yankees) could all be donning a new uniform for the 2008 season.

A notable Rule 5 pick was made by the Florida Marlins. They selected SP Johan Santana in the 1999 Rule 5 Draft and sent him to the Minnesota Twins for a minor-leaguer on the same day.

Andrew Kamenetzky of the Los Angeles Times reports that the Los Angeles Dodgers and centerfielder Andruw Jones have reportedly reach an agreement on a two-year contract worth $36 million. Jones will receive $9 million in 2008, $15 million in 2009, and a $12 million signing bonus.

That pushes Juan Pierre and the rest of his $36.5 million contract over the next four years to left field.

Jones, 30, one of the best defensive centerfielder’s to ever play the game, hit .222 with 26 home runs and 94 RBIs in a down year for the Atlanta Braves last season.

This would seem to make it more likely for the Dodgers to deal Matt Kemp or Andre Ethier in a package for a frontline starter.

Jim Molony of MLB.com is reporting that the Mets currently have their eye on Marlins utility man Alfredo Amezaga.

Amezaga, 29, hit .263 and scored 46 runs in 133 games during the 2007 season. He played all four infield positions and some outfield last season and is eligible for arbitration.

The team currently has infielders Damion Easley, Ruben Gotay and Marlon Anderson expected to fill three of the five or six potential spots on the bench for the upcoming season.

According to Todd Zuniga of 1UP.com, Mets shortstop Jose Reyes will be on the cover of the Major League Baseball 2K8 video game.

Chris Snyder, Director of Marketing for 2K Sports…
“Jose is a young, exciting, game-changing player who is on the cusp of super-stardom-much like 2K Sports and Major League Baseball 2K8. That isn’t to say he doesn’t game. Jose almost took down Justin Morneau in our Bigs Home Run Derby last year during All-Star Weekend in San Francisco. We didn’t hold being runner-up against him…we still put him on the cover!”

Marc Lancaster of the Tampa Tribune has been told to expect a 50-50 chance that the Rays make another trade before the meetings are over in Nashville tomorrow.

Lancaster believes the Rays may be close to landing an outfielder or super-utility guy that they are seeking.

Of the most recent rumors, the Rays have been linked to outfielders Shawn Green, Geoff Jenkins, and Cliff Floyd who are on the free agent market and may look to go that direction if no trade happens.

According to Baseball Prospectus, a Minnesota official said today that he is “99 percent sure” that LHP Johan Santana will still be a Twin when the meetings end tomorrow. The Twins still figure to deal Santana sometime before spring training, though it now seems no longer a complete lock that he will be traded to the Red Sox or the Yankees.

Andy Reid of the Michigan Daily reports that the Michigan Wolverines NCAA baseball team will be playing the New York Mets in an exhibition game Feb. 26 in Port St. Lucie, during New York’s spring training.

Michigan junior pitcher Zach Putnam spoke on the opportunity…

“It should be a lot of fun. I think it’s something that Michigan baseball has never had the chance to do, so it’ll be exciting to go down there. I’m not really sure what to expect. I know that we probably won’t be up against the playoff Mets and we’re going to be throwing a lot of guys, but it’d be a nice feather in our cap if we got a win.”

John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports the Reds have released Jorge Cantu. The team is anticipating taking a player in the Rule 5 draft tomorrow and needed to make room.

Cantu, 25, hit .298 with a home run and nine RBI in 57 at-bats after the Reds got him in a trade from Tampa Bay for RHP Calvin Medlock and LHP Brian Shackelford. In 2005, Cantu hit .296 with 28 home runs and 117 RBIs for the Rays in just under 600 at-bats.

Jon Heyman of SI.com talked with Mike Francesa and Chris Russo and reported that the Mets are still in the race for SP Johan Santana. The team remains hopeful that they can make one final effort to find a trade, but will not include SS Jose Reyes in any deal.

Update 1:44PM - Heyman suggests the Mets should take a shot on Santana with Kevin Mulvey, Mike Pelfrey and one of Fernando Martinez or Carlos Gomez.

Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette notes that the Yankees and Pirates have been discussing a trade for a couple of Pirates relievers. The Yankees are interested in lefties Dámaso Marte and John Grabow, though the main focus remains on Marte. The two sides had not made contact regarding relievers until last night.

Marte, 32, hasn’t had an ERA under 3.77 since 2001 and has a career ERA of 3.18 in 8 years in the big leagues, splitting time between the Mariners, White Sox and Pirates. Last season, in 45.1 innings, Marte went 2-0 with a 2.38 ERA.

Grabow, 29, went 3-2 with one save and a 4.53 ERA in 51.2 innings pitcher for the Pirates in 2007.

Peter Gammons of ESPN updates us on the other three pitchers that the Tigers have sent to the Marlins. In addition to the Marlins receiving OF Cameron Maybin, P Andrew Miller, and C Mike Rabelo for P Dontrelle Willis and 3B Miguel Cabrera, the fish also received the following pitchers:

Eulogio De la Cruz (3.62 ERA in the minors with a blazing fastball)
Dallas Trahern (13-6 between Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo)
Burke Badenhop (12-6 between Lakeland and Erie)

Baseball America named Maybin and Miller as Detroit’s top two prospects prior to the 2007 season. If you missed it yesterday, check out Anthony’s post on Maybin and Miller.

I am thankful that Dontrelle won’t be doing this off us anymore.