Steve King of the Philadelphia Daily News reports that the Phillies may look to trade for Orioles 3B Melvin Mora after failing to sign Mike Lowell via free agency. The Baltimore Sun reports that Mora is unhappy with the current direction of the Orioles and would be willing to drop his no-trade clause to join a contender on the east coast.

Mora, 35, hit .274 with 14 homers and 58 RBI last season. He signed a 3-year contract extension in May 2006. He is due to make $8 million in each of the next two seasons. In 2010, he is due a club option worth $8 million or a $1 million buyout.

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe suspects that Mike Lowell would have signed elsewhere by now if he wasn’t returning to the Red Sox, and believes he will accept the three-year deal worth between $35 million and $45 million.

ESPN’s Buster Olney is reporting he “heard early this morning: Mike Lowell is close to re-signing with the Red Sox.” 

However, Rob Bradford at The Boston Herald writes “there still appears to be a healthy divide in terms of what the Sox are offering and what the third baseman feels he might be worth on the open market.”

The Yankees appear to be no longer interested in Lowell to play first base, the Dodgers are considering both Lowell and Miguel Cabrera to play third. Cabrera would cost them a number of talented young players, while Lowell would simply cost them cash.

ESPN reports that the Yankees seem to be backing away from going after Mike Lowell to play first base and use Shelly Duncan or Jason Giambi instead.

The Red Sox have reportedly offered Lowell a three-year offer worth between $35 million and $45 million.

The Sox have been reported to have interest in Miguel Cabrera as well. Back in April, according to Enrique Rojas on ESPN, Cabrera expressed interest in play alongside Albert Pujols in St. Louis.

Here’s whats brewing on the Hot Stove this Thursday morning…

• Yorvit Torrealba’s agent told the Denver Post that he expects his client to make a decision regarding the Mets contract offer today. Tracy Ringolsby in the Rocky Mountain News reports that the Mets have offered Torrealba a two-year deal worth $9 million. The Denver Post is reporting it to be a three-year, $15 million deal.
• Omar Minaya tells Ben Shpigel of the New York Times he has an idea of how much money it will take to sign his desired free-agent targets and knows which prospects and how many he would have to surrender to upgrade the Mets pitching staff.“Ideally, you’d always like a guy with 200-plus innings, you know what I’m saying?” Minaya said. “If for whatever reason Glavine does not come back, we have to look for a starting pitcher.”
• Speaking of Tom Glavine, Mets.com reports that Tom is getting some advice on his future from the most famous Tom in Mets history, Mr. Tom Seaver.
• Dan Graziano at the Star Ledger reports that the Yankees plan on continuing to pursue Mike Lowell even if they re-sign Alex Rodriguez. The Yankees plan on putting Lowell at first base.
• Jon Heyman on SI.com reports that the Yankees and Rodriguez are discussing a 10 year, $280 million contract.
• Buster Olney said on ESPN last night that he believes that Alex Rodriguez is taking a deeply discounted offer from the Yankees, 10-years for $220 million. I’ll believe this when I see it.
• The San Diego Union Tribune reports that the Padres expect Geoff Blum to sign with the Astros, and will likely let Milton Bradley walk as well. The Padres are looking at Geoff Jenkins and Andruw Jones as their top free agent targets.
• The St Louis Post Dispatch reports that Scott Rolen seems all but gone from St. Louis. The third baseman was reportedly unhappy with the letter he received from Tony La Russa that was an attempt to reconcile with Rolen.
• The St Louis Post Dispatch also reports that the Cardinals have interest in Carlos Silva and Kyle Lohse.
• 7Sports, a local Boston news television station, is reporting that the Braves, Angels, Cardinals and Yankees have all offered Mike Lowell four-year contracts worth between $55 million and $60 million.

Here’s some Hot Stove buzz to get you started with your morning coffee…

• MLB Trade Rumors hears that the Mets are interested in Ervin Santana, Chris Capuano, Claudio Vargas, and Noah Lowry. I happen to think Lowry would be a nice addition to the back end of the Mets rotation.
• MTR also reports that Luis Castillo is pushing for a 4-year deal. I suspect thats more than the Mets will be willing to offer, but stranger things have happened.
• In case you missed it, the Mets may be more interested in Livan Hernandez than previously suspected. Matthew Cerrone discusses this on Mets Blog via Ben Shpigel’s article yesterday in the New York Times.
• The Palm Beach Post is reporting that the Dodgers and Angels are the front runners for Miguel Cabrera. The Marlins want Howie Kendrick, Nick Adenhart, another pitcher, and an outfielder from the Angels. The Dodgers are being asked for Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw, Andy LaRoche, James Loney, and Matt Kemp.
• The Braves will meet with Tom Glavine today who is expected to look for a deal similar to the one Greg Maddux received, one-year for $10 million.
• No surprise, the Marlins are going the cheap route on their free agent spending, reports the Palm Beach Post.
• File under : Is anyone actually buying this crap? Metro Canada reports the Blue Jays are targeting Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte. Is this part of their best buddies retirement tour? Please guys, just go away already, thanks.
• Scott Boras told the Detroit Free Press that returning to the Tigers is Kenny Rogers first priority. Whew, thanks Scott! I was losing sleep wondering where Kenny Rogers would be playing next season.
• The Houston Chronicle reports that the Astros intend to go after free agent reliever Francisco Cordero. Luke Scott and Chris Burke may be used as chips to get a pitcher via trade. GM Ed Wade said he intends to be aggressive this off-season and some of his other targets include Tadahito Iguchi, Scott Linebrink, Kaz Matsui, Jason Jennings, and Jon Lieber.
• The Star Ledger reports the Yankees have opened serious discussions with Mike Lowell.

Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com believes the Angels have emerged as a most intriguing possibility for Marlins 3B Miguel Cabrera to land through a trade. The Dodgers, Red Sox and Yankees all have interest as well, however the Red Sox are trying to re-sign Mike Lowell and the comments from Yankees’ representative Hank Steinbrenner saying that he would not trade one of the big three young pitchers.

Rosenthal also adds that the Washington Nationals would like to sign CF Andruw Jones but will likely have a tough time chalking up the money it will take to get him. He also notes that he sees the Giants and White Sox as two potential suiters with the Dodgers a possibility. The Padres would be more involved with him if his price dropped.

The Phillies believe that CF Aaron Rowand may command a four-year, $52 million contract. Both the Astros and Mets remain interested in free agent 2B Luis Castillo. The Indians, Padres and Dodgers could also enter the mix pending decisions within their franchise. The Twins are one of the teams attempting to trade for Red Sox CF Coco Crisp, but the Red Sox are demanding too much in return it appears. Teams with too many starting pitchers may look to the trade market to get rid of them. Indians starter LHP Cliff Lee, Brewers RHP Dave Bush and LHP Chris Capuano are amongst the possible choices.

Rosenthal ends on one final note. The Washington Nationals would like to trade for another young major league-ready starter. Mets 2nd-round draft pick in 2006 Kevin Mulvey is among one of the choices that Rosenthal adds, with the other being the Twins Kevin Slowey.

With the Mets in need of bullpen help. Could we be looking at a trade for one of the Nationals relievers? Chad Cordero or Jon Rauch could help this team in the bullpen and the Nationals are looking to get younger. The Nationals reportedly have interest in OF Carlos Gomez as well.

Yahoo Sports lists a number of players the Yankees may consider to replace Alex Rodriguez at third base.

Mike Lowell, Adrian Beltre, and Miguel Cabrera are among those mentioned. Scott Rolen is listed as a dark horse candidate, since he’s been plauged by injuries. The $36 million owed to him through 2010 would likely cost the Yankees little in the form of a trade, as the Cardinals would like to simply have the Yankees pick up most of his contract.