ESPN reports that David Riske is close to a multi-year deal with the Milwaukee Brewers. Riske had a 2.45 ERA in 65 games of middle relief for the Kansas City Royals.

Ken Rosenthal on Fox Sports Riske’s agent, Nez Balero, who believes his client could close for the Brewers.

“We feel that David would be given an opportunity to be more than just a setup man. He’s not shying away from being a closer at all. If given that opportunity, he would welcome it.”

These relievers are flying off the board. I hope the Mets work fast before all the quality middle relief is gone, unless of course Omar is going by the rationale that its unlikely any of the available options will perform at the same level they did the previous season. As we have seen time and again, middle relievers are rarely consistently from one season to the next.

Of the guys left on the board, I like Ron Mahay the most. He would make for a solid 8th inning option if Duaner Sanchez isn’t able to do the job, and at the very least would give you a good 7th and 8th inning 1-2 punch to get you to Billy Wagner.

Ken Rosenthal on Fox Sports reports that the Cincinnati Reds are in serious talks with free-agent closer Francisco Cordero, citing ‘major-league sources’.

The Reds are among three teams, including the Brewers and one other unidentified team whom Cordero is talking to.

The Brewers are on the verge of losing both Scott Linebrink to the White Sox and now Cordero to the Reds.

The Brewers had reportedly offered Cordero a four-year, $42 million contract.

Cordero converted 44 out of 51 save attempts for the Brewers with a 2.98 ERA and struck out 86 in 63 1/3 innings.

As expected, Jason Kendall agreed to a 1-year deal on Wednesday with the Milwaukee Brewers, reports the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

The contract has not been finalized and is pending Kendall passing a physical next week. Financial terms have not been disclosed but the deal does include a vesting option for 2009.

Kendall replaces Johnny Estrada, who was traded Tuesday to the Mets for reliever Guillermo Mota.

A Jake Peavy for Manny Ramirez deal could be in the works.

The Mariners have contacted the agent of OF Luis Gonzalez.

The Giants and C Bengie Molina are in serious contract negotiations.

The Phillies as well as the Indians and P Joe Borowski are working on a 1-year deal.

The Cubs are more likely to trade OF Jacque Jones than OF Matt Murton.

The Red Sox have signed Japanese P Hideki Okajima and former Met Joe McEwing.

The Brewers will make an offer to 3B Jeff Cirillo.

The Blue Jays have inked SS Royce Clayton to a 1-year deal worth $1.5 million.

P Joe Borowski flunked his physical, nullifying a multiyear deal with the Phillies.

The Mariners could look into bringing back P Freddy Garcia.

The Devil Rays have signed 1B Hee Seop Choi to a 1-year deal and an option for 2008.

The Indians could have made a multi-year offer to P Keith Foulke.

C Mike Liberthal hopes to sign with the Dodgers as a backup to Russel Martin.

The Rockies have no plans to trade OF Brad Hawpe.

Blue Jays OF Vernon Wells has been omitted from all 2007 ticket advertisements.

The White Sox could send 3B Joe Crede and P Freddy Garcia to the Angels for OF Chone Figgins and P Ervin Santana.

MLB.com reports the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Milwaukee Brewers have made a trade involving six-players.

Milwaukee received former All-Star catcher Johnny Estrada, right-handed starter Claudio Vargas and right-handed reliever Greg Aquino for steady left-handed starter Doug Davis and a pair of prospects, lefty Dana Eveland and outfielder David Krynzel.

Estrada, 30, has batted better than .300 with at least 70 RBIs in two of his three seasons as a starting catcher

28 year old Claudio Vargas was 12-10 with a 4.83 ERA in 30 starts and average 5 2/3 innings per start with the Diamondbacks in 2006.

Aquino, 29, had a 4.93 ERA in 111 relief appearances over the last three seasons.

31 year old Lefty, Doug Davis went 11-11 and had a 4.91 ERA, 159 strikeouts in 203.1 innings with the Brewers last year. For his career he has a 62-63 record with a 4.35 ERA.

Milwaukee's number 1 draft choice in 2000 David Krynzel hit .231 with 7 homeruns, 23 stolen bases with a .314 on-base percentage at Nashville in 2006. Although he may be very inconsistent at the plate, he is a very good defensive player.

Dana Eveland is a decent prospect who just turned 23. He went 6-5 with a 2.74 ERA in 20 games for Triple-A Nashville. When he was promoted to the big-leagues, he went 0-3 with an 8.13 ERA in nine games and 5 starts for the Brewers.

Estrada, Vargas and Aquino are all eligible for salary arbitration. Davis is also eligible for arbitration and will be a free agent after the 2007 season.

The Yankees are showing interest in 1B-3B Shea Hillenbrand.

Yankees P Scott Proctor might be moved to the rotation for 2007.

The A’s have promoted bench coach Bob Geren to be the clubs next manager.

The Red Sox are showing interest in former Expos and Brewers P Tomo Ohka, who was a former prospect in the Red Sox organization.

SS Alex Gonzalez has been offered a 3-year, $15 million contract from either the White Sox or Reds.

A’s owner Lewis Wolff said the club will consider bringing in OF Barry Bonds to replace the all-but departed DH Frank Thomas.

The Orioles could persue either Mariners 1B Richie Sexson or Reds OF Adam Dunn this winter.

The Cubs are open to trading C Michael Barrett for some pitching help.

The Astros and Rockies have discussed a trade that would bring P Jason Jennings to Houston while sending either OF/2B Chris Burke or P Brad Lidge to Colorado.

The Mets are showing interest in P Adam Eaton, but his agent says he believes the Mets have Eaton as a “backup choice”.

SNY had former Met Lee Mazelli in their headquarters for an interview yesterday. It is believed he would work during Mets broadcasts.

The Red Sox could try to convince P Roger Clemens to return to Boston to be the teams closer.

Mets Fan In Oklahoma gets us started with a great series preview against a team with high expectations for the first time I can ever remember, the fashionable wild card pick, Milwaukee Brewers.