Fox Sport's Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Padres and P Greg Maddux are close to completing a one or two year deal.

I would assume this means this eliminates any chance the Padres have of signing Barry Zito.

The Dallas Morning News is reporting that the Rangers and free agent P Vicente Padilla are close to completing a 3-year, $30 million contract.

I'm not religious or anything, but if there is a god, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

John Delco @ his blog gives us a recap of what Omar talked about with the Media earlier tonight.

Just finished session with Mets GM Omar Minaya, who said he’ll meet with agent Scott Boras this week regarding FA lefty Barry Zito. Reportedly, Zito has offer of $102 milliion over six years. Minaya said Mets have the ability to add payroll, but haven’t determined their parameters.

The meeting with Boras will be informational. “Scott will have a lot of statistics saying how great his player is,” Minaya said. An offer, if it comes, will come after the reports are digested. Minaya said the trade market for pitching is cool right now, with those teams that have pitchers to deal waiting to see how the market shakes out.

Again, Minaya said pitching is a priority, and if a starter isn’t added he would be content going into spring training with what he has. I think he’s playing his cards close to the vest and tempering his interest in Zito. No sense showing urgency that would drive up the price.

Among other things, Minaya also said:

* He’s reviewing a list of relievers also, and said the market is pricey.
* Negotiations on manager Willie Randolph’s contract extension are on-going.
* There’s no overwhelming need to add position players.
* He’s still considering reliever Guillermo Mota.

While appearing on The Hot List, Nationals GM Jim Bowden was asked to give some insight on the Nationals for the meetings. Bowden responding by saying he
“expects a trade that will shock the baseball world will happen in the
next 72 hours”. When asked if the potential trade would involve the Nationals, he backtracked
but appeared to give a bit of a smirk to the camera.

I love the winter meetings. Its like the entire month leading up to the trade deadline rolled into four days and I can't get enough of it. If only there were two winter meetings each offseason.

Anyway, enough of me orally stimulating the winter meetings. I can't really picture Bowden making that big of a trade because he said earlier in the interview that he intends on rebuilding the team through the draft, so he might be alluding to a possible Manny Ramirez deal.

NJ.com's Yankees Blog, Pride Of The Yankees, reports a crazy scenario that is rumored to be developing that could make Daisuke Matsuzaka a free agent.

This sounds way too crazy to be true, but I wanted to post it just out of appreciation for the very creative mind who came up with this wild scenario. JJ Abrams has nothing on this guy.  

Ken Rosenthal, aka Mr.November, reports on Fox Sports that the Padres have no interest in giving up Jake Peavy in return for Manny Ramirez

The Dodgers still appear to be the most logical match for the
Red Sox. But while the teams have spoken, the Dodgers are not in hot
pursuit of Ramirez, according to a second source.

The Red Sox want a quality major-league piece and prospects for Ramirez.

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.

P Gil Meche spent the night at a Maple Leafs game accompanied by Blue Jays GM J.P. Riccardi.

The Red Sox and OF J.D. Drew are expected to sign a 4-year deal worth $15-16 million a season with a vesting option for a fifth year.

Sources told the Chicago Sun Times that the Cubs did not offer P Jason Schmidt a 3-year contract worth $44 million. It is still believed the club has interest in Schmidt though.

Now a bunch of nuggets from Mr. Baseball, Ken Rosenthal:

The Orioles are ridiculiously dumb for spending so much money on Ps Jamie Walker, Chad Bradford, Scott Willamson and Danys Baez.

OF Manny Ramirez would be a great fit for the Dodgers because he has experience with manager Grady Little.

The Red Sox plan on making a run at Devil Rays OF Rocco Baldelli.

The Braves are unlikely to sign P Tom Glavine if they cannot trade P Tim Hudson.

C Rod Barajas did not sign with the Blue Jays because his wife didn’t want to move to Canada.

The Cubs, Mets, Royals and several NL West clubs have shown interest in P Miguel Batista.

The Diamondbacks, Padres, Giants, Rangers and Indians are showing interest in P Mark Mulder, who isn’t expected to return before the all-star break.

ESPN.com's Buster Olney is reporting that in addition to likely adding P Chad Bradford, the Orioles are expected to sign P Scott Williamson to a 1-year, $900,000 contract.

The Orioles can sign every good reliever on the market and they'd all still stink. That team is not going to be good for a long, long time.

The Baltimore Sun writes that the Orioles and Chad Bradford are in the process of finalizing a 3 year deal.

Rex Gary, Bradford's agent, acknowledged Monday afternoon that he has had ongoing discussions with the Orioles, though more than 10 teams have expressed interest in his client and he had no timetable for making a decision.

“The Orioles have been certainly in touch,” Gary said. “We'll see where it goes. All along, if the right situation comes in front of Chad and he wants to do the deal, we'll do it.”

 To me a 3-year deal for Bradford not that great of a contract. 3-years are one too many years for Bradord, but i guess when theres a market like this, most of the free agents are going to get one more year. I would've like the Mets to re-sign him because it would give the Mets flexibility of trading Heilman for a starting pitcher or putting him in the starting rotation but if Bradford doesn't return, i doubt either of the two will happen.

SI.com's Truth and Rumors brings us this Monday hot stove rumor rundown…

The Astros have made it clear they would like an answer from Andy Pettitte soon. They again expect to be forced to wait until next year for a decision from Roger Clemens.
– Houston Chronicle

There is still an unshakeable feeling that the Tigers will make a
whopper of a package deal. It could involve a left-handed reliever, a
new outfielder, an heir-apparent to Pudge Rodriguez at catcher, a prospect — any combination of the above
– Detroit News

Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi is now full-throttle into the busy free agent season, and has also entered a five-team race for second baseman Adam Kennedy. Kennedy is seeking a four-year deal at about $20 million, and will almost certainly solidify Aaron Hill as the club's shortstop if Ricciardi can land him.
– Toronto Star

Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro has received a lot of inquiries about his starting pitchers C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Jake Westbrook, Jeremy Sowers and Paul Byrd but it seems unlikely he'd deal one of them. One player the Indians have inquired about is Angels reliever Scot Shields.
– Cleveland Plain Dealer

The Orioles are committed to Chris Ray as their closer, though the deal the club is believed to have reached with Danys Baez
is the latest proof of how serious the organization is about upgrading
its relief corps, which had the second-worst ERA in the majors last
season.
– Baltimore Sun

By the time he's a free agent, at age 29 after the 2008 season, two-time Twins Cy Young Award pitcher Johan Santana's market value could exceed $120 million over six years.
– St. Paul Pioneer Press

–The Giants are trying hard to sign free agent David Weathers to be their setup man.

–Rich Aurilia and the Giants are about to finalize a two- or three-year contract worth about $3 million per season.

–Dave Roberts has reportedly picked the Giants over the Brewers and is set to agree to terms on a three-year deal.

–The Giants are engaged in serious talks with free agent Mark Loretta.

–The Cubs are reportedly shopping Jacque Jones, who is owed who is owed $11.67 million over the next two years.

–The Red Sox are quietly but aggressively trying to close a deal for outfielder J.D. Drew

–Free agent Rod Barajas is expected to sign a two-year deal worth around $3 million a year, to take over as the Jays' primary catcher.

Today's Hot Stove Rumor Rundown comes courtesy of SI.com's Truth and Rumors…

If Cubs GM Jim Hendry signs three of the top guys on his radar (center fielder Gary Matthews Jr. and starters Ted Lilly and Gil Meche), he could wind up with a payroll of about $125 million.
– Chicago Tribune

Carlos Lee has told the Dodgers that he doesn't want to play on the West Coast, and GM Ned Colletti reiterated that he has no interest in signing Barry Bonds.
– Los Angeles Times

The Dodgers' signing of Juan Pierre could further accelerate the destination of leadoff hitter Dave Roberts,
who was seeking a deal longer than the two years the White Sox wanted
to give. This also raises the possibility the Sox could bring back Scott Podsednik if they can't trade for a leadoff hitter.
– Chicago Tribune

Dodgers GM Ned Colletti sounded almost resigned to fielding a team that
again could finish near the bottom of the NL in home runs. He is
hopeful that some of the younger Dodgers might increase their power and
hinted that a trade could bring a slugger.
– Los Angeles Times

While talks have remained quiet, the Red Sox have pushed Texas owner Tom Hicks to once again consider trading for Manny Ramírez. This time, according to multiple sources, the Sox would like to pry All-Star shortstop Michael Young away, but there has been little evidence that the Rangers would part with Young.
– Boston Globe

Manny Ramirez wants to play somewhere else next season, and apparently
he's not all that picky about where. He has given the Red Sox a list of
teams to which he would accept a trade, and according to TV analyst Jerry Remy that list is at least 10 teams long.
– Boston Herald

One industry executive insisted the Red Sox were dangling outfielder Wily Mo Peña to the Nationals for closer Chad Cordero, though Nationals GM Jim Bowden, through a club spokesman, denied any such discussions.
– Boston Globe

As they try to fill their open spot at first base, the Yankees have reached out to the agent for Eduardo Pérez. The Yankees are also interested in Shea Hillenbrand and Rich Aurilia at first base.
– New York Times

Now Tom Glavine
can talk to the Braves about what they have in mind for next year, and
if he wants to stay at home, there's not much the Mets can do about it.
The Mets don't expect a verdict until after Thanksgiving.
– Newsday

The voting for AL MVP could be deadlocked on top between Derek Jeter and Justin Morneau.

The Red Sox are showing interest in Rangers SS Michael Young. They are also offering the Nationals OF Wily Mo Pena in exchange for P Chad Cordero.

The Astros, Rangers, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Cubs and Mets are all in the hunt for P Vicente Padilla.

The Cubs are pursuing SS-2B Julio Lugo, but they want him to move to centerfield.