The Astros appear to be making a statement that they are major players in this seasons free agency market.

ESPN reports that the Astros have made multi-year offers to free-agents Carlos Lee and Alfonso Soriano according to reports out of Houston.

The Houston Chronicle reports that the Astros are in serious discussions with RHP Woody Williams. Astros general manager
Tim Purpura told the Fox television affiliate in Houston that he plans
to make an offer to Williams in the next day or so.

Lee hit .286 with 37 homers and 116 RBI last season with the Brewers and Rangers.

Soriano hit .277 with 46 homers, 41 steals and 95 RBI for the Nationals.

Williams was 12-5 with a 3.65 earned-run average for the Padres.

Soriano is looking for a long term seven-year deal worth around $120 million. Lee is expected to earn about $15 million a year. The Astros most likely cannot afford to sign both.

Lee seems like the best fit for Houston, Soriano reportedly wants to remain on the east coast and the Phillies are said to be prepared to make him a significant offer. If they're willing to pay him $17 million a year remains to be seen. If Houston or Philly blinks then we're looking at quite an expensive precedent set for outfielders, and the Manny Ramirez option becomes that much more attractive.

Wally Gobetz gives us a rundown of hot stove rumors swirling about today from the Mets listserv. Some of these have already been reported but this is meant to be a quick list of some of the buzz of the day…

The Dodgers are poised to resign Nomar.  

After losing Frank Thomas, the A's could turn to Bonds, who has already had discussions with San Diego.

The Dodgers may bring back Piazza if he'll back up Russ Martin and play some 1B.

The Giants are close to resigning Ray Durham for 2 years/$16M or 1 year/$10M.

The Marlins have targeted Rocco Baldelli as their #1 option for CF. They're also interested in Wily Taveras.

The Astros met with Carlos Lee and Alfonso Soriano.

The Giants are  in discussions with Juan Pierre who is asking 3 years/$30M.

The Yanks have all but resigned Mussina to a 2-year/$23M deal.

The Orioles signed Jamie Walker to a 3 year/$10M deal. They are also the front runners for Justin Speier, who is commanding a 4-year/$16M+ deal.

Boston and the Yanks are also talking to Speier.

The Cubs resigned Henry Blanco for 2 years/$5.25M.

Dave Roberts is talking to the Mets, Milwaukee, Atlanta and Texas. He's looking for 3/$15.

Luis Gonzalez is talking to the Dodgers, Giants, Rangers, and Indians. The Astros aren't interested.

The Phillies are talking to Adam Eaton.

The Cubs sent relievers David Aardsma and Carlos Vasquez to the White Sox for Neal Cotts.

The Phillies have signed Wes Helms
to a two-year deal with a club option for the third. Helms is guaranteed $5.5MM for 2007-08.

The folks at Newsday have learned that the Mets organization is souring on OF Lastings Milledge by the day and it seems more and more likely he will be traded this winter. Besides his lackluster play, his attitude has also turned off some members of the organization.

Also on the Milledge front, it appears that the Mets have had internal discussions about trading Milledge and P Aaron Heilman to Toronto in exchange for OF Vernon Wells. If the Mets are to acquire Wells, he would be moved to right field while Shawn Green would move to left.

Milledge has also been brought up in discussions involving White Sox Pitchers Javier Vazquez and Freddy Garcia, Marlins P Dontrelle Willis and Padres P Jake Peavy.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports has a crapload of nuggets this morning:

The Mets are still interested in White Sox P Javier Vazquez, but he views the Rangers as the most likely trade partner. Rosenthal suggests the Sox trade Vazquez and OF Brian Anderson to Texas for some of Texas’ pitching prospects, namely Thomas Diamond and John Danks.

The Dodgers are close to signing 1B Nomar Garciaparra to a 2-year deal.

With the departure of DH Frank Thomas to the Blue Jays, expect the A’s to inquire about C Mike Piazza, OF Cliff Floyd, OF Aubrey Huff, OF Frank Catalanotto and 1B Shea Hillenbrand. The alternative route would be to acquire a bat by trading P Esteban Loaiza.

The Giants, Rangers, Orioles and Astros are the four teams most interested in OF Carlos Lee. Lee is a fallback option for the Giants if they fail to re-sign OF Barry Bonds.

If the Devil Rays move either OF Carl Crawford or OF Rocco Baldelli, they will be moved for a young pitcher with ace-like potential. Possible targets include Angels P Ervin Santana, Dodgers P Chad Billingsley and one of the Marlins young pitchers.

Astros.com reports Astros GM Tim Purpura denies having discussions with the Red Sox about P Brad Lidge.

Newsday reports Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez has no plans to waive his no-trade clause.

The Boston Herald is reporting that the Red Sox and Scott Boras plan to keep the Daisuke Matsuzaka contract negotiations “as quiet as possible”.

The Philadelphis Inquirer is reporting that free agent OF-2B Alfonso Soriano has said he prefers to stay on the east coast.

The Denver Post reports that the Cubs, Rangers and Astros are all showing interest in P Jason Jennings.

Joel Sherman of the NY Post reports that the Rockies have told the Yankees they will take on half of the $23 million still owed to P Carl Pavano.

ESPN.com is reporting that DH Frank Thomas is close to completing a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. While Thomas is expected to sign a 2-year deal, the financial aspect of the contract has not yet been leaked.

If this is true and a deal gets done, look for the Jays to trade either OF Vernon Wells or top prospect Adam Lind.

…..update……10:59 PM……

ESPN.com is reporting the deal is worth $23 million.

Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Padres are interested in the services of one OF Barry “Barroid” Bonds. Rosenthal suggests that the A's could also be interested in Bonds if they cannot sign DH Frank Thomas.

Bonds has a .185 carrer batting average at San Diego's PETCO Park with only 3 home runs.

Rosenthal is also reporting that the Orioles are on the verge of signing former Tigers P Jamie Walker to a 3-year deal worth approximately $10 million.

Waa-waa-wee-wa, thats a lot for a lefty specialist.

ESPN.com's Buster Olney is reporting that the Phillies and 1B-3B Wes Helms have come to terms on a 2-year deal worth $5.5 million.

Please take a moment to vote in our latest poll, which is who is the player you think the Mets should target above all others in the offseason. If you want someone else not listed, post it in the comments section.

As reported this morning in MetsBlog via Joel Sherman's New York Post article, Omar Minaya has made it know in internal meetings with
his staff that he is interested in Vernon Wells from Toronto to play left field next to
Carlos Beltran.

The Mets have not yet approached the Blue
Jays. Toronto officials have indicated they would want starting pitching. Mike Pelfrey,
Phil Humber, John Maine or Oliver Perez would be potential trade bait, but the Jays may be looking for someone with more major league experience.

Wells
can be a free agent after the season. The Jays may wait until July and
decide depending on where they are in the standings if they want to
make a move.

Wow. I can say
without a doubt, I would love to have Wells in my lineup. He's a solid
hitter, mashing 30 homers and 100 RBI on average over the past 5 years,
and hitting around .288, its safe to say he would make a fine addition. He led the AL
in hits, extra base hits, and total bases this past year. Wells is also a
three time gold glove winner, including this year. He's about to turn
28 in December, so he's fairly young as well.

There not much
bad I can say about the guy, I think the best offer I can think of is
to package Aaron Heilman and Lastings Milledge, considering Heilman has
more experience than any of the other Mets pitchers who would be ripe
for trading. I suppose if the Jays were willing to roll the dice on one
of the other pitchers mentioned, i'd have no problem making the deal, as
I think Wells is a pretty safe bet.

The Yankees and Mets appear to be doing the dance that teams tend to do in order to show they're not exactly in love with Scott Boras' latest shiny new toy. While the Mets privately would be very happy to add Barry Zito to their rotation citing how he would perform his best with the benefit of a pitchers park, a reunion with Rick Peterson, and a National League lineup to face every 5 days.

The Yankees seem a little more hesitant given his history against them and the Red Sox. Zito has a 3-9 record and 5.20 ERA against the Yanks and hasn't been much more effective against the Sox with a 4.78 ERA.

The Mets have more leverage than they have in past years. Players want to come to play for the Amazins now, and they hear the stories coming out of the clubhouse how the Mets are a loose, but professional group of ballplayers who sincerely appreciate playing for each other.

The following is a quote out of NorthJersey.com from a Met official that shows the change in atmosphere in Queens these days…

Beyond all the aesthetics, the bottom line comes down to money. What are the Mets and Yanks willing to give up to add a pitcher who is the best arm left on the market? Who will blink first, the Mets, the Yanks, or Boras? Then again, another team could come swooping in with a bigger offer, and considering the insanity that already pervades this off season, its more likely than not that the two local teams will have competition at nearly every avenue they survey. This could be one deal neither can afford to lose.

ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick reports the Giants are making progress with OF Juan Pierre. Pierre is believed to be seeking a 3-year, $30 million deal.

Crasnik also reports that the Phillies are talking contract with P Adam Eaton, a former Phills farmhand.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports the Devil Rays have won the negotiating rights to Japanese 3B Akinori Iwamura.

The LA Times reports there has been speculation that the White Sox could trade 3B Joe Crede to the Angels for OF Chone Figgins.

The Arizona Republic states the Diamondbacks might have trouble signing P Mark Mulder because the are unwilling to add health and performance incentives in any deal.

The Republic also says the Diamondbacks (who have the new ugliest uniform in sports) are pursuing P Randy Wolf.

The San Diego-Union Tribune reports the Padres will not trade P Scott Linebrink due to the price of relief pitching on the free agent market. GM Kevin Towers was quoted as saying “Someone would really have to overpay to get him”.

Gotham Baseball brings us this update from the GM meetings taking place in Naples, Florida…

With the alleged bid of $50 million dollars by the Red Sox for the rights just to talk to Daisuke Matsuzaka, I think its safe to say that baseball has once again lost its mind.

Buster Olney reports on his ESPN blog that after a bit of a recession in the market over the last few years, we are likely looking at a major market correction.

He cites the Matasuzaka bid, the price the Cubs paid to resign Aramis Ramirez at a higher price than they paid to resign Derek Lee, Gary Sheffield getting $41 million over the next three years, and the Phillies supposedly willing to pony up to $120 million to sign Alfonso Soriano as indication that we are looking at an expensive offseason.

According to the Palm Beach Post, a National League GM said that the Marlins are telling teams that P Dontrelle Willis is not avaliable.

So much for that trade. For what its worth, the fish also said 1B Carlos Delgado wasn't avaliable last winter, but you all know where he is now.

The LA Times reports the Los Angeles Angels have made an offer to OF-2B Alfonso Soriano and it is believed to be a 6-year deal worth $80 million.

MLB.com reports the Rangers made a $27 million bid on P Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Thats $27 million that could be used to lure P Barry Zito to Arlington.

The Oakland A's have eliminated Nippom Ham Fighters manager Trey Hillman from their managerial search. Bench coach Bob Geren, Rockies bench coach Jamie Quirk and ESPN analyst Orel Hershiser are the final 3 canidates.

The Daily News is reporting that the Mets are on the verge of re-signing 2B Jose Valentin to a 1-year deal worth approximatly $3 million.

The report indicates that Valentin could be used as Chris Woodward's replacement as utilityman and the club could persue 2Bs Mark DeRosa, Julio Lugo or Rich Aurilla.

Good to have the Stache back next year. Hopefully las year wasn't a fluke and he'll put up some fine numbers again.