[Updated @ 11:18am: Astros, Reds, Phillies]: News of arbitration [non-]offers are trickling in, so whenever I hear something new I'll add it here. If you discover any on your own don't hesitate to include them in the comments, but be sure to provide a source. I'll update this list accordingly. I am only going to include Type A and Type B free agents, since the arbitration status of unranked players is inconsequential.

Players who were offered arbitration are listed in bold green (Type A) or green (Type B).
Players not offered arbitration are listed in bold red (Type A) or red (Type B).

Angels

Garret Anderson (MLB.com)
Jon Garland (MLB.com)
Darren Oliver (MLB.com)
Francisco Rodriguez (MLB.com)
Mark Teixeira (MLB.com)

Athletics

Alan Embree (MLB.com)
Frank Thomas (MLB.com)

Astros

Doug Brocail (MLB.com)
Mark Loretta (MLB.com)
Randy Wolf (MLB.com)

A.J. Burnett (MLB.com)
Gregg Zaun (MLB.com)

Braves

John Smoltz (MLB.com)

Brewers

Eric Gagne (MLB.com)
C.C. Sabathia (MLB.com)
Ben Sheets (MLB.com)
Brian Shouse (MLB.com)

Cardinals

Jason Isringhausen (MLB.com)
Braden Looper (MLB.com)
Russ Springer (MLB.com)

Cubs

Bobby Howry (MLB.com)
Kerry Wood (MLB.com)

Diamondbacks

Juan Cruz (MLB.com)
Adam Dunn (MLB.com)
Orlando Hudson (MLB.com)
Randy Johnson (MLB.com)
Brandon Lyon (MLB.com)

Dodgers

Joe Beimel (MLB.com)
Casey Blake (MLB.com)
Jeff Kent (MLB.com)
Derek Lowe (MLB.com)
Greg Maddux (MLB.com)
Brad Penny (MLB.com)
Manny Ramirez (MLB.com)

Mariners

Raul Ibanez (MLB.com)

Marlins

Luis Gonzalez (MLB.com)
Paul Lo Duca (MLB.com)
Arthur Rhodes (MLB.com)

Mets

Moises Alou (MLB.com)
Luis Ayala (MLB.com)
Oliver Perez (MLB.com)

Padres

Trevor Hoffman (MLB.com)

Phillies

Pat Burrell (MLB.com)
Jamie Moyer (MLB.com)
Rudy Seanez (MLB.com)

Rangers

Milton Bradley (MLB.com)

Reds

David Weathers (MLB.com)

Red Sox

Paul Byrd (MLB.com)
Jason Varitek (MLB.com)

Rockies

Brian Fuentes (MLB.com)

Royals

Mark Grudzielanek (MLB.com)

Tigers

Edgar Renteria (MLB.com)

Twins

Dennys Reyes (MLB.com)

White Sox

Orlando Cabrera

Yankees

Bobby Abreu (MLB.com)
Mike Mussina (MLB.com)
Andy Pettitte (MLB.com)
Ivan Rodriguez (MLB.com)

In Arizona:

• Bobby Parnell pitched the first 2.2 innings for the Peoria Saguaros, allowing just one run on four hits and a walk while striking out three.
• Tobi Stoner allowed three runs on three hits and a walk while striking out two in 1.1 innings.

In the Dominican Republic:

• Fernando Tatis went 2-for-4 with two doubles and three runs scored.
• Argenis Reyes went 0-for-5.
• Fernando Martinez went 1-for-3 with a run scored, a stolen base and a hit-by-pitch.
• Julio Polanco pitched two-thirds of an inning of perfect ball.
• Luis Terrero went 3-for-4.

In Venezuela:

• Edgar Alfonzo allowed two runs on two hits and a walk without retiring a batter.
• Jose Rojas allowed a solo homrun and struck out one in an inning of relief.

DRaysBay appreciates Cliff Floyd and his contributions to their 2008 World Series run. We love Uncle Cliffy, too.

At FanGraphs, David Golebiewski looks at baseball's most unheralded ace, Zack Grienke. How good is he? Really, really good.

At The Book Blog, MGL rates the NL Gold Glove selections based on their performance in UZR Ultimate Zone Rating). Beltran: Good. McLouth: Bad.

As expected, the Dodgers declined their $9.25 million option on Brad Penny for 2009.

Joe Posnanski has 3,000+ words on Bob Feller, if you're looking to kill some time on a Thursday and want to read one of the best sportswriters in the country.

Tim Brown has a bunch of nuggets from the GM meetings over at Yahoo! Sports, including a big contract offer to Manny Ramirez from the Dodgers, the Braves getting more optimistic about a possible Jake Peavy acquisition, and a rumored deal to send Hideki Matsui to Seattle.

Several teams have contacted the Rays about B.J. Upton. Upton is 23 and drew 93 unintentional walks last year. He's not going anywhere.

Arizona Fall League

National Rising Stars 7, American Rising Stars 6

• Daniel Murphy started at DH for the American Rising Stars and walked and was caught stealing in his only plate appearance.
• Josh Thole was 1-for-1 with a walk and an RBI single.
• Eddie Kunz had another ruff [sic] outing, blowing a save by allowing two hits, a walk and a run in two-thirds of an inning.

Hawaiian Winter Baseball

West Oahu CaneFires 8, Honolulu Sharks 2

• Greg Veloz went 0-for-4 and is hitting .219/.296/.234 overall.
• Scott Shaw started for the Sharks and allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks in 2.2 innings. He struck out two and picked up the loss.
• Junior Guerra allowed four runs on four hits and two walks in two-thirds of an inning of relief.

Domincan Winter League

Leones del Escogido 10, Gigantes del Cibao 2

• Victor Mendez (CF-Gigantes) went 1-for-3.
• Julio Polcano (LHP-Gigantes) allowed a run on two hits and a walk in an inning of relief.
• Argenis Reyes (2B-Leones) went 1-for-3 with a walk.
• Abraham Nunez (2B-Leones) went 0-for-0 with a walk.
• Fernando Martinez (LF-Leones) went 1-for-5 with a double and three RBI.
• Ambiorix Concepcion (CF-Leones) went 0-for-1.

Azucareros del Este 3, Aguilas Cibaenas 2

• Eude Brito (LHP-Azucareros) picked up a hold (?) in a third of an inning of relief.
• Luis Terrero (CF-Aguilas) went 1-for-3 with a stolen base.

Tigres del Licey 7, Estrellas de Oriente 4

• Fernando Tatis (DH-Estrellas) went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts but is hitting .393/.452/.643 overall.

Mexican Pacific League

Mayos de Navojoa 7, Aguilas de Mexicali 4

• Carlos Muniz (RHP-Mexicali) allowed four walks in two-thirds of an inning, which rightfully earned him a hold.

Venezuelan Winter League

Navegantes del Magallanes 12, Tiburones de La Guaira 3

• Gustavo Molina (C-Magallanes) went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer and three RBI.
• Jose Sanchez (RHP-Magallanes) allowed two runs on five hits and a walk in 2.2 innings of relief, striking out four.
• Edgar Alfonzo (LHP-Magallanes) picked up the win in relief, allowing one hit and no runs in 1.1 innings.

Tigres de Aragua 9, Caribes de Anzoategui 1

• Jose Rojas (RHP-Caribes) allowed one hit and struck out one in an inning of relief.

Aggregate winter league stats for all Mets players can be found at MLB.com.

Rob Neyer comments on the rumor that the Mets may go after Derek Lowe and Brian Fuentes, calling both pitchers "impeccable", with some reservations about Lowe's age.

Tim Marchman has a nice article up about playoff LOOGYs.

The Dodgers have allegedly offered Manny Ramirez a two-year, $60 million deal to stay in Los Angeles. The deal will almost surely be rebuffed by Scott Boras, who is seeking as many as six years for the enigmatic outfielder.

Jon Heyman writes that Russell Martin may be wearing out his welcome in L.A. Martin's plate discipline improved nicely from 2007 to 2008, as he increased his unintentional walk total from 66 to 82. His power took a nosedive, though, as he collected 16 fewer extra-base hits in 30 more plate appearances. He's only 25 and there's every reason to believe he'll get better, so his will be an interesting story to watch this winter.

The Sporting News announced their end-of-season awards, and David Wright was named to the NL All-Star Team while Fernando Tatis was named NL Comeback Player of the Year. Tatis was also the Players' Choice for the same award as voted on by the MLBPA.

We've got the first glimpse into 2003-2008 UZR, as Tom Tango breaks down some of MGL's proprietary zone ratings. Carlos Beltran, Endy Chavez and Jose Valentin (!) good; Carlos Delgado bad.

The last three days we looked at The Bill James Handbook projections for Mets hitters and pitchers as well as other pitchers who might be available via trade or free agency. There's nothing new going on until after the World Series anyway, so let's go back to the projection well for another dip.

The Mets don't have nearly as many holes in their lineup as they do in their pitching staff, so there's a much smaller pool, positionally, from which to draw potential acquisitions from. Most of these guys may not even be on the Mets' radar, though most of them have been mentioned at one point or another.

• Bobby Abreu is still a nice hitter. He gets on base, isn't completely useless in the power department. His glove is meh, but his bat would probably be a solid upgrade over Ryan Church (his glove, on the other hand, would be a huge downgrade).
• Rocco Baldelli never really did anything for me. He's got some pop, but his lack of plate discipline drags down his overall value.
• Milton Bradley has a history of personal baggage, but he put things together in 2008 and had himself a brilliant season. His projection is very strong, though a dropoff from this past season's performance. He'll probably look for big money, and the Mets are notoriously averse to public relations question marks, but he'd add another powerful switch-hitting bat to the Mets' lineup.
• Pat Burrell has evolved quite a bit as a hitter over the past few years. His plate discipline has improved substantially and is now one of the better offensive left-fielders in the game. Mets fans might cringe at bringing in an ex-Phillie, but if the Mets want a big right-handed bat, there's always Pat.
• Adam Dunn is a polarizing figure among baseball fans. Flat-earth baseball purists turn away in horror at his low batting averages and high strikeout totals. Baseball neo-analysts point to his prodigious power and impressive walk totals. I count myself among the latter group.
• Rafael Furcal is only really an option as a second-baseman, and I think we went down this road the last time he was a free agent four years ago. The projections aren't terribly optimistic about Furcal's offense, and all indications are that he wants to play shortstop somewhere. Wherever that is, it won't be at Citi Government-Backed Financial Institution Field.
• I don't even know why I put Brian Giles on here. I guess because I've been a huge fan of the guy forever. He vetoed a trade to the Red Sox at the end of last season, and will only really be a free agent if the Padres decline his option.
• Jose Guillen's name was pulled from the thin air of writer's block at The Post last week, and while his projection isn't exactly awe-inspiring, it could be decent as a fourth outfielder. Not likely to happen.
• Why does everyone love Orlando Hudson? He'll probably be looking for 5/$55 million or so, which is way too much everything for someone who OPS-ed .718 outside of Arizona last season.
• Raul Ibanez. Bad glove, projected bad bat. Do not want.
• Manny Ramirez is a hitting machine. At 6/$120 million he can go scratch, but three years at similar money will get me to the table.
• How is Juan Rivera only 30? Wasn't he a highly-touted Yankee prospect like 15 years ago? Another decent bench option here, nothing more, nothing less.
• BJH doesn't think much of Brian Roberts. I do, but not at whatever exorbitant price tag the Orioles will slap on him this winter.
• Mark Teixeira is the biggest name on the free agent market this year. For good reason: The guy is a terrific hitter and an exemplary fielder at first. The Mets are going to pick up Carlos Delgado's option so Teix doesn't really fit into the plans.

That's it. I think I've milked these projections dry. I promise something new and exciting tomorrow.

Apparently nobody wants the Mets to sign Manny Ramirez, perhaps because he wants five years. Well, some Mets fans want him, as long as the price is reasonable.

Buster Olney heard that former Met (and current Diamondback executive) Jerry DiPoto is a frontrunner for the Mariners HM spot (subscription required).

Wallace Matthews contributes some cage-liner for the bird-owners among us. The article is practically unreadable, but the comments on the article make the whole thing worthwhile. Some highlights:

WHY IS THIS RELEVANT AT ALL??? FIRE THIS JERK RIGHT NOW --FIRE WALLY

This is one of the worst articles I have ever read. Actually its not even an article its an editorial by a dim witted slob. [...] This guy is an embarrassment to sports journalism --Ivan Katchadikov

hi i'm wallace matthews and i continue to prove that i just don't get it. newsday, fire this hack --andrew

It goes on like that. Nothing warms my heart like regular folks calling out journalistic ineptitude.

Arizona Fall League

Peoria Saguaros 5, Peoria Javelinas 2

• Shawn Bowman went 2-for-5 with a homerun, a double and two runs scored.
• Tobi Stoner pitched 2.2 scoreless innings of relief, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out three.
• Eddie Kunz pitched a scoreless ninth, allowing a hit and a walk.

Hawaiian Winter baseball

Honolulu Sharks 5, North Shore Honu 0

• Ruben Tejada went 0-for-3 with a sacrifice fly. He also played an error-free game at shortstop, which is a rarity for him.
• Jordan Abruzzo went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
• Scott Shaw threw five perfect innings for the win, striking out seven in the process.
• Roy Merritt pitched a scoreless ninth, striking out two and walking one.

We've talked about Manny Ramirez a bit in this space lately, and I think the vast majority of us would be in favor of the Mets bringing him in on a three-year deal at aging superstar money (~$15-17 million per season). Well, you can count Wallace Matthews among those dissenting voices in the crowd. His argument? They should've traded for him in July when the price was "low":

They, along with every other team in baseball, had their shot at Manny in July, when the increasingly tense relationship between him and the Red Sox finally reached its breaking point. Things had gotten so bad that the Red Sox were happy to pay the remaining $7 million on his contract just to be rid of him. They probably would have thrown in a ride to the airport.

After the trade, I remarked about how much the Red Sox gave up for Jason Bay, but within that comment we see what the Dodgers gave up for Ramirez. The key to that deal for the Sox was Dodgers third base prospect Andy LaRoche (now with the Pirates), who was ranked before the 2008 season as the 14th best prospect in baseball by Kevin Goldstein. The Mets' highest ranked prospect at the time was Fernando Martinez, who was 51st. Even if you call the two players a wash, would anyone have actually considered a Martinez-for-two-months-of-Ramirez swap a steal for the Mets? Or even a good deal? Signing Ramirez this offseason will cost them money and probably a draft pick, but the 25th pick in the draft < Fernando Martinez.

Tony Bernazard, the Mets' VP of player development, is interviewing for the Mariners' GM position. I have no idea if his departure would be good or bad for the Mets; I guess it depends on the likely replacement.

Ambiorix Burgos could face up to two years in jail if convicted of abandoning victims and fleeing the scene of a hit-and-run in the Dominican Republic. The two victims of the accident -- a 29-year-old woman and a 38-year-old woman -- both died at the scene. If that wasn't bad enough, there's this:

The news comes after the mother of one of the two victims accused Burgos of intentionally running her daughter over because she refused to go out with him.

Gah! Obviously, there's a huge difference between a car accident and a car "accident". The Mets need relief pitching, but not this badly.

A number of Mets minor leaguers are kickin' it in winter ball, with some prospects playing in the Arizona Fall League with the Peoria Saguaros (saguaros = large cactus) and some others playing Hawaiian Winter Baseball with the Honolulu Sharks.

Saguaros 10, Scottsdale Scorpions, 7

• Josh Thole, catcher , 0-3, 2 BB, 1 R (St. Lucie). Thole hit .300/.382/.427 in 347 at-bats as a 21-year-old with St. Lucie in 2008. He didn't distinguish himself in three prior minor league seasons with the Mets, but an .809 OPS as a catcher is certainly encouraging.

Honolulu 3, Waikiki BeachBoys 1

• Josh Stinson, RHP, 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 SO (St. Lucie). Stinson is 2-0 with a 0.87 ERA in HWB action so far.
• Greg Veloz, 2B, 0-2, 1 BB, 1R (St. Lucie).
• Roy Merritt, LHP, .1 IP, 1H, 1R, 1HR (St. Lucie)

Lastly, though it was with sadness that the NY Sun closed up shop at the end of September, it's nice to see that Tim Marchman picked up new gigs with the Wall Street Journal and Slate. Baseball journalism wouldn't be the same without him.

Don't forget that the SBN 2008 Postseason Hub is an ideal landing spot for our coverage of this year's postseason action. All of the latest coverage from the remaining playoff teams can be found there, or directly at Over The Monster, DRays Bay, True Blue LA and The Good Phight.

Believe it or not, a lot of folks don't realize that we've got a whole network of baseball blogs, including one each for every big league team, one for minor league content, one for scouting and one for statistics-mongering. Most of them are as good or better than this site, so if you're looking for news or information on any other major league teams, go check out the SBN site first, ESPN and the other guys second.

Here's a fun time-killer. Over at Beyond the Boxscore, Sky Kalkman provides a list of 31 (?) pairs of MLB players from 2008. For each pair, you're to guess whether:

1. Player A was at least ten runs more valuable than player B
2. Player B was at least ten runs more valuable than Player A
3. The two players were roughly equivalent in value

Value in runs is based on Justin's TotalValue ratings, which are conveniently available in spreadsheet form for pitchers and position players. Don't cheat, though; see how many of the 31 you can get right.

Dan Szymborski has started releasing his 2009 ZiPS projections over at Baseball Think Factory, and though he hasn't posted the Mets' projections yet, there are still a couple of neat features that have been posted lately. Both are related to minor league analysis

The first is a spreadsheet of 2008 minor league translations, which are major league equivalences of minor league data. In short: What this year's minor leaguers could reasonably have been expected to do were they to have played in the big leagues instead.

For instance, given his performance this past year in the minors, Fernando Martinez might've hit .231/.270/.342. Francisco Pena might've hit .211/.244/.295. Jon Niese might've posted a 4.50 ERA.

The other great feature is a list of 2008 minor league park factors, which were calculated using Jeff Sackmann's Minor League Splits. Minor league park factors are especially useful if you want to see whether a particular hitter's or pitcher's performance was artificially inflated/deflated by the environment he spent half of his playing time in. Here are the park factors for all of the Mets' affiliates this past season.

In other minor league news, Baseball America has revealed the 2009 amateur draft order, and the Mets are slated to pick 25th. Smart money is on that pick going to the Brewers, Dodgers, or some other team with a marquee free agent changing uniforms this winter.

As JoshNY pointed out in this FanPost, the Mets are auctioning off memorabilia from the dismantling of Shea Stadium. Among the items are a turnstile, a locker from the visitor's locker room, the American flag from Shea's roof, and much more. No urinals, though maybe they'll add more stuff as the weeks go on.

The free agent rumors are already swirling, and Lord Boras is letting teams know that, despite the fact that Manny Ramirez is firmly entrenched in this year's playoffs, his client is looking for five years and $85 million. That's about two years and $35 million too much if you ask me.

Interestingly, Ramirez's god awful defense in left improved substantially when he moved from Fenway's bizarro-world dimensions to those of the more traditionally-shaped Dodger Stadium. His RZR as a Red Sox was .817 this season; it was .895 with the Dodgers. That would have ranked him fourth out of nine qualified NL left fielders. Now, left field is usually where you stick your worst fielder who isn't already playing first base, but even adequate fielding coupled with Ramirez's bat is a mighty fine combination.

MLB has released their list of potential free agents of this coming offseason (or, the current offseason for 26 teams including the Mets). The Mets have 13 players who could become free agents (not including players not yet eligible for free agency who could theoretically be non-tendered), which is second in quantity to the Dodgers, who have 14 players on the list. Mets listed are:

• Moises Alou
• Tony Armas Jr.
• Luis Ayala
• Carlos Delgado (club option)
• Damion Easley
• Orlando Hernandez
• Pedro Martinez
• Ramon Martinez
• Trot Nixon
• Oliver Perez
• Ricardo Rincon
• Fernando Tatis
• Matt Wise

How many of these guys stand even a 50/50 chance of coming back? Delgado. Maybe Tatis in a backup role. Ehh, that's probably it. Some of them could still return, but few are likely to do so.

Another trade deadline has come and gone, and even though lots of big names have new addresses, the Mets haven't changed a bit. Some pundits (like this asshat, for example) will take the Mets and GM Omar Minaya to task for not making an effort to improve a team with playoff aspirations that has so many clear and identifiable weaknesses. The upshot is that the Mets *did* make an effort, they just didn't find anything out there to their liking.

I have criticized Minaya plenty of times in this space, usually for good reason, and I and others have wondered whether he would selfishly risk the medium-term viability of the franchise to improve the current team enough to get them into the postseason and effectively save his job in the process. Willie Randolph was shown the door because the Mets underachieved, and I certainly feared that Minaya would do what it took to save his own ass even if it meant sacrificing the farm. That didn't happen, so at least for now I can put those particular fears to bed.

Yes, thankfully Minaya can see the big picture. There were some guys out there that could have marginally upgraded the team this year. Raul Ibanez is probably a better player than Fernando Tatis (once he cools down) and Endy Chavez, and the draft pick compensation when he heads back to Seattle in the offseason would've been nice, but not at the expense of Jon Niese or Fernando Martinez, likely the Mets' top two prospects at this point. If one or the other could've landed a Jason Bay (or some reasonable facsimile thereof), then maybe you starting talking about it. Bay is under contract (now with the Red Sox) for very little money through the end of 2009, so we'd be talking about two months *plus* a whole year on top of that, and whatever the first crack at signing him long-term is worth. But Bay wasn't available to the Mets, and that's fine

I think we all would have liked to see the Mets do something, perhaps something big, if it made sense for the 2008 team as well as the 2009 and 2010 teams. Trading Martinez for Ibanez or Jarrod Washburn probably wouldn't have made sense for any of those Mets teams (yea, not even this one), and even if Minaya takes heat for staying the course, I give him a lot of credit for going into the deadline with a plan: don't rape the farm system unless you get something substantial in return for it. No BSDs, no deal. He didn't deviate from that plan, and I think the Mets are better off for it.

We'll see what pops up on the radar in August, when players can still be dealt once they've cleared waivers. Most teams will try to pass some or all of their own players through waivers at some point this month just so they could be included in trade discussions. Many of those players will be claimed by one team or another, and most of them will be pulled back. Those that go unclaimed are fodder for potential trades, but the vast majority of them will stay with their current teams, many blissfully unaware that they were ever put on waivers in the first place. Hey, maybe some team desperate for a second-baseman will claim Luis Castillo and the Mets will be rid of him and the three years left on his ridiculous contract. Hoo-ray, addition by subtraction!

At all events, the Mets head into the dog days with what they've got now: a flawed team playing amongst other flawed teams. If there's a consolation here it's that neither the Marlins nor the Phillies improved themselves considerably (the Marlins added Arthur Rhodes yesterday; the Phillies added Joe Blanton a couple of weeks ago). For now, all three teams will go with their current horses and hope they can out-mediocre the other two. Doing nothing may be boring, but it beats the hell out of this.

Ryan Church's plans have changed again. He was originally supposed to drive from Miami to Port St. Lucie to begin a rehab assignment with the Class-A Mets, but has been advised by the Mets' medical team to travel with rest of the Mets to Houston so that his situation can be monitored more closely. He just began swinging a bat again on Tuesday, and the Mets are reluctant to accelerate his timetable again. Nothing tangible seems to have triggered the change in plans; everyone just wants to take things more slowly this time around.

As I mentioned in my post earlier, the Mets appear on the verge of doing nothing, which may be the best course of action considering what other teams are asking for their mediocre players, let alone their stars. Buried in the afore-linked article is a note about John Maine, who has a strained rotator cuff and is likely to miss at least his next start in Houston. Pedro Martinez and Billy Wagner, who have each had similar injuries in the past, recommended some time off so that Maine's shoulder can rest.

Ken Griffey Jr. has been traded to the White Sox, pending Griffey's 10-5 approval. Griffey is having a so-so year, posting a 103 OPS+, which is actually kinda crummy for a corner outfielder playing his home games in Great American Ballpark. We'll see how much he as left in the tank.

More to come, I'm sure. Use this space to dump and discuss all of the links/rumors you hear throughout the day.

UPDATE [10:55am]: Peter Gammons reports that the Marlins have acquired Arthur Rhodes in exchange for former Met prospect Gaby Hernandez. Hernandez has a 7.24 ERA with Albquerque of the Pacific Coast League. The Mets had traded Hernandez to the Marlins a couple of years ago in the Paul Lo Duca deal. [MetsBlog]

UPDATE [4:35pm]: Manny Ramirez appears to be headed to the Dodgers in a three-team deal that sends Jason Bay to Boston and a bunch of prospects to Pittsburgh. More as this develops. [SI.com]

UPDATE [4:47pm]: I'm hearing Craig Hansen and Brandon Moss coming from Boston and Andy LaRoche and Bryan Morris coming from L.A., all going to Pittsburgh. More coverage at Over The Monster.

Seven hours or so until the non-waiver trade deadline and all is quiet on the Mets' front. The odd rumor about Raul Ibanez or Arthur Rhodes appears to have faded into the background as names like Ivan Rodriguez, Kyle Farnsworth and Latroy Hawkins change teams. Not that I'd be especially interested in any of those guys, though Pudge would represent an upgrade over Brian Schneider, if not so much over Ramon Castro (Pudge's otherworldly gamer-ness and clutchitude notwithstanding).

A few years ago, a team like the Reds that had no intention of resigning a player like Adam Dunn would just trade him to whomever would give them the best return. Now, thanks largely to Billy Beane, the Reds know that holding onto Dunn and allowing him to walk away at the end of the season means two fat draft picks for them next June. Armed with that information, the Reds can insist on a return that they value at least as much as those picks. If they don't find another team willing to pony up the players or prospects to meet or exceed the perceived value of those picks, well the Reds will just close up shop, book a couple of months worth of Dunn bombs and then wave goodbye in October.

Ibanez is in a similar position, though he isn't nearly as valuable as Dunn in the short- or long-term. Regardless, he will likely be a Type A free agent this offseason and would be worth the same two draft picks as Dunn or Albert Pujols or Alex Rodriguez or any other Type A. Were the current compensation system burned and discarded, the Mariners couldn't hope to get much more than a Carlos Muniz for Ibanez. As it stands, they're asking for Jon Niese or Robert Parnell, and the Mets are wise not to budge on those demands. If the Mets could get Ibanez for a couple of so-so prospects it'd be a coup, if only for the draft picks, and I guess the slightly-better-than-marginal upgrade that Ibanez represents over Endy Chavez. Chavez is a crummy hitter, but Ibanez is nothing to write home about, and over the course of 60 games the difference is almost negligible. Of course, the Mets proved last year that every game counts (as if we didn't already know that), so I suppose every little bit helps.

One rumor yesterday indicated that the Diamondbacks offered Chad Tracy for Dunn. That sounds like a pretty good deal for the Reds, and the Mets probably can't compete with that. The closest they have to Tracy would be Mike Carp, who has hit well at Binghamton. The caveat there is that he is repeating the league, so his performance is a little less impressive than it might have been last season.

Some small part of me thinks that Omar Minaya will pull off a last-minute deal for a name that we haven't even heard. I keep harping on Aaron Harang for some reason, mostly because he is still reasonably aged, is signed to a decent contract, and may actually be a bit undervalued this year as a result of his 4.76 ERA (95 ERA+). His peripheral stats are all very strong: 108 strikeouts, 34 walks in 123.0 innings. His .331 BABIP is quite a bit higher than his career norm of .314 and well above the usual league norm (~.300). His FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) is 4.24, which is a half-run lower than his actual ERA. Maybe he's run into a bit of bad luck this season. Again, as I've mentioned each time I've fawned over Harang these past few days, there's no real reason to believe that he's available, considering all of those things I just mentioned. Still, I have a funny feeling that Minaya might pull something out of his ass. He's got seven hours, so he better get some lube.

Then again, the non-waiver trade deadline is exactly that: the last day players can be traded from one team to another without having to pass through waivers. As we've seen in recent years, plenty of transactions take place in August despite the specter of waiver claims hanging over any deal. I don't necessarily think that a Manny Ramirez would clear waivers without being plucked by some team, but Jarrod Washburn or someone like that could. So, even if the Mets don't get anything done by 4pm EDT that doesn't mean they won't try to improve the team in August.