Sources: The San Diego Padres continue to be one of the more active teams at the Winter Meetings. There's traction to their talks with Eric Hosmer, and they're seeking a young, under-control shortstop. One match to keep an eye on: The Chicago Cubs.
Source: marlins are working to trade ozuna and tazawa to get to $85-90M payroll first. Can’t rule out continuing firesale after that but the first thing is to get payroll in order.
Source confirms the Orioles are indeed shopping Manny Machado. Machado, who will be a free agent after the 2018 season, wants to move back to shortstop. @Ken_Rosenthal had it first
Carlos Gonzalez is flying under the radar, but a lot of teams are interested because he's likely to sign a short-term deal to re-establish his value. #SFGiants, #Royals, #Athletics, #Rays and #BlueJays are among the teams believed to be keeping an eye on him.
I'm told #mntwins were among teams to meet with FA closer Fernando Rodney, who is here at the winter meetings. A potential fit does exist, per source. Rodney, 41 in March, is coming off 39-save season for ARI at $2.75M. His 300 career saves rank 3rd among active closers.
Twins tried to sign Jelfry Marte back for less after voiding original $3 deal with him due to vision issue, but according to @JesseSanchezMLB he is signing with rays.
The Dodgers are not expected to jump into the more expensive pool of relievers. They are panning for gold on arms with upside. I am mixing some metaphors.