Donnelly, a 30-year-old rookie for the Angels' '02 World Championship team, finishes with a 3.22 ERA and 369 strikeouts over 385 1/3 innings for the Angels, Red Sox, Indians, Marlins, and Pirates.  He's best known for his time with the Halos, highlighted by strong pitching in the World Series in '02 and an All-Star game win in '03.  Donnelly finishes his career with about $5MM in the bank and is now about to experience the joys of fatherhood for the first time.

SUNDAY: The Pirates have designated veteran reliever Brendan Donnelly for assignment, according to the team's official Twitter feed.

Donnelly, 38, signed a one-year deal worth $1.35MM back in January following a strong 2009 with the Marlins. The right-hander struggled tremendously in Pittsburgh, with a 5.58 ERA and nearly as many walks (25) as strikeouts (26) through 30.2 innings of work.

Opponents did hit just .234 against him, but the walks, in combination with allowing six home runs, were what did him in.

• Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post hears (via Twitter) that the Marlins have zero interest in Brendan Donnelly. The recently-DFA'd righty pitched well for the Marlins last year.
• The Giants have been scouting Jose Guillen aggressively, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (via Twitter). The Royals have been willing to move the 34-year-old for a while.
• MLBTR's Tim Dierkes answered questions about the upcoming trade deadline for SD Sports Net.
• Pirates GM Neal Huntington told MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch that "money seems to be really tight within the industry" right now.
• Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic offers his interpretation of interim GM Jerry Dipoto's comments about Joe Saunders' winning percentage.
• The Mets are in wait-and-see mode at this point, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (Twitter link).
• GM Omar Minaya confirmed to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News that the Mets aren't going to fire any coaches today (Twitter link).
• The Red Sox are pursuing bullpen help, but would consider trading relievers Ramon Ramirez and Manny Delcarmen, according to Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston (Twitter link).
• The Marlins aren't going to hire Bobby Valentine to manage the team, according to Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Valentine told 790 the Ticket that his candidacy for the Marlins gig was "not a dead issue."

• Astros: Teams can ask for Hunter Pence, but it's just not happening. 26-year-old catcher J.R. Towles and his five years of team control could be shopped with top prospect Jason Castro coming up behind him. If Houston falls way out of it, Roy Oswalt could be made available, but it would be a massive PR hit. He's owed $31MM through 2011 with a $16MM option ($2MM buyout) for 2012, and would have to approve any trade. Dealing him would signify the start of a full rebuilding effort. 
• Brewers: Yovani Gallardo was never going to be moved in the first place, but his new contract extension all but guarantees it. Manny Parra seems to have fallen out of favor, but a lefty who can dial it up to the mid-90's will always have value on the trade market. He still has three years of arbitration eligibility ahead of him. 
• Cardinals: The Cards dealt away most of their top prospects for Matt Holliday and Mark DeRosa last year, so there's not much left to move. Triple-A catcher Bryan Anderson and Double-A outfielder Daryl Jones could be used in a trade since the big league team is pretty well set at those positions. Jones is more highly regarded of the two. Colby Rasmus is untouchable, obviously.
• Cubs: Josh Vitters, the third overall pick in 2007, watched his name pop up in trade rumors involving Jake Peavy last year. If Chicago is willing to eat some of the $26.5MM left on his contract, there would be interest in Kosuke Fukudome.
• Pirates: Neal Huntington has completely turned over the team's roster since taking over in September 2007, dealing away every notable veteran player. He did, however, build up a nice inventory of veteran relievers this offseason. Octavio Dotel, D.J. Carrasco, Brendan Donnelly, and Javier Lopez could all be used as trade fodder this summer.
• Reds: Cincinnati is clearly a team on the rise, but one young player they could make available is the blocked Yonder Alonso. The power hitting first baseman masquerading as a left fielder in Double-A has all six years of team control left, and is the best trade chip in the division.

The 38-year-old had a strong run with Florida last year. He allowed 22 hits and 9 walks in 25.1 innings, striking out 25 for an ERA of 1.78. Before joining the Marlins, Donnelly posted a 1.75 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 24 appearances with Houston's Triple A affiliate.

As Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette points out, the Pirates are taking on some risk here. Last season was Donnelly's first meaningful time in the majors since his 2007 Tommy John surgery. 

This week the Pirates reached an agreement with D.J. Carrasco on a minor league deal. They're also on the verge of landing Octavio Dotel, though the sides have yet to agree to terms.

Kovacevic reported that the Pirates were close to signing a mystery reliever before figuring out that it was Donnelly. Kovacevic and ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick added the contract details.

Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.

Putz will reportedly throw for teams tomorrow; he's got the White Sox, Cubs, Nationals, Pirates, and Tigers as other known suitors.  We haven't heard much on Howry and Donnelly yet.  I think Donnelly is a possible sleeper, as outlined in this October discussion post.

The Diamondbacks can certainly expand their search beyond those three righty relievers - we outlined the free agent market here and trade market here.

• No surprise here, but the Marlins won't be players for any reputable free agents. In fact, were you aware that over the past three offseasons, the most the Marlins have spent on any one free agent was the $2MM they gave Luis Gonzalez in 2007? Needless to say, Matt Holliday and Jason Bay aren't headed to South Florida.
• The Giants have been one of the most outspoken suitors for Dan Uggla, but the Marlins have asked for Madison Bumgarner in any deal for Uggla. The Giants top pitching prospect is a hefty price to pay, and could lead the Giants to pursue other avenues to add some thunder.
• As we've heard before, Renyel Pinto and Matt Lindstrom could very well be moved at the Winter Meetings.
• Even if Pinto and Lindstrom stay put, the Marlins will be on the lookout for affordable bullpen help now that Kiko Calero and Brendan Donnelly have departed.
• The Marlins will turn to internal options such as Gaby Sanchez and Logan Morrison to replace departed free agent Nick Johnson and his monstrous OBP.
• Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco are the team's two locks for the starting rotation. From there, a combination of Anibal Sanchez, Andrew Miller, Sean West, Rick VandenHurk, Chris Volstad, and Hayden Penn will fill out the final three spots.

Spencer closes, quoting Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest: "We'll definitely be active… There's no reason to go there and not do anything. Whether that leads to anything is anyone's guess."

Calero merited consideration after posting a 10.4 K/9 and 1.95 ERA in 60 innings, but apparently the Marlins did not want to risk giving him a raise on this year's $500K salary.  It's a similar story for Johnson, whose .426 OBP leads all free agents.

"The sense I'm getting this year is that it's similar to last year in general. But personally, I feel really different this year than last year, because last year I was coming off an injury," Donnelly said. "I feel like last year, when I finally got the chance, I showed people I'm back.

"In that way, I can't imagine having to take a Minor League deal this year. I think I've answered the questions that need to be answered on the field. If I had half a season in the NL with a 3.50-4.00 ERA, if the numbers weren't there — especially the strikeout numbers — then I might be singing a different tune."

Donnelly managed to put up a 1.78 ERA with an 8.9 K/9 in 25.1 second half innings for the Marlins last year after Texas cut him and he opted out of another minor league deal with Houston. Based on WAR, it was his most productive season since 2003. Given all of the righthanded relief options on the market (there's 49 of them on our free agent list), it might be tough for Donnelly to get his wish.

Donnelly told Frisaro his July signing with the Marlins "worked out well for both sides," and the team has interest in re-signing him. Donnelly noted that winning "is pretty much everything for me."

For a million or two, Donnelly could be a sleeper free agent signing this winter.  He spent time with the Red Sox, Indians, Rangers, Astros, and Marlins organizations since the Angels traded him in December of '06.  Which teams make sense for Donnelly this time around?

"There are some good pitchers that don't have jobs that have major league experience," Scioscia said of independent league pitchers.

According to Baxter, "the team appears unlikely to make a trade and management doesn't believe the big-name free agents still on the market – namely Pedro Martinez and Paul Byrd – can get up to game speed fast enough to help them."

Baxter notes that Jose Lima and Brendan Donnelly are among the players who have resurrected their careers after pitching in the independent Atlantic League. He mentions Ryan Drese as a player who "might be worth a look" by the Angels.

Donnelly, 37, was on a $950K minor league deal.  He had Tommy John surgery in '07 and played at various levels in the Indians organization last year.

The Rangers now have seven pitchers fighting for four bullpen slots, including offseason imports Derrick Turnbow and Jimmy Gobble (and possibly Jason Jennings).