• An executive who asked the Twins about Joe Mauer heard the catcher isn't available, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports (on Twitter). Not only does Mauer have a no-trade clause, he's the face of the Twins and Minnesota isn't looking to dump salary.
• Yahoo's Tim Brown tells the story of a recent meeting between Scott Boras and Marvin Miller. Check out Brown’s entire piece, which includes some thoughtful quotes from Boras and is definitely worth your time. Miller, the first executive director of the MLBPA, died this week at the age of 95.
• Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com previews the outfield market in the aftermath of B.J. Upton’s five-year, $75.25MM contract with the Braves. The Phillies’ best offer to Upton was worth $55MM over five years, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports (on Twitter). The Red Sox weren't in on Upton, but have been in on Shane Victorino, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports (on Twitter).
• Chan Ho Park is set to announce his retirement tomorrow, reports Korea's Yonhap News Agency (passed on by C. Trent Rosecrans of CBS Sports).  The 39-year-old right-hander was the first Korean-born player to reach the Major Leagues, posting a 4.36 ERA in 476 games over his 17 seasons in MLB from 1994-2010.  Park earned $85.46MM (hat tip to Baseball Reference) during his Major League career and pitched for seven teams.  Park spent the last two seasons pitching in Japan and South Korea, respectively. 

Texas was coming off a 73-win season and a last place finish in the AL West in 2001, when an Alex Rodriguez led offense was unable to overcome a pitching staff that allowed 968 runs. Park, 28 at the time, had just wrapped up an All-Star season with the Dodgers that saw him post a 3.50 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 234 innings. Over the previous five seasons, CHoP pitched to a 3.79 ERA with similar peripheral stats in over 1,000 innings with the Dodgers, throwing no fewer than 190 innings in each season. All it took was what was then one of the largest pitching contracts in baseball history to bring the two sides together.

Named the Opening Day starter in 2002, Park made a poor first impression with his new team. He allowed six runs in five innings against the A’s, and overall he pitched to a 5.75 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9 in 145 2/3 innings that year. After all those years of 190+ innings, Park visited the disabled list twice that season, once for blisters and once for a hamstring strain.

Park’s second season didn’t go any better. He posted a 7.58 ERA in just seven starts (29 2/3 innings), missing most of the season with a back issue. The injury popped up again the next year, when it limited him to just 16 starts (95 2/3 innings) with a 5.46 ERA. The good news is that Park was finally healthy in 2005, but the bad news is that he didn’t pitch any better. He made 20 starts (109 2/3 innings) with Texas (5.66 ERA) before they’d finally had enough.

Just a day before the ’05 trade deadline, the Rangers traded Park to the Padres for Phil Nevin, agreeing to pay $2MM of his 2006 salary. He fared a little better in San Diego but it didn’t matter. Texas had invested approximately $47.4MM in Park, and in exchange they received 380 2/3 innings with a 5.79 ERA and equally depressing peripheral stats (6.6 K/9, 4.5 BB/9). Homer prone even during his time with the Dodgers, Texas’ home park only exacerbated the problem. From 2002-2004, Park allowed one long ball for just about every 5 2/3 innings pitched.

Pitching contracts are inherently risky just because of the injury potential, and Park showed that. Throwing a baseball that hard and that often is an unnatural act and guys who do it for a living tend to get hurt, it’s simply part of the game. Unpredictability is another part of it. Park was an above-average workhorse starter during his five years prior to signing with Texas, and in fact his core stats (3.79 ERA, 8.1 K/9, 4.1 BB/9) during his last five seasons with the Dodgers look a whole lot like the last five years of Carlos Zambrano’s career (3.70 ERA, 7.7 K/9, 4.3 BB/9). He was just unable to sustain that performance in a new league and in a new park while battling injuries. As always, the lesson is: buyer beware.

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

Park still had enough left in the tank to function as a National League middle reliever, but he's chosen to play in Japan instead.  The Buffaloes recently added Alfredo Figaro out of the Tigers' system as well.

If this is it for Park's Major League career, he finishes with a 4.36 ERA and 124 wins in 1,993 innings for the Dodgers, Rangers, Padres, Mets, Phillies, Yankees, and Pirates.  Unfortunately, he is best known for a disastrous five-year, $65MM deal signed with the Rangers nine years ago.

4:34pm: The Pirates have inquired on Aaron Heilman as a reliever, MLBTR has learned. Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (on Twitter) that the Pirates are not targeting Matt Guerrier.

1:42pm: The Pirates are showing interest in and making offers to a number of free agent relievers, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  He says they were in on J.J. Putz before he reached an agreement with Arizona and are looking at guys like Kevin Gregg.  I'm told the Pirates showed lukewarm interest in Hiroyuki Kobayashi, only on a minor league deal.

The Pirates already have Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan as closer candidates, so it appears they're trying to once again build a late-inning reliever surplus.  It worked well with Octavio Dotel this year.

• Red Sox GM Theo Epstein says he'd like to add starting pitching depth, tweets Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald.
• The Rockies, Blue Jays, and Athletics are among the teams that have shown interest in Alex Gordon according to MLB.com's Dick Kaegel. "I surely don't want [a trade] to happen, but it's part of baseball and it could happen," said Gordon.
• Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star reports that outfielder turned pitcher Brian Anderson has opted for free agency after being designated for assignment by the Royals.
• David Murphy of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports Phillies GM Ruben Amaro reiterated that he has not been given a firm payroll by ownership. Their payroll has increased steadily over the last several years, peaking at approximately $138MM last season.
• The Pirates and reliever Chan Ho Park have mutual interest in a new contract, writes MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch, but Langosch believes the Bucs would only do a minor league deal.  Park posted a 3.49 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, and 0.6 HR/9 for the Pirates this year after coming over from the Yankees.  Jeremy Bonderman is also on the Pirates' radar, reports Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
• White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf confirmed to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times that the Sox asked the Marlins for a particular player as compensation for talking to manager Ozzie Guillen.  Reinsdorf told Wittenmyer the player was not Mike Stanton; the Sun-Times writer speculates it may have been Logan Morrison.
• As you might expect, the Rays are not in a big rush to trade B.J. Upton given the loss of Carl Crawford, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Rosenthal feels the Rays will also be reluctant to trade a starting pitcher right now, but would be willing to part with shortstop Jason Bartlett.

Hoffman has drawn preliminary interest from a number of teams, according to his agent. Rick Thurman, who also represents free agents Brian Fuentes, Arthur Rhodes, Will Ohman, Octavio Dotel and Chan Ho Park, spoke with the D’Backs last Friday about potential fits for their bullpen.

That’s one possible destination for Hoffman, who can envision playing in Arizona under Kevin Towers, the D’Backs GM who ran the Padres when Hoffman pitched in San Diego. Towers repeated that re-building the bullpen is a priority for the D’Backs this offseason, but Hoffman isn't sure how much interest he'll draw. 

"I'm coming off a tough year,” Hoffman told MLB.com. “I don't know if people are going to be turned off by that or not. I hope the strong second half I had will compensate."

Hoffman won’t find many closing jobs available outside of Arizona, but there are many potential closers available, as MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes pointed out yesterday. Though he started slowly, Hoffman recovered to pitch considerably better after early May. ESPN.com’s Keith Law warned interested teams about the risks associated with Hoffman earlier today. However, Towers told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that "you'd be nuts if you didn't at least consider somebody like Trevor Hoffman" (Twitter link).

"It's a good team with a good future," Park said. "If I play for this team next year, a .500 or winning record is going to be a big goal for this team. I want to be a part of that and have that. We have so much talent here."

GM Neal Huntington left the door open for a reunion, but the two sides haven't talked about anything definitive yet. The club likes the way he has mentored the young pitchers on the staff.

Park indicated that a guaranteed contract would certainly tilt the scales towards a return. Money might not be of much importance though; not only has CHoP banked over $85M in his career, he's also married to the daughter of the 76th wealthiest man in Japan.

The 37-year-old righty has pitched to a 4.66 ERA in 63.2 innings this season, but he's been much better since moving to Pittsburgh: 28.1 IP, 3.49 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 2.2 BB/9. He picked up his 124th career win just last night, setting the record for the most ever by an Asian-born pitcher in MLB. 

Here's a look at what's being written in the baseball corner of the blogging universe…

• Mets Paradise hosts a post-trade deadline roundtable discussion with fellow Mets bloggers.
• 1 Blue Jays Way interviews Toronto prospect Danny Farquhar.
• NPB Tracker recaps the deals made on the July 31st trade deadline in Japan.
• River Ave. Blues wonders what would have happened if Alex Rodriguez hadn't opted out of his contract after the 2007 season.
• Pittsburgh Lumber Co. defends the Pirates' Chan Ho Park pick-up.
• Bright House Sports Network thinks Matt Garza's time with the Rays may soon come to an end.
• Camden Crazies looks at what's wrong with Matt Wieters.
• SD Sports Net deciphers the Padres' deadline deals.
• More Hardball breaks down the young players the Pirates have coming up through the system.

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

After trading for Kerry Wood on Saturday, the Yankees designated Park for assignment. The 37-year-old right-hander has respectable strikeout (7.4 K/9) and walk (3.1 BB/9) rates, but has allowed seven homers in 35.1 innings of work. Park also allowed 40 hits with the Yankees, so his season ERA sits at 5.60. 

Park earns a base salary of $1.2MM in 2010 and will hit free agency this fall.

Park, 27, pitched to a 5.60 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 35.1 innings of relief sandwiched around a month-long stint on the disabled due to a hamstring issue. After allowing zero homers as a reliever with the Phillies last season, Park allowed seven this year. The Yanks tried unsuccessfully to trade him, and are still on the hook for the $437K left on his contract this year.

Park earns $1.2MM this season before hitting free agency. He missed time with a hamstring injury earlier in the year and his place in the Yankees 'pen has been less than secure since May. Presumably, the Yankees would part with Park for salary relief or a fringe prospect.

• The Royals agreed to terms with Brayan Pena and Chris Getz, according to a team press release. Terms of the contracts were not disclosed. With Pena and Getz sorted out, the team now has four unsigned players remaining: Billy Butler, Alberto Callaspo, Luke Hochevar, and Carlos Rosa.
• In his most recent blog post, ESPN.com's Buster Olney writes that Prince Fielder ought to consider a long-term extension with Milwaukee, since "it's still unclear whether any team would value him as much as the Brewers."
• Mike Cameron considered signing with the Mariners before he landed in Boston, according to Larry Stone of the Seattle Times.
• Andy Martino of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes that the Phillies were Chan Ho Park's first choice heading into this winter, but that the two sides just couldn't work anything out.
• If Josh Beckett's last contract was any indication, he won't be concerned about "setting the market" when he signs his next deal, writes John Tomase of the Boston Herald.
• Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle defends the Astros' offseason bullpen signings, explaining how the team evaluated Brandon Lyon and Matt Lindstrom.
• Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch passes along comments from Tony La Russa about how the club's infield rotation will work with Felipe Lopez now a Cardinal.
• Blaine Boyer played a major part in recruiting Adam LaRoche and Kelly Johnson to Arizona, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.

At his press conference in Korea, Park said he was leaning toward the Cubs until recently, as they were willing to let him battle for a rotation spot.  The Yankees' "history and championship contention" won out, and Park will join their bullpen.  Joel Sherman of the New York Times says Yankees GM Brian Cashman lobbied ownership to expand the payroll for Park, but now Chad Gaudin or Sergio Mitre could be traded.

Park, 36, posted a 2.52 ERA, 9.4 K/9, and 2.9 BB/9 in 50 relief innings for the Phillies last year.  The Type B free agent was not offered arbitration by the Phils, but they did reportedly make a $3.25MM proposal.

• In an interview with Rob Dibble and Steve Davis, Kris Benson said that he and the Nationals were "still talking."  There's been word of the Nats' interest in the 35-year-old as of late, though Benson says he's not in a rush to sign anywhere.
• Ladson writes that Washington has not had any recent conversations with John Smoltz.  The Nationals are reportedly one of ten teams that have expressed interest in the 42-year-old.
• On his blog, Ladson writes that the Nationals are trying hard to add another veteran starter after striking out on Chan Ho Park and Braden Looper.  It should be noted that the Nationals did not confirm extending offers to either pitcher.

• Cliff Floyd is currently doing TV work, writes Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post.
• MLB.com's Bill Ladson tweeted that the Nationals offered contracts to Chan Ho Park and Braden Looper.  Park went with the Yankees, while Looper told the Nats he's going in a different direction.
• Orlando Hernandez is looking to get back in the game, tweets Yahoo's Tim Brown.
• Magglio Ordonez wants to play at least four more years, reports Tom Gage of the Detroit News.
• FOX Sports' Jim Bowden questioned Justin Upton, Theo Epstein, Jon Daniels, Dayton Moore, Kevin Goldstein, and Dave Cameron about modern statistics, and it made for an amusing video segment.
• Chico Harlan of the Washington Post talked to several Nationals players about their arbitration hearings, which were not enjoyable.  ESPN's Rob Neyer doesn't think it makes sense for players to attend.
• Manny Ramirez believes this is his last year with the Dodgers, reports Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times.
• Duaner Sanchez signed with the Mexico City Red Devils, reports Noroeste.  Though Sanchez is said to be throwing "an easy 90 mph," his shoulder is still not 100 percent.  He hopes to find his way back to the bigs after being released by the Padres in May of '09.  Thanks to Nick Collias for the translation.
• Jesse Lund of the Twinkie Town blog has an excellent discussion with Twins assistant GM Rob Antony.  Antony provided details on the J.J. Hardy trade talks, and also noted that the Kevin Kouzmanoff rumors were "a little blown out of proportion."
• Joel Sherman of the New York Post doesn't buy the idea that the pressure will be off for Javier Vazquez as the Yankees #4 starter.
• Regarding catcher A.J. Pierzynski entering his contract year, White Sox GM Kenny Williams told Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, "At some point, we'll check in with A.J. and his guys on expectations."
• The Diamondbacks offered Dominican shortstop Edward Salcedo around $1MM, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.