Here’s some more from Passan’s latest “Ten Degrees” column…

• The Cardinals and Mets are staying in touch with the Rockies about Troy Tulowitzki’s availability, and the Mets are willing to include top pitching prospect Noah Syndergaard as part of a trade package.  Colorado isn’t budging, however, unless Tulowitzki actually demands a trade, which could be part of the “let him be the bad guy” strategy that Passan considers “a ludicrous way to run a franchise.”
• The Phillies are still looking for “a return of any kind” in exchange for Cliff Lee, according to two executives on teams interested in the veteran southpaw.  This implies that the Phils want more than just salary relief, which could be difficult given the size of Lee’s contract.
• The four-year, $70MM extension offer the Red Sox made to Jon Lester last offseason may have made sense on paper for a team that is loath to spend big on a pitcher into his 30’s, yet Passan feels this offer was such a lowball that it has turned the Lester extension talks “into a season-long story” and cost Boston its hometown advantage in re-signing the ace.  One Red Sox insider tells Passan that “the likelihood of Boston re-signing Lester lessens by the day” and trading Lester might now be the best way for the Sox to get some value for the left-hander.
• The Red Sox and Rangers had serious trade talks about Lester in the 2012-13 offseason, even to the point of exchanging some player names.  This obviously doesn’t mean Texas would get in on the bidding on a Lester trade now, given that they’re far out of contention and Lester is only signed through the end of the season.

• The Pirates are considering Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon, and have "done their due diligence" on Dylan Bundy. Law notes that "under Neal Huntington the Pirates have long considered value relative to cost in their drafts, sometimes preferring to spend less in the first round when they see opportunities to spend their savings on other appealing prospects in later rounds." He has them taking Danny Hultzen first overall.
• Everyone Law has spoken to says the Mariners will take Rendon as long as the medicals check out, and he hears from the very good source that there is nothing structural wrong with the Rice third baseman's shoulder.
• The Diamondbacks will take Hultzen third overall if he's available, and they're hoping for Bundy or Trevor Bauer with the seventh overall pick. That pick is compensation for failing to sign Barret Loux last year.
• The Orioles have interest in Bundy, Bauer, and Jed Bradley with the fourth pick. Law emphasizes that everyone has told him the Royals want a college pitcher with the fifth pick. The Indians have their eyes on Bauer for eighth overall.
• High school outfielder Brandon Nimmo is looking for $2MM, and Law has him going to the Rays with the 32nd pick.

Manny was fresh off being named World Series MVP, but the idea behind trading him was to use the savings for then free agents J.D. Drew and Adrian Beltre. Drew went on the sign with the Dodgers, Beltre the Mariners, though both found their way to Boston eventually.

There were several variations of the deal with the Mets, but the two constants were hotshot prospect Lastings Milledge and the veteran Cliff Floyd. At various other times, the package of players included Heath Bell and Ian Bladergroen, who the Mets eventually traded the the Red Sox for Doug Mientkiewicz.

The deal fell apart because of money. The Mets wanted to the Red Sox to kick in some of the $77MM left on Manny's deal, but Boston "wanted to get money back in the deal to pursue the available free agents." Bradford goes through some what-could-have-been scenarios in his article.

Ramirez went on to hit another 120 home runs and win another World Championship with the Red Sox, while the Mets fell just a game short of qualifying for the 2006 Fall Classic. They did, however, land one superstar responsible for helping the Red Sox end their World Series drought that offseason, signing Pedro Martinez to a four year, $53MM deal in December of 2004.

• 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. 

Neither player was a major contributor in San Diego this season. Hill started three games for the club, posting a 1-1 record and a 5.25 ERA. Floyd made 17 plate appearances in 10 games, recording just two singles and a walk.

• According to Mark Gonzales of The Chicago Tribune, one scout called Alex Rios "a teaser," and that he's the kind of the guy that "can get you fired." Kenny Williams sure hopes that's not the case.
• Jason Churchill of Prospect Insider explains why the Mariners should go after J.J. Hardy. Something tells me we'll see quite a few more posts like this.
• Jason Knapp, one of the prospects the Indians acquired for Cliff Lee, will have arthroscopic surgery on his throwing shoulder to remove "loose bodies," according to MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince. GM Mark Shapiro says they will not file a grievance.

6:16pm: Paul DePodesta, a member of the Padres’ front office, took to his own personal blog for a little insight on the Floyd signing:

We’ve been talking for a number of weeks internally about the need to add a left-handed bat into the mix, as our bench was looking awfully right-handed. In an ideal world, we wanted to find a guy who could provide three primary skills: 1) the ability to do damage against RHP as either a pinch hitter, DH or occasional starter, 2) the ability to play somewhere other than 1B if need be, and 3) the ability to act as a leader for our younger players. We found a match in Cliff.

8:06am: According to Ken Rosenthal, the Padres have agreed to terms with outfielder Cliff Floyd on a one-year deal.  ESPN’s Jayson Stark says the deal guarantees him less than $1MM.  Floyd, 36, hit .268/.349/.455 in 284 plate appearances for the Rays last year; he suffered a slightly torn labrum in the World Series.  He earned $2.75MM and had an ’09 option for the same amount declined in November.  Rosenthal says Luis Gonzalez was the Padres’ second choice.

A few days ago, Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune suggested the Padres had Floyd and Livan Hernandez on the radar.

Hernandez, 34 in February, posted a 6.05 ERA and 3.35 K/9 in 180 innings last year for the Twins and Rockies.  He earned $5MM.  Floyd, 36, hit .268/.349/.455 in 284 plate appearances for the Rays last year; he suffered a slightly torn labrum in the World Series.  He earned $2.75MM and had an ’09 option for the same amount declined in November.

Center adds that the Padres had free agent pitchers Brian Lawrence, Steve Trachsel, and Scott Elarton work out at Petco Park recently but decided not to invite them to Spring Training (Ben mentioned this on Saturday; just a reminder).  Trachsel was designated for assignment by the Orioles in June of last year and was thought to be considering retirement.

The signing of Pat Burrell seemed to close the door on Cliff Floyd’s return to Tampa Bay. But Floyd’s agents, Seth and Sam Levinson, continue to speak with the Rays about finding a role for Floyd, who served as Tampa Bay’s primary lefthanded DH last year. Floyd has told friends that returning to the Rays is still his first choice.

On November 3rd, the Rays chose a $250K buyout over Floyd’s $2.75MM option.  Floyd, 36, hit .268/.349/.455 in 284 plate appearances in ’08.  Floyd decided to rehab his shoulder injury rather than have surgery.

Crasnick feels Edmonds, Anderson, Griffey, and Floyd are likely to play, while the rest are not.  Of the long shots, Thomas seems most intent on playing in ’09.

For Floyd, the Rays chose a $250K buyout over his $2.75MM option.  He may decide to retire.  For Miller, the Rays chose his $400K buyout over a $2MM option.  Miller is a Type B free agent, but the Rays don’t figure to offer him arbitration.  The Rays may be in the market for a lefty reliever and DH/right fielder this winter.

• The Red Sox added pitcher Virgil Vasquez while losing infielder Gil Velazquez.
• Dave Cameron has another free agent bargain: Juan Rivera.
• The Astros made their first Taiwanese signing: 22 year-old righty reliever Chia-Jen Lo.
• Japanese reliever Ryota Igarashi hopes to try MLB eventually (but not in 2009).
• Viva El Birdos figures the Cardinals will check in on Kenshin Kawakami.
• Bud Selig has praise for Padres owner John Moores.
• Rays Index passes along a report that Cliff Floyd’s injury could end his career.  This could open up some free agent possibilities.
• River Ave. Blues says the latest Jake Peavy news is the nail in the coffin for the Yankees.
• MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince is not a big fan of the rumors.

• Heyman heard recent "scuttlebutt" that C.C. Sabathia does not want to play for the Yankees.  They’re still expected to make a large offer, and Heyman also expects a big play from the Angels.  Sabathia reportedly prefers California but has become more open-minded to other locations.
• Cliff Floyd plans to play next year, hopefully for the Rays.  The team has a $2.75MM option with a $250K buyout.  He’s worth it.
• Heyman notes that Randy Winn would’ve made a fine acquisition for another club.  The 34 year-old is hitting .315/.372/.438 in 611 plate appearances.  He’s set to earn $8.25MM in ’09 and can block deals to ten teams.

• Juan Rincon rejected the Twins’ Triple A assignment.  Anyone want him?
• The Reds received a 23 year-old righty named Henry Arias from the Royals to conclude the March Brad Salmon deal.
• I had forgotten about this…the Royals almost acquired Milton Bradley a year ago for Leo Nunez but the deal was voided.
• Paul Hagen offers some pitching ideas for the Phillies.
• David Cameron explains why the Mariners are so bad.
• The international signing period begins on July 2nd; pitcher Michel Inoa heads the class.  It’s been suggested the A’s could offer him $4MM.
• Jon Heyman says this might be Cliff Floyd’s last season.  Floyd has a $2.75MM club option for ’09.
• Howard Megdal considers Scott Schoeneweis and Brian Schneider the Mets’ most tradeable commodities.
• Erick Threets is shocked no team was willing to pick him up and keep him in the Majors.  For El Lefty Malo, this serves as a reminder that fans often overvalue their team’s players.

Ray’s manager Joe Maddon won’t even guess when Baldelli will return to full-time play. Baldelli is nursing sore hamstrings this spring. He’s expected to play right field, if he can run, and will split time with Cliff Floyd and Jonny Gomes at DH.

Given Floyd’s fragility, the Rays will be taking quite a chance if they depend on that combination.  Floyd has appeared in 150 games once in the last ten years. Baldelli appeared in 150 games in his rookie year but hasn’t in the three years since.

By Big Mike Glab