• The Cubs have released right-hander Blake Parker, according to the MLB.com transactions page. Parker, designated for assignment yesterday, had not appeared in the big leagues this year. In his 3 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level, Parker permitted one earned run to score while striking out one and walking three batters. He does own a 3.68 career ERA in the majors, with a healthy 10.4 K/9 against just 2.9 BB/9.
• Righty Daniel Cabrera has been released by the Reds, the club’s Triple-A affiliate tweets. The 33-year-old has not appeared in the big leagues since 2009, and spent each of the last two seasons playing in Japan. He made just one appearance at Louisville this season, going three innings and allowing one earned run but issuing four free passes and striking out only one opposing batter.
• The Dodgers have signed right-hander P.J. Walters, who had been pitching with the independent Atlantic League’s Lancaster Barnstormers, reports Mike Ashmore of the Trentonian (Twitter link). The 30-year-old Walters should join L.A.’s Minor League ranks following the move. Though Walters has posted just a 6.28 ERA in parts of five Major League seasons with the Cardinals, Twins and Blue Jays, he does have a lifetime 4.70 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in Triple-A.
• Former Twins left-hander Pedro Hernandez has signed a contract with the independent St. Paul Saints, the team announced. Hernandez was acquired along with Eduardo Escobar in the 2012 trade that sent Francisco Liriano to the White Sox. The now-26-year-old Hernandez struggled to a 7.33 ERA with 33 strikeouts against 26 walks in 66 1/3 Major League innings with the Sox, Twins and Rockies from 2012-14. He posted solid, if unspectacular numbers throughout much of his Minor League career until reaching the Triple-A level.
• Right-hander Robert Stock’s contract has been purchased by the Pirates, according to a tweet from the Normal CornBelters of the independent Frontier League. The 25-year-old hit the indy circuit after posting a 4.12 ERA with 43 strikeouts against 46 walks in 63 1/3 innings between the Cardinals’ Class-A and Class-A Advanced affiliates in 2014.

• The Reds have signed righty Daniel Cabrera to a minor-league deal, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy tweets. Cabrera, who last appeared in the big leagues in 2009, issued 520 walks in 892 1/3 innings over parts of six seasons, frequently frustrating his teams despite his terrific velocity. The 33-year-old spent the last two years starting for Chunichi in Japan, posting a combined 3.49 ERA, 7.3 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9. He then pitched for Leones de Escogido in Dominican winter ball this offseason and walked 11 batters in 12 2/3 innings, struggling with the control issues that dogged him throughout his big-league career.

• The Diamondbacks have acquired Daniel Cabrera from the Pirates according to the MLB.com transactions page. Cabrera, 31, has pitched to a 4.58 ERA in 108 innings for Pittsburgh's Triple-A affiliate after not playing at all in 2011 due to Tommy John surgery. The 6-foot-7 right-hander owns a 5.10 ERA in 892 1/3 big league innings with the Orioles, Nationals, and D'Backs.
• The Pirates have signed Dallas McPherson, also according to MLB.com. The 32-year-old infielder hit .253/.335/.463 with 12 homers in 264 plate appearances in the White Sox's farm system earlier this year. McPherson is a .241/.292/.446 career hitter with 18 homers in the show. He's suited up for the Angels, Marlins, and ChiSox.

• The Mariners signed former MLB reliever Brian Sweeney to a minor league contract, MLB.com's Greg Johns reports. Sweeney spent the 2011 season with the Mets' top affiliate and last appeared in the Majors with the 2010 Mariners.
• The Twins signed left-hander Luke French, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports (Twitter links). French owns a 4.99 ERA with 4.6 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 155 Major League innings.
• The Mets signed infielder Matt Tuiasosopo, who picked up MLB experience with the Mariners from 2008-10, Eddy reports.
• The Blue Jays signed right-hander Tim Redding and left-hander Bill Murphy, according to Eddy. Redding has substantial MLB experience as a starter for the Astros, Nationals and Mets.
• Eddy reports that four catchers signed minor league deals: Mitch Canham joined the Rockies, Orlando Mercado agreed to terms with the Marlins, Kyle Phillips caught on with the Blue Jays and Max St. Pierre signed with the Red Sox. Phillips appeared in 36 games for the 2011 Padres and St. Pierre made his debut with the 2010 Tigers after 14 minor league seasons.
• Former MLB starter Daniel Cabrera signed a minor league deal with the Pirates, Mario Rojas of CandelaDeportiva reports. Cabrera, 30, was a fixture in Baltimore's rotation from 2004-08, but hasn't pitched in MLB since 2009.
• The Cubs re-signed infielder Bobby Scales, who started the 2011 season in Chicago before going to Japan, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus tweets.
• The Phillies re-signed former Tigers outfielder Brent Clevlen, Goldstein tweets.
• The Orioles signed 18-year-old outfielder Andres Aguilar, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. The speedy Guatemala native has a strong throwing arm.

• Mike Cameron, Tim Wakefield, Edgar Renteria and Craig Counsell intend to play in 2012.
• Jon Garland might throw for teams this offseason if there’s demand, according to Morosi. The right-hander missed most of the season recovering from shoulder surgery and the Dodgers declined their 2012 option on the 32-year-old. Garland intends to continue as a starter.
• Some teams view Jamey Carroll as an everyday second baseman. I’m not surprised to hear that since Carroll has repeatedly proven his ability to get on base and many teams will be in the market for second basemen.
• Former Orioles right-hander Daniel Cabrera is pitching in the Dominican Winter League after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Agent Mike Powers told Morosi that Cabrera intends to return to MLB as a starter. The 6'7" right-hander hasn't appeared in a Major League game since 2009.
• For more thoughts on Lincecum and the Giants, check out the piece Dave Cameron wrote yesterday at FanGraphs.

The 6'9" right-hander spent parts of five seasons in Baltimore, where he became known for his high walk rates, mid-90s fastball and ability to induce ground balls. As a member of the Orioles' rotation, Cabrera never posted an ERA below 4.50 and he led the league in walks twice, wild pitches twice and hit batsmen once.

Last year, Cabrera posted a 6.00 ERA in 15 games for the Nationals and Diamondbacks. He had career-worst rates of 7.4 BB/9 and 4.1 K/9 and saw his average fastball velocity dip to 91 mph. The Angels may not get any production from Cabrera, but it's not hard to see why they're intrigued.

Cabrera, 29 in May, allowed eight hits and seven runs in three spring innings.  He was coming off an ugly 2009 season in which he walked 42 and struck out 23 in 51 innings for the Nationals and Diamondbacks.  It's been a while since we saw the Cabrera who averaged 95 mph on his fastball, though he's always been able to get groundballs.

Botts, 29, spent the 2009 season in Japan but tallied only 24 plate appearances for the Nippon Ham Fighters.  He went 1 for 12 this spring.

• The Nationals signed Kevin Mench. The 32-year-old didn't play in the majors last year, but he hit 25 homers as recently as 2005. He has a career .900 OPS against lefties.
• The Blue Jays signed Wade Townsend. The Rays released the 2005 first rounder last summer, but the Jays are giving him a chance. 
• The Reds signed Miguel Cairo. The 14-year-veteran posted a .705 OPS for the Phillies last year in 47 plate appearances. 
• The White Sox signed Daniel Cabrera. The 6'7'' right-hander led the American League in walks and earned runs allowed when he logged over 200 innings for the Orioles in 2007. He split time with the D'Backs and Nationals last year, struggling with both clubs.  
• The Dodgers signed Timo Perez out of the Can-Am League. The 34-year-old surfaced as a rookie for the Mets in the 2000 Subway Series. 
• The Phillies signed Freddy Guzman. 
• The Mets signed Val Pascucci, who has 193 minor league homers to his name.

• Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that team sources have told him that the Cubs are looking at Jonny Gomes as a fourth outfielder.  Gomes – who proved to be one of the best minor league deals of 2009 – confirms.
• The Brewers signed arbitration-eligible reliever Todd Coffey for $2.025MM, reports MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.  That's just short of the midpoint. 
• MLB.com's Joe Frisaro writes that a strong 2010 season would lead the Marlins to explore a multiyear deal with Ricky Nolasco.  Nolasco is under team control through 2012, and will earn $3.8MM in his second arbitration year.
• Yankees pitcher Javier Vazquez spoke to Puerto Rican newspaper La Perla del Sur.  MLBTR's translator Nick Collias supplies this interesting quote: "I don't have much playing time left…I go year by year, and I don’t know if it will be one, two or three years, but I'm definitely not going to play until 40."  Vazquez is eligible for free agency after the season.
• Rockies outfielder Dexter Fowler switched to Scott Boras in November, Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post wrote in a Monday blog post.  Fowler's been added to our Scott Boras client list, which can always be found on the sidebar.
• MLBTR missed this January 14th signing: the White Sox added Daniel Cabrera on a minor league deal.  Cabrera, 29 in May, posted a 0.55 K/BB ratio and 6.00 ERA in 51 big league innings last year.
• The Mets and Diamondbacks haven't had any new discussions for catcher Chris Snyder, writes Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.  Piecoro examines the debate about whether to trade Snyder.
• Luke Scott wants to play defense, writes Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun.  Scott says he's "taking one for the team" by serving as DH, and it hurts him in contract negotiations.
• Slugger Jim Thome continues to keep the door open for the White Sox, writes Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.  However, in comments to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, manager Ozzie Guillen indicated a preference to avoid a permanent DH.

• FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi tweets that the Tigers have been more aggressive attempting to deal Edwin Jackson than Curtis Granderson. Jackson, for his part, says the trade rumors don't bother him.
• Morosi also reports (via Twitter) that Daniel Cabrera is in search of a 40-man roster spot on some team this winter.
• In the most recent post on the FOX Sports blog by Morosi and Ken Rosenthal, the pair discusses Miguel Cabrera's future. One executive suggests that Cabrera's availability (or lack thereof) will depend on whether or not the Tigers believe his off-field issues at the end of the season were a one-time lapse in judgment.
• Jose Guillen wants to stay in Kansas City and play in the field next year, according to Dick Kaegel of MLB.com. We mentioned Guillen as a possible trade candidate when evaluating the market for right fielders, and he's been the subject of rumors in the past week.
• Following up on a story about the Royals "going hard" after Erik Bedard, Kaegel talks to Kansas City assistant GM J.J. Picollo. Picollo indicates that Bedard's left-handedness is intriguing, but that it's "probably an overstatement" to say the club is in hot pursuit of the 30-year-old.
• MLB.com's Brian McTaggart passes along news of some minor organizational moves by the Astros.
• One item of note in Kelly Thesier's Twins mailbag on MLB.com: When Minnesota prospect Miguel Angel Sano begins playing in the States, he'll be using the surname Jean, rather than Sano (which is his mother's maiden name).
• Larry Dobrow of CBS Sports looks ahead to the Athletics' offseason and makes some suggestions for the team going forward.

The suddenly well-traveled Cabrera got into six games (one start) for Arizona, allowing eight runs and 20 baserunners in just 11 innings. He also made eight starts and one relief appearance with the Nationals after spending five years in Baltimore.

SUNDAY 3:01pm: Steve Gilbert has an update. As of right now, no deal has been reached. Diamondbacks scouts watched Cabrera throw yesterday in the Dominican Republic. Gilbert believes the D'Backs are looking to add pitching depth to the organization, and is unsure whether they envision Cabrera as a starter or reliever.

12:41pm: According to Mario Rojas at Candela Deportiva, the Diamondbacks have signed pitcher Daniel Cabrera to a minor-league deal. Nick Piecoro at the Arizona Republic talked to Cabrera's agent, who said that there are "active discussions" going on, with both sides trying to hammer down whether it's a major-league or minor-league deal, and that nothing is official just yet.

Cabrera had been designated for assignment by the Nationals in May after posting a 5.85 ERA and 16/35 K/BB ratio in 40 innings. He had signed a one-year, $2.6MM deal with the Nationals before the season.

Back when Cabrera was a free agent, he reportedly drew interest from eleven clubs (the Pirates and Mets included).

Back when the Nationals signed Cabrera for $2.6MM on December 20th, I thought it was a decent gamble.  They beat out the Mets and Pirates to get him.  But the velocity that made Cabrera intriguing pre-2008 did not return in 2009.  In fact, he lost even more on the fastball.  You have to wonder about Cabrera's health.  He posted a 5.85 ERA in 40 innings for the Nationals.

• Daniel Cabrera passed his physical for the Nationals.
• Tony Massarotti writes that the Red Sox had a shot at Mark Teixeira.  The Scott Boras camp was proposing $176MM guaranteed for eight years with vesting options that could’ve brought the total to $220MM over ten years.  Ultimately the Yankees beat Boston’s offer by $10MM, with no options and a full no-trade clause.
• Viva El Birdos looks at what the Teixeira contract means for Albert Pujols.  Will Albert seek the largest contract in baseball history?  The Cardinals have him through the 2011 season.
• RotoAuthority looks at the power/speed shortstop options for fantasy baseball leagues.
• Astros owner Drayton McLane is the second owner to publicly admit he wants a salary cap (Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said it right after the Teixeira signing).  Interesting take on the salary cap by Dan Symborski at Baseball Think Factory.
• The best of Big League Stew’s Answer Man series.