The 32-year-old Turnbow signed a minor league deal with Florida back in January, hoping to get back to the big leagues for the first time since 2008. He suffered from extreme control issues after his breakout campaign with the Brewers in 2005, walking 148 batters in 154 innings, majors and minors.

If this is indeed the end of the road for Turnbow, he'll retire with a 4.30 ERA, 65 saves, and a 9.3 K/9 in 257.2 innings. Baseball-Reference.com says he earned just over $7MM during his career.

• Former big leaguer Tony Clark has been named the MLBPA's director of player relations, reports MLB.com's Bailey Stephens. Clark hasn't played since being released by the Diamondbacks last July, and his duties with the union are "expected to play a large part in future collective bargaining discussions."
• FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal says one of the Marlins' many non-roster relievers could become a low-priced option for the Twins if Joe Nathan ends up needing surgery. That group includes Jose Veras, Mike MacDougal, Derrick Turnbow, and Seth McClung.
• In an interview with John Lowe of The Detroit Free Press, Curtis Granderson said he never wondered why the Tigers traded him only to sign Johnny Damon less than three months later.
• Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com writes that even though the Indians are in full rebuilding mode, the front office is adamant Grady Sizemore isn't going anywhere. Sizemore is under contract for the next two years, and Cleveland holds a $9MM option for 2012.
• Baseball America's Ben Badler goes back five years to look at how successful each team has been at developing players from outside the United States.
• In response to Milton Bradley's interview with ESPN's Colleen Dominguez about his time in Chicago, GM Jim Hendry and former teammates basically said that Bradley had to look in the mirror, according to The Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan and  ESPN Chicago's Bruce Levine.

FRIDAY, 10:35am: The Marlins reached an agreement on a minor league deal with reliever Derrick Turnbow, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.

Turnbow, 32, hasn't been effective in the Majors since 2005 with the Brewers, a season that prompted Doug Melvin to give him a three-year, $6.5MM extension.  Amid a rotator cuff injury, Turnbow logged a total of 30.6 pro innings the last two years.  He requested his release from the Rangers' Triple A club in May.  The Marlins have resurrected the careers of many relievers, but Turnbow wil be a challenge.

The Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Rockies, and Cardinals were among the other teams interested in Turnbow.  Earlier this month, he auditioned for at least 16 clubs.

• The Marlins aren't that confident in Kiko Calero's ability to hold up as well as he did last year, tweets MLB.com's Joe Frisaro.
• The Nationals designated right-hander Marco Estrada for assignment to make room for Tyler Walker according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson, via Twitter. 
• The A's have no interest in Eric Byrnes, tweets Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com.  
• The Dodgers are a finalist for Derrick Turnbow, tweets MLB.com's Ken Gurnick. 
• The Mets are interested in Josh Fogg, according to Matt Cerrone of MetsBlog. 
• Mike Timlin said on WEEI.com that he will stay in retirement this year. Last year, Timlin pitched in the Rockies' minor league system. 
• Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports notes that Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos is "open to anything." The Jays could stand to add a corner outfielder and there are a number of options available should the Jays decide to pursue them. 
• I wrote an article for my fantasy website, RotoAuthority.com, suggesting that overhyped "sleepers" can still provide a profit.
• USA Today's Bob Nightengale tweets that Gary Sheffield might be a good fit for the Reds, and that Sheff was "on his way" to the Diamondbacks before they signed Adam LaRoche.
• Brandon Webb still contends that re-signing with the D'Backs is his first choice, in an article written by MLB.com's Steve Gilbert.
• Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Reds, Padres, White Sox, and Royals inquired on the Yankees' Brett Gardner this winter, with hopes of using him as a starting center fielder.
• Bill Shanks of Scout.com makes a case for the Braves to sign Johnny Damon.
• Yahoo's Tim Brown tweets that the Dodgers are one club eyeing Garret Anderson for a fourth outfielder role.

Speier, 36, pitched 40 innings for the Angels last year. He allowed 44 hits and 15 walks, striking out 39 for a 5.18 ERA. We heard earlier in the week that the Rockies were in on the 12-year MLB veteran, who pitched for the Rockies from 2001-03. 

The White Sox signed Gobble to a minor league deal last April and he didn't pitch particularly well in the 12 appearances he made. The lefty, now 28, allowed 14 hits and 7 walks in 12 innings, striking out 10. The White Sox designated him for assignment in July.

Troy Renck of the Denver Post hears that Derrick Turnbow should make a decision soon, perhaps within hours. We heard earlier today that the Dodgers are finalists for the reliever, who is weighing bids from a number of teams.

• Eric Goldschmidt, agent of veteran infielder Melvin Mora, says his free-agent client is "definitely interested" in playing for Colorado.  Renck points out that Mora's versatility would make him a logical signing for the Rockies, given that their other recent bench signing (Jason Giambi) can only play first base.  Mora could decide on his future by the end of the week as he picks from between "roughly" five interested teams.
• Speaking of Giambi, Renck said that his clubhouse presence was a big factor in his re-signing with the Rockies.  Troy Tulowitzki credited Giambi with "helping…with the mental side" of baseball.
• Renck says the Rockies are "expected to sign" reliever Justin Speier to a minor-league contract.  Released by the Angels in August, Speier pitched for Colorado from 2001 to 2003 and has a 2.55 K/BB ratio in 12 major league seasons.
• Eric Gagne is "becoming a more likely non-roster invite than Derrick Turnbow."  We heard yesterday from ESPN's Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter) that Arizona is also interested in Turnbow, so perhaps Colorado doesn't want to get into a bidding war with its divisional rival.
• Colorado GM Dan O'Dowd told Renck he was "surprised" when Jose Contreras signed with Philadelphia.  O'Dowd said the Rockies wanted to use Contreras out of the bullpen while the Phillies offered him a chance to start.  Interestingly, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said today (as reported by Todd Zolecki of MLB.com) that Contreras will only start during spring training and will be a reliever by Opening Day.

• Orlando Hudson is "making progress on signing with a team," tweets MLB.com's Bill Ladson, however Hudson declined to name the team. In separate tweet, Ladson says a source told him that the Nationals top Hudson's wish list.
• ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweets that the Diamondbacks and Rockies are pursuing Derrick Turnbow, who could sign soon.
• MLBTR's resident translator Nick Collias passes along this report from Esteban Rivera of the Puerto Rican newspaper Primera Hora, in which Carlos Delgado says that the Mets, Orioles, and Royals "have seen him [play] on the island." Omar Minaya said there is still a mutual interest in bringing Delgado back to New York, tweets ESPN's Jorge Arangure
• The final offer Scott Boras presented the Yankees with for Xavier Nady was worth $5MM, tweets Joel Sherman of The New York Post. He adds that the Yanks would have considered him at the price he signed for today, and that they'll only do a minor league deal for Rocco Baldelli (via Twitter).
• Now that Ben Sheets has signed with the A's, Ken Rosenthal at FoxSports.com tweets that the Mets' next target appears to be John Smoltz. A source tells him they haven't aggressively pursued Jon Garland. 
• MLB.com's Brian McTaggart mentions that the Astros and Wandy Rodriguez are set to go an arbitration hearing on February 17th. Wandy filed for $7MM, the team $5MM.
• Meanwhile, Richard Justice of The Houston Chronicle breaks down the Astros' offseason in a video.
• Rick Ankiel said that the Nationals, Marlins, and Yankees were in it until the end, reports Doug Tucker of The Brownsville Herald.
• Cody Ross' arbitration hearing has been scheduled for February 15th, reports MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. Ross is seeking a $4.45MM salary in 2010, but the Marlins are countering with $4.2MM.
• ESPN's Buster Olney wrote about baseball's internal discussions on how to fix the draft, including some notes about what was discussed at the recent general managers meeting (sub. req'd).
• In a mailbag, MLB.com's Kelly Thesier says the Twins payroll appears to be right around $90MM, and they don't seem willing to spend much more than that.    
• Meanwhile, Lyle Spencer of MLB.com writes in his mailbag that the Angels "appear to have stretched the salary budget to its limit," so don't expect any more major moves.
• Ken Davidoff of Newsday lists what he thinks are the best run organizations in baseball (sub. req'd). There's 15 of them, however ten are from the AL while just five come from the NL. 
• John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer looks at the list of remaining free agents, and sees only one fit for the Reds: Orlando Cabrera. He's probably too expensive for them at this point, however. 
• MLB.com's Marty Noble says in a mailbag that he doesn't believe the Mets' current roster and the Opening Day roster will be the same, but he's not sure where the club can turn to improve.

• Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wonders if the convergence of Joe Mauer, Ron Shapiro, and Bill Smith in St. Paul Wednesday for a Rick Reilly program will accelerate extension talks.
• The Rockies "remain firmly in the mix" for free agent reliever Derrick Turnbow, reports Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post.  Turnbow could make a choice by Wednesday.
• In his latest MLB.com mailbag, Jordan Bastian notes that Blue Jays starter Dustin McGowan is out of options.
• MLBTR's resident translator, Nick Collias, passes along this Esteban Loaiza interview with Hector Linares from the Mexican newspaper Excelsior.  Loaiza says he's doing everything possible to make it back to the big leagues, and has received a few calls from teams.  He last pitched for the White Sox in June of '08.
• Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News explains why the Phillies' Cliff Lee trade was the right move.  He says fans don't understand, and the Phils needed the prospects. 
• Aaron Gleeman wouldn't mind seeing Delmon Young benched and Jim Thome added by the Twins to platoon at DH.
• RotoAuthority assesses David Wright's fantasy prospects for 2010.
• Baseball America's Ben Badler says MLB voided the seven-figure contract Dominican third baseman Duanel Jones had with San Francisco.  ESPN's Jorge Arangure says (via Twitter) the move was prompted by Jones failing a drug test administered by the Giants.
• Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie told MASN's Steve Melewski that his $120K pay cut from 2008 to 2009 did not affect his '09 performance.

• Besides sifting through the remaining free agents, the Yankees are exploring the trade market for left field, writes Frankie Piliere of Fanhouse (via Twitter).  Piliere heard unconfirmed whispers that one of those inquiries was made on Nelson Cruz. 
• Oregon State left-hander Josh Osich will miss the 2010 season due to Tommy John surgery, writes Jason Churchill. The 20-year-old southpaw had been described as a "lock for the mid- to late first round" by Keith Law.
• Steve Melewski takes a look at the arguments for and against Miguel Tejada's return to Baltimore, and also suggests slotting Miggy into the cleanup spot to start the season.
• White Sox VP Scott Reifert passes along a quote (via Twitter) from scouting director Doug Laumann, saying the south-siders will likely focus on pitching in the next draft.
• Rany Jazayerli has mixed feelings about the Royals' acquisition of Rick Ankiel, but says the outfielder is a better fit than Mike Jacobs was a year ago.
• Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski repeated that he's not going to sign a hitter who can't play the field, writes John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press. 
• Tyler Kepner of the New York Times doesn't expect Johnny Damon to return to the Yankees in 2010. 
• Fernando Tatis and Ryan Freel are options for the Rockies, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post. 
• Derrick Turnbow is still on the Rockies' radar, writes Renck.
• Tom Robson heads Bob Elliott's list of Canadians eligible for the 2010 draft at the Canadian Baseball Network. 

• In an interview with 619 Sports out of San Diego, Scott Hairston said he found out he got traded back to the Padres by reading MLBTR. Cool!
• The Brewers will wait until next month before they consider making an offer to Mark Mulder, reports MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. 
• John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer runs down the Reds' arbitration history.
• The Orioles have signed outfielder Jeff Salazar to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, reports Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun.
• The Brewers are still in touch with Mark Mulder and Doug Davis, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
• The Yankees offered Jesus Montero straight up for Roy Halladay, according to Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star (Hat Tip: River Ave. Blues).
• The Rockies watched Derrick Turnbow throw today, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post.
• The Nationals are still in the mix to sign Orlando Hudson, who hopes to sign soon (MLB.com's Bill Ladson reporting).
• Pete Caldera of NorthJersey.com hears of some mutual interest between the Yankees and Rocco Baldelli.
• The Rangers avoided arbitration with Brandon McCarthy, agreeing to a $1.32MM deal for 2010, according to Anthony Andro of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
• Rangers GM Jon Daniels tells Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas that he'd like to add a catcher, but he's not about to rush. "We have some time," the GM said.
• Ryan Theriot tells Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune that he'd like the Cubs to sign Ben Sheets.
• The Mets signed Jolbert Cabrera to a minor league deal, according to Ed Price of AOL FanHouse (via Twitter).
• Writing for FanGraphs, Patrick Newman explains what the Rangers can expect from new signing Colby Lewis.
• Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweeted last night that the Mets contacted Jerry Hairston Jr..
• ESPN.com's Buster Olney says some people within the Mets organization believe Omar Minaya will be fired the first time his club slumps badly.
• Olney also notes that Adam LaRoche will be up against a crop of free agent first basemen that could include Carlos Pena, Lance Berkman and Derrek Lee after the season.
• Troy Renck of the Denver Post says the Giants, Padres, Rangers and Mariners have all called about Yorvit Torrealba.
• The Pirates aren't close to agreeing to terms with Zach Duke on his 2010 salary, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Duke made $2.2MM last year in his first season as an arbitration-eligible player.
• The Cardinals will watch Derrick Turnbow throw today, according to Rob Rains of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
• The Cards signed knuckleballer Charlie Zink to a minor league deal, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com. After eight years in the Red Sox organization, the 30-year-old will try to break camp with St. Louis.
• Bill James tells Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe that he's curious to see how much better the Red Sox are on defense this season.

• Yorvit Torrealba could end up with the Giants, according to Chris Haft of MLB.com.  However, Torrealba may prefer to wait until after the weekend to sign with any club as his Venezuelan Winter League team is still active in the postseason.
• Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times tweets that in addition to Matt Kemp, the Dodgers are talking about multiyear deals with Jonathan Broxton and Andre Ethier. 
• Carlos Beltran will have to refrain from baseball activities for twelve weeks after having his knee scoped, according to a Mets press release passed along by MetsBlog.  The story was first reported by the New York Post's Joel Sherman (via Twitter).  If all goes well with his rehabilitation, the center fielder should only miss a small amount of games to start the year.
• Free agent lefty Doug Davis is attracting interest from four teams, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  The Twins, Brewers, Mets, and Nationals are all interested in the 34-year-old, who posted a 4.22 ERA with 6.7 K/9 over the last three years in Arizona.
• Fernando Tatis' agent told Thomas Harding of MLB.com that the Rockies had preliminary discussions with his client earlier this week.  About a week ago, we heard that the Rockies were eyeing the 35-year-old for a bench role.  Also, two major league sources tell Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that the Mariners are interested as well.
• Former Brewers closer Derrick Turnbow will audition for at least 16 teams on Friday in Phoenix, according to a report from ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick.  The 31-year-old demanded his release from the Rangers back in May.
• If the Nats are able to sign Orlando Hudson or Adam Kennedy to play second base, Cristian Guzman and his $8MM salary are unlikely to be moved elsewhere, writes Bill Ladson of MLB.com.  Guzman would remain at shortstop, where his agent insists that he is still valuable despite shoulder surgery.
• Pittsburgh's signing of Ryan Church could pay huge dividends for the club, says ESPN's Rob Neyer.  If Church is healthy and generates interest from other clubs, the Pirates will be able to move him for a more valuable commodity.

• Aside from Gary Sheffield, the Phillies have interest in Rangers outfielder Andruw Jones.  Sullivan says the Phils "have been scouting Jones extensively this spring."
• Also, having unloaded Jeff Keppinger, the Reds are looking for utility infield help.  One person of interest is Rangers shortstop Joaquin Arias.  Arias, who came to Texas in the Alex Rodriguez trade, has strong defensive tools and may yet establish himself as a regular according to Baseball America.
• In another post, Sullivan says reliever Derrick Turnbow has decided to accept his assignment to Triple A Oklahoma.

• Chat today, 2pm CST.
• Rays info from Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times: they're trying to figure out a way to keep Jason Isringhausen, and they've released pitcher Chuck Tiffany (part of the Danys Baez trade in '06).
• In talking to Ramona Shelburne of the L.A. Daily News, Dodgers GM Ned Colletti explained his success reading the market this offseason.  He also said, "I believe there will be some players available on July 31st that normally would never be available."
• Ken Davidoff of Newsday reminds us of past trade discussions involving Kevin Youkilis, before he was highly regarded.
• Baseball America's Jim Callis notes that the Cubs released "three of their top picks from the last six drafts this spring: outfielder Ryan Harvey, the sixth overall pick in 2003; righthander Grant Johnson, a second-rounder in 2004; and lefty Mark Pawelek, the 20th overall choice in 2005."
• According to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, Rangers reliever Derrick Turnbow's opt-out date is Thursday.  He's talking to his agent about whether he should head to Triple A Oklahoma.
• MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince says lefty reliever Juan Lara signed a minor league deal with the Indians – "just 16 months after a car accident nearly took his life."

MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan adds that the Rangers signed righthanded pitcher Casey Daigle to a minor league contract. Daigle, 27, had an ERA of 3.78 in 44 AAA games this year. He last pitched in the majors in 2006.

The Rangers also retained Elizardo Ramirez, who pitched for them once last year, with a minor league deal.

Turnbow was also targeted by the Marlins and Pirates, but chose Texas in the end because of his relationship with pitching coach Mike Maddux.  Turnbow will make $925,000 if he makes the major league club out of spring training.  The contract also carries $325,000 in performance incentives.  The 31-year-old right-hander last pitched effectively in 2007, when he posted a 4.63 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 68 innings.