Towers had an 8.05 ERA in eight starts for the Dodgers' Triple-A team this season, and has a 4.95 ERA in 139 major league games with the Orioles, Blue Jays and Yankees since 2001.

Guzman, 29 in January, hit .223/.272/.294 in 381 plate appearances for four Triple A teams this year.  Towers, 33 in February, posted a 3.05 ERA in 103.3 Triple A innings for two clubs.

• Ben Goessling of The Washington Times reports that a "club source said managing principal owner Ted Lerner, team president Stan Kasten and acting general manager Mike Rizzo all flew to California last week to visit with (Stephen) Strasburg." It is unknown if Scott Boras was part of the meeting, or if Strasburg took the physical necessary to sign a Major League contract.
• Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse tweets that Erik Bedard had his "bursa debrided & labrum repaired" when he underwent shoulder surgery. He can resume baseball activity in 4-6 months, right in the middle of his impending free agency.
• Mark Gonzales of The Chicago Tribune writes about the payroll challenges facing White Sox GM Kenny Williams in 2010. The team has $68.3MM tied up in ten players next year - including the recently acquired Jake Peavy and Alex Rios – and will owe considerable raises to Carlos Quentin and John Danks, both of whom are arbitration eligible for the first time. Gonzales says that "probably means the Sox will listen to offers for closer Bobby Jenks." 
• MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan reports that Rangers first round pick Matt Purke is in town for a physical, but no deal is imminent. The club just wants to get that part of signing process out of the way because negotiations might go down to the wire. GM Jon Daniels said "They are where you would expect them to be. We still have a gap, a divide, to bridge. That's not unusual three days before the deadline. They have been amicable discussions. He agreed to submit to the physical and get that completed just to get it behind us so we can focus on negotiations. We don't want any hurdles if we negotiate late."
• In news that involves players who have actually signed, Jim Callis of Baseball America reports that the Rangers have inked 14th rounder Chad Bell to a $450K bonus. He's the third player Texas has signed for more than MLB's recommended $150K maximum after the fifth round.
• Chad Jennings of The Times Tribune mentions that Josh Towers is expected to return to the Triple-A Scranton rotation next week. The Yankees DFA'd Towers last weekend, but he apparently declined to become a free agent in favor of having a job.

Towers had a 3.42 ERA in 15 games (14 starts) with Triple-A Scranton. He hasn't pitched in the majors since 2007.

The 31-year-old right-hander spent all of last season at Triple-A Colorado Springs and finished with a 6-7 record and 6.27 ERA.  He’ll need a really strong showing this spring to make the Nats.

FROM 1-3-08 at 10:07pm:

According to MLB.com’s Thomas Harding, the Rockies are close to a deal with pitcher Josh Towers, who turns 31 in February.  It would be a one-year deal for $1.8MM plus incentives.  Those incentives would start at 35 games pitched, so basically he won’t earn them if he’s exclusively a starter.

Harding adds that Towers would get $400K for earning a 40-man roster spot or the $1.8MM for getting on the 25-man.  He’d take on a swingman role (which is odd, because Kip Wells seems to have been signed for that purpose).

I like Towers’ chances to be worth a hell of a lot more than $1.8MM as a National League starter, but not so much in Coors Field.  Drunk Jays Fans recently weighed in on Towers’ tenure with Toronto, with their usual dose of cursing and hilarity.

GM Dan O’Dowd has ongoing talks with second baseman Marcus Giles, who prefers Colorado.  Seems like the best place to rebuild value for Giles, who will turn 30 in May.  Coors Field inflates right-handed batting average by 17% and right-handed home runs bt 23%, according to the Bill James Handbook.  Giles made $3.25MM in 2007 but hit just .229/.304/.317.

Giles’ agent says a few other teams are involved on him, and Renck adds that Todd Walker remains an option.

Pitching-wise, the Rockies are targeting Josh Towers, who turns 30 in February.  Victor Zambrano is still a secondary option.  Towers seems a decent bargain, but his home run issues won’t play well in Coors (obviously).  Chad Durbin only required $900K, so maybe Towers will be in that range.  I don’t think Rodrigo Lopez is in play; I’m told he may not be ready until the All-Star break at the earliest.

• The Rangers are nearing a deal with Eddie Guardado.  Everyday Eddie might be a dark horse to close, if he can flash his late season form again.  The Reds decided in October that he was not worth $3.5MM, and declined his option.  Guardado is 37.
• The Rangers hope to add some kind of veteran starter.  Bartolo Colon and Jason Jennings are still options, but Mark Prior and Freddy Garcia pretty much are not.  Sullivan names Mike Maroth, Mark Hendrickson, and Josh Towers as pitchers of interest.
• Mike Cameron could be an option for center field if he’ll take a one-year deal.  A multiyear demand would also take the Rangers out of the running for Corey Patterson.
• Sullivan notes that the Reds want Edinson Volzquez for Josh Hamilton, a possibility he first mentioned three weeks ago.  Jamey Newberg doesn’t think Volquez would cut it.  Other trade options could include Andre Ethier, Coco Crisp, and Juan Pierre.
• The Rangers will pass on a Kevin Mench reunion.

These guys are the officials as of now:

• As expected, the Marlins non-tendered catcher Miguel Olivo.  Johnny Estrada was another casualty; these two make up the market for starting catchers.
• The Blue Jays non-tendered Josh Towers, a surprising move.  Some NL team could offer him two years and get league average work out of him.
• Mark Prior has been non-tendered.  Honestly if I were the Cubs, I would’ve tossed the $3.5MM his way just to see.
• Aaron Miles is now a free agent.
• The A’s cut Kiko Calero loose.
• The Padres have non-tendered four: Morgan Ensberg, Jason Lane, and pitchers Jack Cassell and Ryan Ketchner. RotoWorld speculates that the latter two, not arbitration eligible, could be offered minor league deals.
• The Royals cut the cord on Emil Brown.  He turns 33 soon; he hit an ugly .257/.300/.347 in 2007.  Brown earned $3.45MM in ’07.
• The Tigers non-tendered Chad Durbin, toss him into the free agent pool.  Guess those trade talks with the Bucs didn’t work out.
• The Twins have let go Jason Tyner.
• The Nats have cut bait with Nook Logan and LHP Michael O’Connor.
• The Dodgers wave goodbye to Mark Hendrickson.
• The White Sox have non-tendered Andy Gonzalez and LHP Heath Phillips. Joe Crede sticks with the Pale Hose for now.
• Adam Everett has lost his job with the Astros. It’d be kind of funny if the Orioles signed him.
• Per RotoWorld, the Angels have non-tendered Dallas McPherson. He’s full of potential, but he’s never come through. He’s only 27, though, so he could still catch on somewhere. Unless, RotoWorld notes, he has an agreement in place with the Angels.
• The Braves have non-tendered Willie Harris, though he had already been DFA’d.

–Joe and Tim

• Kevin Towers is considering Mark Loretta and Tadahito Iguchi as second base options.  Loretta has expressed interest.  I wonder how this will make the Padres feel; his strong flirtations may turn them off.
• Jake Peavy will get full no-trade protection for 2008-10, limited for 2011-12.
• As reported yesterday Towers is in talks for Mark Prior and Josh Towers.  Towers said that himself?  Tampering!
• The Padres still expect Michael Barrett to accept arby.  Krasovic mentions the Cubs actually considered having Barrett switch positions last year.  Yes!  Barrett should market himself as a third baseman and play the field.
• The Padres recently talked about a multiyear (probably two year) deal with Mike Cameron.

Both are said to be non-tender candidates, but surely the Cubs and Jays can work out deals rather than lose the pitchers for nothing.  Prior is the high risk high reward guy, Towers is the opposite.

Towers is due for a bump from the $2.9MM he made in ’07.  I’ll guess he’ll land in the $3.5-4MM range.  Ricciardi is paying lip service to the idea of keeping Towers around, but he’ll surely explore the trade market for him.  He might be disappointed – no one thought highly enough of Towers to claim him on waivers last August.  Maybe that was related to his criticism of the Jays’ coaching staff a few weeks earlier.

Nonetheless, the Rockies, Padres, and Phillies have all expressed interest in Towers in the past.  Those three clubs are still hunting for pitching. 

• Kevin Towers expects to fill his center field vacancy via trade.  He may first want to wait to see if Mike Cameron accepts the team’s upcoming offer of arbitration.  Cameron is a Type B free agent.  Remember that he will be limited to 137 games in ’07. 
• As for trade candidates, Coco Crisp is on the radar but the Padres smartly won’t part with Chase Headley. 
• Krasovic notes that Bud Black’s connection with Angels manager Mike Scioscia could play a role now that Trader Bill Stoneman isn’t the GM.  Reggie Willits or Nathan Haynes might be in play for the Padres.
• The Padres really seem to like Felix Pie, and could re-open talks that would include Khalil Greene.  They’ve asked about Tony Gwynn Jr. of the Brewers in the past.  And it does sound like the Royals are willing to talk about David DeJesus.
• Sounds like the Padres will offer Andruw Jones $14-16MM on a one-year contract.  Scott Boras hasn’t seemed open to this with Jones, but time will tell.
• The Tigers will have competition from the Padres for Geoff Jenkins.  Krasovic envisions a Jenkins/Scott Hairston platoon in left and expects the Friars to make an offer.
• Two starters will be acquired even after Greg Maddux is retained.  Rehabbing former Mark Prior and Matt Clement would both like to play in San Diego.  There has to be some sort of cosmic rule about having three ex-Cubs in the rotation.  That is not recommended.  Plus the Padres were on Curt Schilling’s list.  And don’t forget the team’s previous trade interest in Josh Towers, who seems likely to be non-tendered and could be solid in PETCO.
• The Padres could pursue David Eckstein as a second baseman and leadoff man.  But that would seemingly block Matt Antonelli for longer than necessary.  Plus such a switch wouldn’t be in Eckstein’s best interests financially.
• Towers likes Jason Kendall, perhaps as a backup, but faces opposition in the organization.
• In another article, Towers lends credence to the theory that the Marlins could sign Alex Rodriguez. 

• They’ll pass on A-Rod, says J.P. Ricciardi.  No surprise there, but now it’s official.  They could still stand an upgrade at shortstop though.  Unless Travis Hafner teaches John McDonald how to hit.  Hafner needs to get himself in order first though.
• The Jays also hope to re-sign Matt Stairs, who wants a raise from last year’s $850K.  Maybe $3MM would get it done.  Stairs was shielded from southpaws a bit but raked .289/.368/.549 overall in 357 ABs.  As I noted before, signing Stairs could result in Reed Johnson being non-tendered.
• Speaking of non-tendering, Allan Ryan says "Josh Towers’ time as a Jay has clearly passed."  Doesn’t he at least get a gold watch?  Towers earned $2.9MM this year while posting a 5.38 ERA in 107 innings.  Unless the price gets to the silly Jason Marquis territory Towers could be the bargain of the winter for a team like the Padres.  By the way, he’s from California.  Check out a list of other non-tender candidates here.  The Cubs, by the way, haven’t decided on Mark Prior but could cut him and then offer him a lower deal.
• The Jays hope to retain Sal Fasano and Joe Kennedy.