Now, some coaching updates around the National League…

• Mark McGwire won’t be returning as the Padres bench coach for 2019, per MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell. McGwire is reportedly stepping down to spend more time with his family after two seasons as the bench coach in San Diego. Big Mac had previously spent three seasons apiece as hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers. For the Padres, they will seek to avoid an extended search to fill their three coaching vacancies for 2019 (bench coach, hitting coach, and infield coach).
• In other coaching news, the Washington Nationals will not be making any changes to their coaching staff prior to 2019, per Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. Manager Dave Martinez returns for the second year of a three-year deal, hoping for a turnaround after a disappointing first year in Washington. Bench coach Chip Hale, hitting coach Kevin Long, and pitching coach Derek Lilliquist will return to buttress Martinez in the Washington dugout. Rounding out the coaching crew: former infielder Tim Bogar returns to the first base coaching box, Greg Maddux’s former personal catcher Henry Blanco returns to coach in the bullpen and longtime third base coach Bob Henley returns in his usual role.

• Dodgers rookie right-hander Kenta Maeda turned in his fourth straight excellent performance Saturday night, throwing 6 1/3 shutout innings at Colorado’s hitter-friendly Coors Field in a 4-1 victory. Maeda, who surrendered three hits and a walk while striking out eight, became the first pitcher since at least 1913 to begin his major league career by allowing only one total run in his first four starts, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. He’s also one of just 76 pitchers during that time frame to record four consecutive quality starts at the onset of his career. So far, the Japan native and offseason free agent signing has posted a videogamelike, NL-best .36 ERA in 25 1/3 innings and piled up 23 strikeouts against five walks.
• Padres bench coach Mark McGwire, one of the most prolific sluggers in baseball history, could be working his way up to a managerial job, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. McGwire started down this road seven years ago when then-Cardinals manager Tony La Russa lured him out of retirement to serve as the team’s hitting coach, a role he eventually had with the Dodgers before joining the Padres this season. La Russa, who’s now the Diamondbacks’ chief baseball officer, talked to McGwire in the offseason about bringing him aboard Arizona’s staff as its hitting coach. McGwire wanted to remain closer to his California home, though, so he chose the Padres and is now first-year manager Andy Green’s “eyes and ears.” On whether he’d be open to managing, McGwire told Goold, “I have never ruled it out. I’ve got so much to learn. Who knows where this is going, really?”
• Green offered some insight to Kirk Kenney of the San Diego Union-Tribune on how the Padres deploy the shift and discourage opposing hitters from trying to bunt for an easy single. “We give (the shift) to them with a strike most of the time,” Green said. “The type of guys that you’re handing it to with a strike, it’s probably going to put them in two-strike situations a lot more frequently than it is they’re going to get bunts down.” Green added, “We’re aware of where these guys got their bunt hits, when they got their bunt hits, if there was a strike on them and how long we need to play them in.”

• One-time superstar slugger Mark McGwire is set to join the Padres as the bench coach alongside new manager Andy Green, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com recently reports. (Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune first reported as a strong possibility.) McGwire has worked as a hitting coach with the Cardinals and Dodgers over the past six years. The 52-year-old’s ascension to a bench coach role suggests that a managerial opportunity might not be far off.
• The Nationals have brought back Bobby Henley as the team’s third base coach, per a club announcement. Henley was set loose along with the rest of the staff (and manager Matt Williams) at the end of a disappointing 2015 campaign, but he’ll join hitting coach Rick Schu in reprising their roles. Most of skipper Dusty Baker’s staff is now set.
• Dave Magadan has been announced as the Diamondbacks’ new hitting coach. A 16-year MLB veteran, Magadan has previously worked in the Padres, Red Sox, and Rangers organizations, most recently serving as the top batting instructor for Texas.
• Former big leaguer Aaron Rowand will serve as a minor league outfield and baserunning instructor, the White Sox have announced. Rowand, 38, retired after the 2011 season. He’ll return to the place where he started his professional and MLB career.

• The Diamondbacks have had internal discussions about possibly signing Johnny Cueto, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports (Insider subscription required).  It’s no secret that Arizona has been targeting pitching this offseason, as they’ve been linked to such names as Shelby Miller, Yovani Gallardo and John Lackey on the trade and free agency fronts.  Those pitchers carry a much lower price tag than Cueto would on the open market, however, and it would be surprising to see the mid-market Snakes make a big splurge on the type of nine-figure contract it would take to land Cueto.
• The Dodgers aren’t likely to trade Yasiel Puig this offseason since his potential is still so high, his contract is reasonably priced and he brings some right-handed hitting balance to an L.A. outfield full of left-handed bats, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times writes.  The Dodgers would also be selling low on Puig in the wake of his disappointing 2015 season.
• Olney also addresses the Puig situation in his previously-linked column, reporting that Dodgers upper management “is much more open to the idea of moving Puig than they would’ve been, say, 18 months ago.”  If Puig is really a clubhouse problem, Olney feels the Dodgers should cut their losses and trade him this winter, since they’re one of the few teams with the financial muscle to not have to worry about getting the best possible return back for a sell-low player.
• The trades of Craig Kimbrel and Joaquin Benoit would seem to open the door for Brandon Maurer to take on a bigger late-game role in the Padres bullpen, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes.  The Padres are reportedly looking to add a mid-range bullpen arm, though Lin notes that the team could simply keep Maurer in relief to address that need.  The team hasn’t closed the door on shifting Maurer back to starting pitching, however, since the Padres have rotation needs both this year and in coming seasons.
• Also from Lin, he reports that the Padres are in talks with Mark McGwire about the ex-slugger becoming the team’s new bench coach, with a source calling McGwire “a very strong candidate for the job.”  McGwire is currently the Dodgers’ hitting coach, though his role with that club is up in the air as they search for a new manager.  Lin reports that the Diamondbacks were also considering McGwire as their new hitting coach but McGwire took himself out of consideration for that position.  Ron Gardenhire had previously been linked to San Diego’s bench coach job, though it now appears as though if he was to join the club, it would be in a front office capacity rather than in the dugout.

• GM John Mozeliak and manager Tony LaRussa both mentioned to MLB.com's Matthew Leach that the Cardinals are not in a rush to add an infielder despite Brendan Ryan's recent wrist surgery. 
• Rangers GM Jon Daniels knows that it's far from a foregone conclusion that his team will win 87 games again, according to ESPNDallas.com reporter Richard Durrett.
• Reds GM Walt Jocketty tells MLB.com's Mark Sheldon that Aroldis Chapman has looked "very impressive" so far. 
• Jose Reyes tells Kevin Kernan of the New York Post that he wants to finish his career with the Mets. Reyes says he's not thinking about the $11MM option the Mets have for his services in 2011.
• The Nats outrighted Doug Slaten to Triple A, according to the team's Twitter. They designated him for assignment two days ago. 
• The Rockies and Mariners offered Mark McGwire hitting coach positions, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Mariners made their offer in 2003; the Rockies made theirs a few years ago.
• Victor Martinez tells Alex Speier of WEEI.com that he'd "obviously" like to stay in Boston. The catcher says the negotiations are now under the team's control.
• Carlos Zambrano tells Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald that he would have vetoed a trade had the Cubs approached him about one this offseason. 
• Andrew Friedman says he and his front office have assembled "the most talented team in Rays history," according to the Tampa Tribune (via Twitter).
• USA Today's Peter Barzilai looks back at some historically good free agent signings. 
• Greg Burke cleared waivers, tweets Dan Hayes of the North County Times. The club placed Burke on unconditional waivers ten days ago.
• Dodgers GM Ned Colletti tells ESPN.com's Buster Olney that the club find its fifth starter outside of the organization. "We'd love to have a bona fide No. 5 starter," Colletti said.
• Mariano Rivera tells MLB.com's Brian Hoch that he doesn't know how long he's going to continue playing (Twitter link). 
• Rockies manager Jim Tracy told Denver Post readers that he helps Dan O'Dowd make personnel decisions when the GM is looking for input. 
• In anticipation of the club's scheduled arbitration hearing with Ryan Theriot, Cubs GM Jim Hendry tells Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times that the arbitration process is sometimes unavoidable. 
• The Braves signed 17-year-old infield prospect Alejandro Sanchez Martinez to a seven-year contract out of Spain earlier in the winter, according to David Menayo of Marca.com. Thanks to Nick Collias for the translation. 

SUNDAY, 8:07pm: Buster Olney of ESPN reports that La Russa, like Braves skipper Bobby Cox, may only manage for one more year.  Olney writes that La Russa's new deal is for one year, plus a mutual option for 2011, giving either party the ability to cut ties after this year.

5:33pm: Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that the Cardinals will announce that La Russa will return next season at a press conference Monday morning.

3:13pm: According to an ESPN report, while Olney's sources say a deal is in place, La Russa himself has not yet confirmed:

"We're getting closer," La Russa, who has managed the team for 14 years, said earlier Sunday. "But nothing has been decided. I can't tell you anything yet."

Both chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and general manager John Mozeliak would like La Russa to return. His current two-year, $8.5MM contract expires at the end of the month.

2:35pm: ESPN's Buster Olney has informed MLBTR, via email, that Tony La Russa has signed a new multi-year contract to return as the Cardinals manager. La Russa's coaching staff will look different though, as the Cards have fired hitting coach Hal McRae. The leading candidate to replace him? According to Olney, it's former Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire.

McGwire, 46, played in St. Louis for four and a half seasons, hitting 220 home runs during his tenure, including setting a then-single season record with 70 home runs. For his career, McGwire totaled a .263/.394/.588 line, clubbing 583 home runs over 16 seasons with the Athletics and Cardinals.

As Lackey points out, McGwire's hiring could indicate the return of Tony La Russa. We've heard reports so far today that La Russa has signed a multi-year extension, but there has yet to be an official announcement regarding his contract status.

• The Mets received terrible news when they learned that their All-Star closer, Billy Wagner, will need Tommy John surgery and miss all of 2009. Wagner does not expect to return to the Mets, and apparently the Mets have already told him his 2010 option will not be exercised. The Mets seem likely to be in the Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes mix. On that note, Fuentes will probably not return to Colorado next season.
• I’m taking this one with a grain of salt, but it sure makes for a headline: Mark McGwire would consider playing again? Big Mac says he can still hit if someone wants him. However, it seems to me there’s another 40-something former slugger with steroid allegations who says the same thing, and no one’s biting on that front…
• Adam Dunn hasn’t heard anything about a possible extension from the Diamondbacks, but he’s not worried about it. He doesn’t sound too pleased with former teammate Bronson Arroyo these days, however…
• Speaking of Dunn, the Reds officially acquired Micah Owings as part of their trade of him this week.
• Tim updated the Offseason Outlook series, with installments for the Nationals, Royals, and Pirates. He also took a look at some of the potential big-name free agents following the 2009 season.
• The Elias Rankings for American League and National League relievers are out.
• Two minor moves: The A’s released designated hitter Mike Sweeney, and the Brewers claimed pitcher Todd Coffey.

Today, McGwire says, he works out twice a day and still weighs 245 pounds. "I can still hit, if somebody wants me," he said. "Now, wouldn’t that be a shocker?"

Let me say that McGwire may have been joking. However, Hummel gives us no indication that this is the case.

Earlier today, Joe Stiglich reported that the A’s would seek to add power to the lineup this off-season and that they would be more likely to acquire a power-hitter through free agency. Would Billy Beane try to coax McGwire out of retirement? McGwire did play 11 seasons for the A’s and they do have an opening for a DH in ’09 along with a dire need to add an impact bat.

The possibility does seem far-fetched, but this is the type of move that Beane would not shy from. And if McGwire did decide to lace up the sneakers for one more season, this is the exact situation under which it would have to happen.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.

• I will be appearing on Rutgers Student Radio this morning at 8:40am CST.  You can go here and click the "listen" link to hear it live.
• Keith Foulke threw for the majority of teams in baseball last week, topping out around 84.  The D’Backs may make an offer.  I don’t believe they have signed a free agent yet.
• The New York Times says Jose Canseco has apparently dragged Magglio Ordonez into the steroid mess, with the FBI getting involved on possible extortion.  I have to admit, I am going to read Canseco’s new book.  The first one was interesting but poorly written.
• The Giants’ two-year offer to Pedro Feliz was rejected, and they seem inclined to fill third base internally.  Joe Crede is not out of the question though.
• Seems that the Reds might be talking about a long-term deal with Brandon Phillips.
• Rewriting history: the Padres almost acquired Mark McGwire in 1995.  Speaking of Kevin Towers, here’s a quick look at his trading record.  It’s good.
• Team payroll data for ’07 is out; it’s not terribly surprising.