Aurilia had hoped to play again this year with the Yankees or Mets. Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News reported earlier in the year that Aurilia had a broadcasting deal in place in case he couldn't find a big league job.

The 38-year-old signed a minor league deal worth $1MM with the Giants last year and went on to hit .213/.256/.279 in 133 plate appearances. That's far from the .275/.328/.433 line Aurilia posted over the course of a 15-year career that began on the Giants in 1995, alongside Dave Burba, Deion Sanders and Rod Beck. 

Aurilia hit 186 home runs, made an All Star team and won the 2001 Sliver Slugger when he hit 37 homers as the Giants' shortstop. Aurilia made about $32MM in his career, according to Baseball-Reference.

• ESPN's Jayson Stark ranked baseball's ten-year contracts, with Derek Jeter's soon to be completed ten-year, $189MM deal coming in as the best.
• The Marlins agreed to one-year contracts with 12 of their pre-arbitration eligible players according to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro, including Sean West, Chris Volstad, Emilio Bonifacio, and Dan Meyer. 
• Brewers owner Mark Attanasio confirmed that he will be involved in long-term contract discussions with Prince Fielder, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (via Twitter).  Haudricourt also tweets that Attanasio and GM Doug Melvin met today to discuss the situation and there will be no deadlines imposed on the 25-year-old.
• Rich Aurilia, who stopped by the Giants' camp today, says that while he's still looking for a job, he will retire if he doesn't have one by the end of spring, tweets Jeff Fletcher of AOL Fanhouse.  The 38-year-old has a broadcasting deal in place if he is unable to find a job on the field.
• Shin-Soo Choo says that he would like to stay in Cleveland long-term, writes MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince.  Choo, like Morales, cut ties with his former agent (Alan Nero) in favor of Scott Boras.
• Michael Weiner, the executive director of the players' union, confirmed that the union is participating in an investigation into alleged unauthorized withdrawals from Kendry Morales' bank account by a former employee of his former agents, Hendricks Sports Management (Bill Plunkett of the OC Register reporting). Morales recently dropped HSM and hired Scott Boras.
• Bernie Miklasz of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch provides a few quotes from Albert Pujols about his contract situation. "Do I want to do this right now and take care of this so we don't need to worry about it? Of course," said Pujols. "If it happens, it happens. But there are some things I am able to control and there are other things that are out of my hands that I can't control. And that's the truth."
• The Mariners signed righty Tom Wilhelmsen to a minor league contract, according to Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times. The 27-year-old had been out of baseball since 2005 because of substance abuse issues, though he resurfaced with an independent league team last season.
• Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes along a report indicating the the Orix Buffaloes are moving towards a deal with Freddie Bynum. The White Sox released Bynum last week so he could pursue opportunities in Japan.
• Meanwhile, Joe Strauss of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says that Felipe Lopez will provide the Cardinals with a great amount of flexibility.
• Joel Sherman of The New York Post calls the contracts of Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia and other Yankee players "time-bomb contracts."
• John Tomase of The Boston Herald says the Red Sox have a deep bench with Mike Lowell, Bill Hall, Jeremy Hermida, and Jason Varitek. 

• According to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro, Seth McClung's deal with the Marlins would be worth $800K if he makes the team, not $600K as originally reported (link goes to Twitter). 
• MLB.com's Tom Singer wrote about the hazards of signing pitchers to five-year deals.
• Baggarly tweets that even though he isn't retired, Rich Aurilia has a broadcasting deal in place that is contingent on him not finding a job on the field.
• Tim Lincecum and the Giants are still no closer to a deal, reports Andrew Baggarly of The San Jose Mercury News. Their arbitration hearing is now less than two days away.
• MLB.com's Adam McCalvy takes a look back at the Brewers' arbitration history. The team is scheduled to go to a hearing with Corey Hart tomorrow, which would be their first in 12 years.
• Mariners' GM Jack Zduriencik did not rule out the possibility of adding a catcher, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com (via Twitter).
• RotoAuthority analyzes the Blue Jays' closer situation from a fantasy baseball angle.
• SI's Jon Heyman names his free agent winners and losers.  It's a well-done piece; my only gripe is Jason Marquis being in the loser bracket after signing a two-year, $15MM deal.
• ESPN's Buster Olney reports that before signing with the Padres, catcher Yorvit Torrealba "offered himself to the Mets for $1.4MM."  The Mets "indicated they had no money to spend."
• Aaron Schafer of Viva El Birdos grades the Cardinals' offseason moves and non-moves.

Aurilia signed a minor league deal with the Giants in February of last year and proceeded to have a rough 133 plate appearances.  He doesn't blame injuries – in fact, Aurilia's trips to the DL were for phantom injuries (at the Giants' request).

"As far as next year, I definitely want to play if the situation is right.  I understand that I would mainly be a utility, pinch hitter-type player, which I'm alright with."

Crasnick notes that it was a trying year for Aurilia, whose father passed away.  Aurilia, 38, hit .213/.256/.279 in 133 plate appearances while missing time with ankle and toe injuries.  He'd signed a minor league deal with the Giants in February worth $1MM.

• The Chicago Tribune's Phil Rogers writes that Tim Bogar and Manny Acta are early front-runners for the Astros managerial job.  Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio could get called in for interviews by general manager Ed Wade.
• Joe Strauss gives us an overview of the dispute the Cardinals are having with recently signed Dominican outfielder Wagner Mateo.
• Veteran Rich Aurilia doesn't expect to be a part of the Giants' plans in 2010 according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle.
• Mike Hargrove, who last managed the Seattle Mariners, could land a job this winter, says Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com.
• Marc Topkin tells us, via Twitter, that Rays' manager Joe Maddon will talk with his coaching staff immediately after the season, but doesn't anticipate any changes. Tampa's playoff hopes plummeted when they dropped 14 of their first 16 games in September.
• Even at the age of 42, Omar Vizquel would still like to return for another season, according the AP. Can you think of any teams in need of the veterans services? Omar's only logged 189.2 innings at shortstop, but it's no surprise to see a tremendous 21.6 UZR/150.
• Dejan Kovacevic checks in with the latest and greatest from Pirates' GM Neal Huntington, who once again stresses that the Buccos will not be spending money just to spend money this offseason.

• Israel Gutierrez of the Miami Herald feels that the face of the Marlins' future is ace Josh Johnson. Gutierrez feels that the most critical move the Marlins need to make it locking up Johnson to a long-term deal. To quote Gutierrez: "If Hanley Ramirez was worth paying for, then Johnson is at least as important, if not more."
• David Lennon of Newsday has Tim Redding's take on the possibility of being released: "I'm not an idiot. I've been around the game long enough to know what's going on, with the way I've been used." Redding, however, remains with the Mets despite a 7.22 ERA.
• Felipe Lopez isn't thinking about the trade rumors surrounding him, according to Nick Piecoro. He's focused on helping Arizona. Piecoro says that the Brewers have expressed interest in the Arizona second basemen.
• It's been a hard weekend for the Giants, as the team's largest shareholder, Sue Burns, died at the age of 58 just a week after learning that she had cancer. Rich Aurilia had some kind words about Burns: "Being here for a while, I've known her family for a long time. They're great people to be around and always treated everyone on the team like a part of their own family, which is nice. You don't get that a lot from a lot of teams and owners. This is a huge loss not only for the Giants but everybody who knew her." Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Burns family, Giants organization, and Giants fans everywhere.
• Royals general manager Dayton Moore has given Trey Hillman his vote of confidence, stating that despite the club's struggles, Hillman will remain with the Royals for both this season and next. Says Moore: "We're all in this thing together… You just can't keep reshuffling." The Royals have lost 42 of their last 61 games.

11:54am: According to Ken Rosenthal, "Rich Aurilia will return to the Giants on a minor-league contract.  Aurilia, 37, chose the Giants over the Cubs and Phillies.  His deal is expected to be finalized on Monday."  Henry Schulman learned that the Blue Jays were also in on Aurilia, and the Astros made a Major League offer early in the winter.

Aurilia hit .283/.332/.413 in 440 plate appearances last year, but he does handle lefties well for the most part.  Though their deals are not guaranteed, the Giants having both Aurilia and Juan Uribe in camp may be another sign that they’re backing off on Joe Crede.  At the least, Crede would have to come down from his $7MMish demand for the Giants to sign him.

In a phone interview, Aurilia acknowledged that many players are settling for minor league offers. "It’s something we’re mulling over," he said. "We’re trying to counter-proposal them a little bit and see what we can come up with."

Aurilia thinks he would be a valuable addition to a young infield like the Giants’ and said that he was "hoping to nail this down."

4:39 In an update to his blog, the San Jose Mercury News’ Andrew Baggarly reports that the San Francisco Giants have made an offer to Rich Aurilia.

The offer is a non-guaranteed, minor-league contract that would pay Aurilia $1MM if he were to make the major league team, with some additional incentives as well.

Baggarly says the Phillies are in on Aurilia as well, but Baggarly says Brian Sabean isn’t sure of the extent of the Phillies’ interest.

Baggarly also writes that Aurilia is interested in a return to the Giants.

• GM Ruben Amaro Jr. says it’s "very likely" the Phillies will not make any more additions.
• The Phillies have inquired on "almost every righthanded bat on the market." They’ve considerd Rich Aurilia, Nomar Garciaparra, Moises Alou and Mark Grudzielanek.
• Amaro’s targeting Nomar.
• Roberts agrees with Jon Heyman that the Phillies gave Andruw Jones a "tepid look."
• However, they’re in no hurry to bring in a righty bench bat and could take their time adding one.
• The $4MM gap between the Phillies’ arbitration offer to Ryan Howard and his demand will influence how much the Phillies can spend. Amaro called Howard’s case "the elephant in the middle of the room."

Millar, 37, hit .234/.323/.394 in 610 plate appearances last year.

Ken Rosenthal wrote earlier today that the Phillies also continue to monitor Nomar Garciaparra, who is "trying to decide whether he is physically sound enough to play next season."

• Jeff Moorad’s acquistion of the Padres does not affect the likelihood of a Jake Peavy trade, according to Rosenthal’s source.  There have been no recent conversations with the Cubs about Peavy.
• The Phillies had been confident of signing Ty Wigginton before the Orioles offered two years.  The Phils are still mulling Nomar Garciaparra and Rich Aurilia, with the Giants also in on Aurilia.  The Phillies are out on Will Ohman.
• Braden Looper is receiving interest from Baltimore, but he prefers the NL.  The Brewers are not optimistic about signing Looper despite a recent conversation with one of his agents (Tom Haudricourt believes the Brewers are "laying in the weeds" for when the right pitcher comes along).  Looper is Plan B behind Randy Wolf for the Dodgers, and not a candidate to return to the Cardinals (who are apparently out of money).  One other team known to have interest in Looper is the Pirates.