"He's coached a local high school baseball team in Riverside (California) for a couple of years, in addition to his son's travel team, and now he's ready to get back to the Major League level. Whether that be as a pitching coach or with the thought of eventually becoming a Major League manager, he's expressed a strong desire to get back to that level."

Percival, now 44, saved 358 games and posted a 3.17 ERA with 9.9 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 over 708 2/3 innings in parts of 14 seasons at the Major League level. The four-time All-Star had the privilege of throwing the final pitch of the 2002 World Series — a fly-ball off the bat of Kenny Lofton that was gloved by Darin Erstad, making Percival's Angels the World Series champions. In addition to the Angels, the UC Riverside product pitched for the Tigers, Cardinals and Rays. Percival's 358 saves currently rank eighth all-time among Major League pitchers.

• John Smoltz and Pedro Martinez will likely eventually sign with National League clubs, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. He names the Cardinals, Phillies, Cubs, and Dodgers as potential players for the two veteran right-handers.
• Cardinals GM John Mozeliak tells MLB.com's Matthew Leach that his club is going to be patient about assessing their bullpen, and is not currently seeking right-handed relief help.
• Troy Percival is in Angels camp as a guest instructor, writes Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times.  He has no plans to try another comeback.
• I named my undervalued hitters for fantasy baseball leagues over at RotoAuthority.
• Former A's and Padres exec Sandy Alderson has been tasked with revamping MLB's Dominican Republic office, reports ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr.
• Indians third baseman Jhonny Peralta told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports he'd like to remain in Cleveland beyond this year, though Morosi sees a good chance of a trade.  Peralta earns $4.6MM this year, and has a $7MM club option for 2011 with a $250K buyout.
• Joe Posnanski profiles Joakim Soria, suggesting the Royals should've tried him as a starter at some point.
• ESPN's Rob Neyer learned from Michael Lewis that Jonah Hill has replaced Demetri Martin as the actor who will play Paul DePodesta in Aaron Sorkin's Moneyball movie.  Brad Pitt is still slated to play Billy Beane.

Paul Cohen, Pervical's agent, indicated that his client was having severe back problems and is seeing a specialist this week about a possible fusion, but said that the decision to retire hasn't been made yet. Maddon would like to see the team have a day to honor Percival if he does indeed call it quits, saying "He was such a big part of what we did last year, and people have kind of forgotten about that way too fast."

If he does retire, Percy would finish with 358 career saves, good for 8th all time.

Percival, 39, is working with a chiropractor, and needs to get feeling back in his right arm before he makes a decision on the season. Manager Joe Maddon commented on Percival's situation:

Maddon had originally said he wouldn't be surprised if Percival hung it up.

• Some of the more interesting position battles mentioned: 1B/DH/RF in Oakland (Daric Barton, Jack Cust, Jason Giambi, Aaron Cunningham, and Travis Buck all in the mix), Tampa’s closer if Troy Percival gets hurt or falters (Dan Wheeler, J.P. Howell, Grant Balfour), and the White Sox rotation behind John Danks, Mark Buerhle, and Gavin Floyd (Clayton Richard, Aaron Poreda, Bartolo Colon, Jeff Marquez).
• Brian Roberts still wants a four-year deal before Spring Training starts up, or he’ll cut off negotiations. Does Roberts make more sense as a cornerstone in Baltimore or as a trade chip?
• Perrotto feels Tom Glavine will inevitably re-sign with the Braves.
• The White Sox have minor interest in signing Ivan Rodriguez as a backup for A.J. Pierzynski. I’m sure Pudge would prefer a starting gig, but at this point, it’s tough to be picky.
• We’ve heard a lot about the Orioles having interest in Rich Hill lately, but Perrotto reminds us that the Mariners are interested in the 28-year-old lefty as well.

• Bucco Blog sees an Adam LaRoche-Jonathan Sanchez trade as a "win-win deal."
• DRays Bay would like to see the Tigers take either Troy Percival or Dan Wheeler off the Rays’ hands.
• Mets Geek makes a case for the Mets signing Andy Pettitte.
• Goat Riders of the Apocalypse are not worried that the Cubs have traded away yet another former top prospect.
• Center Field isn’t buying that Jason Varitek didn’t know about the draft pick compensation as a result of his refusing arbitration.
• Her Rays isn’t taking the loss of Rocco Baldelli well at all.
• Dodger Thoughts doesn’t understand why the Dodgers keep spending money on veteran, offensively-challenged backup catchers that will never play.
• Anaheim Angels all the way says the Reds replaced "90% of Adam Dunn" with Jonny Gomes and a very favorable contract. On Baseball and the Reds is not sure Gomes’ offense will offset his horrible defense and sees him as a decent platoon option.
• UmpBump grades the Rays offseason favorably.
• El Lefty Malo laments the contract of Dave Roberts and feels he is the type of player that would be forced to retire if he were a free agent this off-season.
• Twins Geek speculates on what it would take to sign Joe Mauer to a long-term deal.
• Bullpen Call sees only the Mets and Yankees as options for Juan Cruz.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here.

Topkin, who states about 20 teams had interest in Nelson, adds the deal is pending a physical.

2:36pm: Right-handed reliever Joe Nelson has signed with the Tampa Bay Rays, Clark Spencer of The Miami Herald is reporting. It’s a one-year deal worth $1.3MM.

Nelson, 34, was with the Marlins last season.

The Rays acquired Balfour from the Brewers for Seth McClung last July.  He’s endured all kinds of injury problems but seems on track in ’08.  DRays Bay suggests keeping Balfour and either cutting Gary Glover or trading Jason Hammel.

MLBTR: Who gets more saves in ’08, Troy Percival or Al Reyes?  Is there any chance the Rays shop Reyes now?

Topkin: Percival will get most of the save opportunities, probably all except when he needs a day off. Reyes could be traded, but I think Wheeler is more likely to go. (Unless one of them learns how to pitch lefthanded!)

FROM 11-29-07 at 6pm:

Couple of notes for your drive-time commute. Ken Rosenthal reports that Troy Percival will sign with the Rays for two years and $8 million. Incentives could push it to $10 million. Here’s something you don’t see every day: they’re not making him take a physical — though they have seen his medical records.

Apparently the Yankees threw more cash at him, but he opted for the closing opportunity in Tampa Bay. I wonder where that leaves Al Reyes.

Over on the ESPN side, Buster Olney says that David Riske is close to a deal with the Brewers. Olney supplies no details beyond it being a multiyear deal. As he notes, the Royals offered him two years and $6 million earlier this off-season. This deal could be comparable to Scott Linebrink’s four years and $19 million.

UPDATE, 11-28-07 at 7:40pm: Not so fast, says Ken Rosenthal.  The Rays may be in the lead on Percival because he is close to Joe Maddon and they’ll offer two years.  But the Yankees are in the mix offering a setup role and the Brewers are offering a one-year deal and a closer job.

FROM 11-28-07 at 3:40pm:

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Rays are "moving toward a deal" to sign free agent reliever Troy Percival.  This could give them a potentially solid veteran relief group in Juan Rincon, Dan Wheeler, Percival, and Al Reyes.

Percival was known to have been seeking a multiyear deal (I’m guessing two years, $10MM or so).  Other suitors: Yankees, Brewers, Giants, and Astros.

Tom Haudricourt recently spoke to Brewers GM Doug Melvin about his pursuit for a closer candidate.  Melvin recently had Kerry Wood pass over his two-year, $6MM offer for a one-year deal with the Cubs.

Melvin seemingly would only offer a one-year deal to Eric Gagne, Troy Percival, or Octavio Dotel.  All want multiyear contracts, however.  It’s a bit odd that he wouldn’t offer two years to any of these guys but did to Wood.  Maybe the Brewers only budgeted $6MM or so for this.  I imagine Gagne, for instance, would want more than that for just one year.

By the way, both Melvin and owner Mark Attanasio were perturbed by Bean Stringfellow’s handling of the Francisco Cordero negotiations.  The Crew lost out by just $4MM but didn’t get a chance to match Cincinnati’s offer.  Stringfellow’s agency represents a couple of current Brewers in Greg Aquino and Claudio Vargas, plus free agent reliever and former Brewer Luis Vizcaino.  I imagine Vizcaino is not among the eight or nine relievers on Melvin’s radar.

• Mariners GM Bill Bavasi and manager John McLaren have met with Hiroki Kuroda yesterday. There is no report of an offer, but it’s believed that four years and $45 million are expected. Kuroda hopes to make his decision on the 29th.
• Impacto Deportivo, the same site that had first news of the Mets deal with Luis Castillo, reports that Carlos Pena has rejected a three-year, $30 million deal from the Rays. Pena, however, calls the report "a straight lie."
• Randy Wolf is generating interest from the Padres, Phillies, and Astros. Ken Rosenthal notes that the market for high-risk, moderate-reward pitchers is strong, since the rest of the market isn’t very appealing. This includes Bartolo Colon, Jason Jennings, Freddy Garcia, Jon Lieber, Matt Clement, and Kris Benson.
• The Brewers are in on Troy Percival after losing Francisco Cordero to the Reds. As has been said since the signing, this could also mean that Derrick Turnbow gets another shot in the closer’s role.
• The Mets inquired about Bengie Molina at the GM meetings, and even though they have acquired Johnny Estrada, they could rekindle talks at the Winter Meetings. Rosenthal notes that the Giants might not want to trade Molina, since they lose considerable leverage because of the $12 million owed to him over the next two years.

Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.