Winter Meetings

Righthander Jake Peavy probably will be traded by the San Diego Padres before the winter meetings next month. After spending 4 days at the annual general managers' meetings in Dana Point, Calif., Padres general manager Kevin Towers said it is unlikely the 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner will remain with San Diego, which signed him out of high school in 1999. "The train's kind of left the station," Towers said yesterday. Guaranteed $63 million under a contract that runs through 2012, Peavy is relatively inexpensive when compared with what CC Sabathia is likely to get on the free-agent market.

Barry Bonds and Barry Zito are among the most notable of the unsigned free agents heading into baseball's winter meetings, which begin today in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Already, this off-season has been a spending spree for some teams. In the last two weeks, Alfonso Soriano got a $136 million agreement from the Chicago Cubs and Carlos Lee was guaranteed $100 million by the Houston Astros. Bonds' agent, Jeff Borris, was angry that the Giants did not offer salary arbitration to the 42-year-old leftfielder, coming off a $90 million, five-year contract with San Francisco, and he might step up his efforts with other teams.

One of the best things about my job is that I get to travel to some of the sports gatherings that I once just read about in the newspaper. The one that I looked forward to the most was baseball's winter meetings, held each year in early December. The "winter meetings" meant that baseball fans were in for some red-hot news about their favorite sport. Trades happened. The Rule 5 draft happened. Free agents signed. General managers gathered in the hotel lobby to wheel and deal. It was Disneyland and Christmas wrapped up in one nifty package.

In the old days, Phillies president Bill Giles used to love the winter baseball meetings. He'd roll up his sleeves, surround himself with cronies, cigarettes, refreshments (of a kind), and talk deals until the sun came up. "We were always fighting a deadline," Giles said the other day. "You had to get things done at the winter meetings; it was your last best chance. " This year's winter meetings begin tomorrow in Chicago, and the Phillies want badly to get stuff done: They want an ace pitcher; they want a southpaw reliever; they'd love to strengthen their bench.

Maybe those baseball winter meetings will be nothing more than a big free- agent signing festival. Maybe there won't be five big deals all week. Maybe everyone will come jetting home Thursday, grumbling about what a waste of time the whole thing has become. But then again . . . You never know. So Lee Thomas and 25 other general managers will start roaming the lobby of the O'Hare Hyatt in Chicago when those meetings begin this morning, hoping to start that one conversation that will change the face of their franchise.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The Phillies baseball people were gathered their third-floor suite yesterday morning when senior advisor Pat Gillick's cell phone buzzed. It might be . . . It could be . . . It was. The call was to inform Gillick that he had been elected to the Hall of Fame by the Expansion Era Committee. An impromptu party broke out. A bottle of champagne with Gillick's face superimposed on the label suddenly appeared, courtesy of team travel director Frank Coppenbarger.

Barry and Manny figure to be mentioned prominently alongside Grumpy and Goofy when baseball's winter meetings open today near Disney World in Orlando, Fla. Barry Bonds and Barry Zito are among the most notable of the unsigned free agents heading into the 4-day session of signings and swaps, and Manny Ramirez once again is being dangled in trade discussions by the Boston Red Sox. Thus far, some general managers have spent nearly as wildly as...

INDIANAPOLIS - He swept through the Marriott lobby like royalty, with television cameramen scrambling backward to record his grand entrance and reporters trailing in his wake up the wide staircase. Scott Boras was going to field a few questions at the winter meetings. And the reaction to that otherwise unremarkable fact neatly summed up the most dramatic change in baseball's annual December conclave. The agents are the rock stars this week. It used to be the general managers who were front-and-center, wheeling and dealing, making trades, dominating the headlines.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - They shot for the moon, Ruben Amaro Jr. said, but in four days at the winter meetings, the Phillies will likely come away with just a lefthanded reliever. Late Wednesday night, the Phillies and Dennys Reyes finalized a one-year deal, pending a physical, with an option for 2012. Reyes, who turns 34 in April, will become the primary lefty in the Phillies' bullpen in the wake of J.C. Romero's departure. According to a baseball source, Reyes agreed to a one-year contract worth $1.1 million with a mutual option for $1.35 million in 2012.

Baseball's winter meetings, which begin tomorrow in Las Vegas, will be like a trip to Alice's Restaurant. You can get anything you want. Big bats? Manny Ramirez and Mark Teixeira lead a free-agent class that also includes Raul Ibanez, Milton Bradley, Pat Burrell, Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi and Adam Dunn. Big arms? They don't get much bigger than CC Sabathia. A.J. Burnett, Derek Lowe, Ben Sheets and Randy Johnson are also free agents, and Jake Peavy is available in a trade.

DALLAS - The Phillies might not have to worry about Albert Pujols playing in the NL East, but they do have to wonder whether his departure from the Cardinals will complicate their negotiations with free-agent Jimmy Rollins. Pujols spurned the Cards to sign a reported 10-year, $254 million deal with the Angels, leaving St. Louis with a huge offensive void to fill, and, presumably, plenty of money at their disposal to fill it. Whether Rollins factors into their plans remains to be seen.

DALLAS - The Los Angeles Angels made perhaps the biggest one-day free-agent splash in baseball history and transformed themselves into legitimate World Series contenders, spending about $331 million Thursday to acquire the game's most feared slugger and one of its top pitchers. Within a span of two frenzied, early-morning hours at the winter meetings, the Angels reached agreements in principle with first baseman Albert Pujols on a 10-year, $254 million deal and lefthander C.J. Wilson on a five-year, $77.5 million deal.

DALLAS - The Los Angeles Angels made perhaps the biggest 1-day free-agent splash in baseball history and transformed themselves into legitimate World Series contenders yesterday, spending about $331 million to acquire the game's most feared slugger and one of its top pitchers. Within a span of 2 frenzied early-morning hours at the winter meetings, the Angels reached agreements in principle with first baseman Albert Pujols on a 10-year, $254 million deal and lefthander C.J. Wilson on a 5-year, $77.5 million deal.

  DALLAS - Meet the new shortstop, same as the old shortstop? As the Phillies prepare to wrap up this year's winter meetings at the Hilton Anatole, they appear to be on the verge of reaching an agreement to keep longtime shortstop Jimmy Rollins around for at least three more seasons. While general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. revealed little in the way of progress yesterday, numerous reports suggested the two sides had eclipsed whatever differences separated them earlier this week and were in the later stages of negotiations on a new deal.

DALLAS - The Phillies came to Texas with the stated goal of re-signing their longtime shortstop to a contract on their terms. For much of the winter meetings, they were content to be idle because Jimmy Rollins is their priority and, with an advantage in negotiations, waiting is just fine. They may leave Thursday without a deal, but all indications were that one will eventually be struck. The Milwaukee Brewers, the Phillies' top competition for his services, were told not to bother continuing talks with Rollins, a baseball source said.

DALLAS - Ruben Amaro Jr. lounged on the couch Monday evening in the Phillies' sixth-floor suite at the Anatole Hilton that doubles as the team's headquarters in this week of baseball's winter meetings. He already has signed three players and traded for another this offseason. But for a general manager who prefers to work quickly, this is an uncomfortable position. "Honestly," Amaro said, "I don't think there is any rush to do anything. " Amaro uttered those words on a day the Phillies were forced to consider life without Jimmy Rollins and the agent for third baseman Aramis Ramirez said he sought a meeting with the Phillies after rumors of their interest persisted all day. A night earlier, Amaro met with Rollins' agent.

DALLAS - The cards have been shuffled and cut for a while, and now it is time for them to start being played. We have seen Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. bluff before at baseball's winter meetings - no chance on Roy Halladay, no way on Cliff Lee - only to land the grand prizes on the trade and free-agent markets. This time, things do seem different as the meetings swing into full action Monday at the Anatole Hilton. Start with the fact that two position players, two of the game's premier hitters, represent the elite remaining in free agency.

On the eve of the winter meetings in Dallas, the Phillies have added outfielder Laynce Nix. The 2-year deal is pending a physical. The agreement was first reported by CSNPhilly.com. Nix, 31, is a 9-year veteran who hit .250 with 16 home runs and 44 RBI in 124 games for Washington last season and should give the Phillies a lefthanded option off the bench. He struck out 82 times in 324 at-bats last season. Against righthanders, Nix had 16 home runs, 71 strikeouts, and 19 walks in 320 plate appearances, and had a .263/.306/.475 line.

It's no secret that the Phillies' primary focus is shortstop as the winter meetings commence this week in Dallas. To not have a good one is akin to going into an NFL season without a quality quarterback. Good luck trying to win without one. The Phillies, of course, have been fortunate because they have not had to search for anyone since Jimmy Rollins took over the position in 2001. Now 33 - he celebrated that birthday a week ago - Rollins may still be the answer at shortstop for the Phillies.

DETROIT TIGERS ace Justin Verlander has been selected player of the year in voting by the Major League Baseball Players Association, becoming the second pitcher to earn the honor. He beat out Boston first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and New York Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson for the Players Choice Award, announced yesterday. The only other pitcher to win it was Boston's Pedro Martinez in 1999. Verlander was 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and 250 strikeouts, leading the AL in all three categories.