News Roundup: Yanks Reportedly Dangling Cabrera

-P- This is from the Beaver County Times, which is quickly becoming notorious for being rather loose with Pirates rumors, so take it for what it's worth, but:

Yeah, Dave Littlefield should totally hold out for Scott Proctor in this deal. The Pirates definitely need more relievers.

Cabrera is a lefty outfielder who played last season at the baseball age of 21. He held his own in the majors. He should be a cheap, solid player for the next several years. Cabrera for Gonzalez would be a very good deal for the Pirates.

-P- The Post-Gazette reports that "there is no sign now that Cabrera is available" but that a lot of teams want Gonzalez. The P-G also reports that the Bucs have re-signed Mike Edwards to a minor-league contract. It's debatable whether Edwards is even good enough to play in AAA anymore, but we'll probably still see him in Pittsburgh sometime next summer.

-P- The Red Sox made a number of moves today. They re-signed knuckleball-catcher Doug Mirabelli and also signed fading reliever J.C. Romero. They also dealt minor-league pitcher Phil Seibel to the Angels for another fading reliever, Brendan Donnelly. Good move for the Angels - if he makes the team, Seibel's a pretty good bet to outproduce Donnelly next year, and Seibel's eight years younger and left-handed.

-P- The D-Rays signed Akinori Iwamura for three years and $7.7 million. Tampa also gets an option in 2010. Their total investment in Iwamura, including the money they paid to negotiate with him, is a little over $12 million. There's obviously a lot of uncertainty in predicting how players from Japanese baseball will do in the majors, but Iwamura is 27, he plays a number of positions, and he's hit at least 30 homers in each of the last three seasons. This seems like a very smart gamble for the Rays.

-P- The Jays are very close to signing Vernon Wells to an enormous extension.