Ben Sheets
Rumors

Peter Gammons and Gordon Edes of espn.com give plenty of speculation about how the Red Sox off season will play out.

• Jason Bay is likely to return to the Red Sox for many reasons, but most of all, it's unclear who else will compete with the Red Sox to sign him.  Gammons feels the contract will be in the four years, $64M deal.  Bay recently rejected a four year, $60M-ish deal.  
• Alex Gonzalez seems likely to return to the Red sox, even though they declined his 2010 option.  Marco Scutaro is another option.
• Unless Adrian Gonzalez or Felix Hernandez are available to the Red Sox, a blockbuster trade is unlikely.  Nevertheless, the Red Sox are sure to explore the option of acquiring Roy Halladay again.
• The Red Sox were interested in Cody Ross back in July and may continue to try to acquire the outfielder from the Marlins.  Manny Delcarmen was the rumored compensation for Cody back in July.
• Rich Harden and Ben Sheets are likely free agent targets for the Red Sox.
• While Boston may be a good fit for Aroldis Chapman, neither writer thinks that the Red Sox will make a serious push for him. 

Aroldis Chapman may work well in Boston, but are they interested?

Below is a list of starting pitchers that are eligible for free agency for the 2010 season, their age, current team, current contract and whether the player falls into a Type A or Type B free agent compensation status.

Free agent catchers
Free agent first basemen
Free agent second basemen
Free agent third basemen
Free agent shortstops
Free agent left fielders
Free agent center fielders
Free agent right fielders
Free agent middle relievers
Free agent closers

Brandon Backe, 32, Astros - 09:$1.55M
Miguel Batista, 39, Mariners - 07:$5.5M, 08:$9M, 09:$9M
Erik Bedard, 31, Mariners - 09:$7.75M (Type B)
Kris Benson, 34, Rangers - 09:$750K
Daniel Cabrera, 29, Diamondbacks - 09:$2.6M
Chris Capuano, 31, Brewers - 09:minor league contract
Aroldis Chapman, 22, No Team - No professional contracts
Bartolo Colon, 37, White Sox - 09:$1M
Jose Contreras, 38, Rockies - 07:$9M, 08:$10M, 09:$10M
Doug Davis, 34, Diamondbacks - 07:$5.5M, 08:$7.75M, 09:$8.75M (Type B)
Justin Duchscherer, 32, Athletics - (Type B)
Adam Eaton, 32, Rockies - 07:$6.875M, 08:$7.635M, 09:$8.5M, 10:$9M mutual option ($0.5M buyout)
Josh Fogg, 33, Rockies - 09:minor league contract
Jon Garland, 30, Dodgers - 09:$6.25M, 10:$10M mutual option ($2.5M buyout if club declines, $1M buyout if player declines) (Type B)
Tom Glavine, 44, Braves - 09:$1M
Mike Hampton, 37, Astros - 09:$2M
Rich Harden, 28, Cubs - 05:$0.5M, 06:$1M, 07:$2M 08:$4.5M, 09:$7M (Type B)
Mark Hendrickson, 36, Orioles - 09:$1.5M
Livan Hernandez, 35, Nationals - 09:minor league contract
Shawn Hill, 29, Nationals - 09:$775K
Jason Jennings, 31, Rangers - 09:$800K
Randy Johnson, 46, Giants - 09:$8M (Type B)
John Lackey, 31, Angels - 06:$3.01M, 07:$5.5M, 08:$7M, 09:$9M (Type A)
Cliff Lee, 31, Phillies - 06:$0.75M, 07:$2.75M, 08:$3.75M, 09:$5.75M, 10:$8M club option ($1M buyout) (Type A)
Braden Looper, 35, Brewers - 09:$4.75M, 10:$6.5M option ($1M buyout) (Type B)
Rodrigo Lopez, 34, Phillies - 09:minor league contract
Jason Marquis, 31, Rockies - 07:$4.75M, 08:$6.375M, 09:$9.875M (Type B)
Brett Myers, 29, Phillies - 07:$5M, 08:$8.5M, 09:$12M
Vicente Padilla, 32, Dodgers - 07:$9M, 08:$11M, 09:$12M (Type B)
Carl Pavano, 34, Twins - 09:$1.5M (Type B)
Brad Penny, 32, Giants - 09:$5M
Odalis Perez, 33, Nationals - 09:$850K
Andy Pettitte, 38, Yankees - 09:$5.5M (Type B)
Joel Pineiro, 31, Cardinals - 08:$5M, 09:$7.5M (Type B)
Sidney Ponson, 33, Royals - 09:$600K
Mark Prior, 28, Padres - 09:minor league contract
Horacio Ramirez, 30, Nationals - 09:$1.8M
Jason Schmidt, 37, Dodgers - 07:$12.5M, 08:$12M, 09:$12M
Ben Sheets, 31, No Team - 05:$4.5M, 06:$8.5M, 07:$10M, 08:$11M
John Smoltz, 43, Cardinals - 09:$400K
Brett Tomko, 37, Athletics - 09:minor league contract
Tim Wakefield, 43, Red Sox - 09:$4M, 10:$4M club option (Type B)
Jarrod Washburn, 35, Tigers - 06:$7.45M, 07:$9.85M, 08:$9.85M, 09:$10.35M
Todd Wellemeyer, 31, Cardinals - 09:$4.05M
Kip Wells, 33, Reds - 09:$500K
Randy Wolf, 33, Dodgers - 09:$5M (Type A)

• The Mets and pitcher John Maine have avoided arbitration.
• Kevin Millar is not expected to get a contract offer from the Baltimore Orioles.
• Japanese free agent Ken Takahashi has narrowed down his choices to four teams.
• Russ Springer has signed with the As for $3.3M for 2009 plus $300K in incentives.
• Ken Rosenthal examines the possibility that top free agents like Ben Sheets, Orlando Hudson and Orlando Cabrera could hold off on signing a deal until after the season starts in order to up their value.
• Pitcher Josh Fogg is leaning towards signing with the Rockies. There is also word that the Rockies have passed on Braden Looper.
• Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic examines the decision by the Diamondbacks to sign Jon Garland over Randy Johnson.
• The Mariners appear interested in Bobby Abreu, but would probably have to make some changes to afford him. There is also word here on the Mariners signing of Mike Sweeney.

Andy Pettitte's agents are allegedly telling interested teams that the free agent left handed pitcher has a three year, $36M offer on the table according to Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated.  While the team that is offering the deal remains annonymous, this offer would vastly trump the one year, $10M deal on the table from the Yankees.  Many suspect that if Pettitte does not move quickly with the Yankees, he could end up on the outside looking in if the team goes after Ben Sheets or Derek Lowe.

Earlier we gave you Yahoo! Sports Tim Brown's winter meetings preview of the NL teams.  Now, let's look at the AL teams:

• The Red Sox are quite involved in talks for big free agent names like Mark Teixeira, Derek Lowe and AJ Burnett but perhaps the most interesting question is how they handle Jason Varitek or his replacement.
• There seems to be a hierarchy of the Yankees off season moves: 1) sign CC Sabathia 2) sign Teixeira 3) sign Lowe or Burnett 4) sign Manny Ramirez as the worst case scenario.
• The Blue Jays are out of the running for Burnett, but could still consider Brad Penny, Paul Byrd, Randy Johnson, Oliver Perez, Pedro Martinez and Ben Sheets are all possibilities. 
• The off season priority list for the Indians reads as 1) closer 2) closer and 3) closer.  Possibilities include: Trevor Hoffman, Jason Isringhausen, Huston Street or JJ Putz.
• Trading for Gerald Laird filled the Tigers hole at catcher, but they're still interested in a closer and could be a dark horse for Rafael Furcal or trade for Jack Wilson.
• Teixeira will dictate the Angels off season.  If he signs with the Angels, that's likely it.  If not, they'll take Francisco Rodriguez back for the right price or look at Sabathia. 
• As Jayson Stark told us a few weeks ago, the Rangers off season priorities are pitching, pitching and more pitching.  They'll look at Penny, Randy and Freddy Garcia.

The deadline to offer a free agent arbitration is tonight at 11pm CST (1pm EST). Here's a list of players who are eligible for arbitration, their team's decisions and any commentary.

• Trevor Hoffman was not offered arbitration by the Padres.
• The Angels have offered arbitration to Francisco Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Jon Garland and Darren Oliver.
• Manny Ramirez, Derek Lowe and Casey Blake were offered arbitration by the Dodgers. Joe Beimel, Brad Penny, Jeff Kent and Greg Maddux were not.
• Brian Fuentes has been offered arbitration by the Rockies.
• The Blue Jays offered arbitration to AJ Burnett but not Greg Zaun.
• The Royals offered arbitration to Mark Grudzielanek.
• Russ Springer, Braden Looper and Jason Isringhausen have not been offered arbitration by the Cardinals.
• The Yankees did not offer arbitration to Andy Pettitte, Bobby Abreu or Mike Mussina.
• Dennys Reyes has been offered arbitration by the Tigers. The Tigers also declined to offer arbitration to Edgar Renteria.
• The Brewers offered arbitration to CC Sabathia, Ben Sheets and Brian Shouse.
• The Mariners have offered arbitration to Raul Ibanez.
• John Smoltz was not offered arbitration by the Braves.
• The Mets have offered arbitration to Oliver Perez, but Luis Ayala and Moises Alou did not receive offers.
• The Red Sox have offered arbitration to Jason Varitek and Paul Byrd.
• Kerry Wood and Bob Howry were not offered arbitration by the Cubs.
• The As have declined to offer arbitration to Alan Embree and Frank Thomas. 
• As Ken Rosenthal suggested yesterday, the Diamondbacks did not offer arbitration to Adam Dunn.  They did, however, offer arbitration to Juan Cruz, Brandon Lyon and Orlando Hudson.
• The Rangers offered arbitration to Milton Bradley.

Ken Rosenthal covers a lot in his latest article:

• Rosenthal talks about the interesting effect the "poor economy" could have on teams offering arbitration to players.  In short, many teams may not offer arbitration for fear that a player may accept arbitration rather than risk the potentially volatile free agent market.
• Adam Dunn from the Diamondbacks is a good example of Rosenthal's posit.  Certainly the Diamondbacks anticipated that, after trading three players for Dunn, he would net them two draft picks in the 2009 draft after he likely declined arbitration.  The Diamondbacks have already declined Randy Johnson because of his salary demands and recently laid off 30+ employees.  Are they willing to risk having Dunn on their payroll for $15M-$16M?  Even if the unlikely happens and Dunn accepts arbitration, his one year contract would be quite the trade chip for the Diamondbacks.
• Kerry Wood was looking for a long term deal at the beginning of free agency and the Cubs were not interested.  It has now become apparent that the market for closers is flooded with free agents and trade possibilities and Wood's value has decreased.  The Cubs have already said they are not interested in having Woody back at $9M-$10M a season, even though Wood said he would accept such an offer.  If the Cubs offered Wood arbitration, it's possible he could accept leaving the Cubs stuck with him.  However, if they don't offer arbitration, they lose the two draft picks if Wood signs elsewhere.
• The questionable health of Ben Sheets may make the Brewers hesitate to offer the oft-injured pitcher arbitration for fear of being stuck with a $13M-$14M salary for 2009.
• The complications of Jake Peavy-to-the-Cubs are many (the team is being sold, Ryan Dempster was recently resigned, a third team is needed, and if a trade were consummated, Jason Marquis would need to go somewhere and trade talks for David DeJesus have stalled with Kansas City) but the two teams are still trying to negotiate a deal.  As a possible solution to the Marquis problem, Rosenthal suggests that the Padres may be willing to take Marquis if the Cubs pay $3M of his $9M 2009 salary.  For a team trying to cut salary, that doesn't make sense to me.
• The Dodgers offered Chin-Lung Hu and Delwyn Young for Jack Wilson, the Pirates asked for more and now the Dodgers are rumored to no longer be interested in the shortstop.  The Dodgers were concerned with Wilson's $7.25M salary for 2009 and $8.4M club option for 2010 with a $600K buyout and asked the Pirates to chip in some money.  The Pirates agreed, but only for better prospects and the deal broke down.

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe has a new article:

• The first team Derek Lowe talked to his agent about once he was a free agent was the Red Sox.  Lowe notes that since leaving the team in 2004, he has matured and reigned in his personal life and would be a much better fit for the team now. 
• Roy Oswalt is lobbying hard for Ben Sheets to consider Houston.  If Sheets were to seriously consider Houston, would that affect their interest in Randy Wolf?
• It has long been rumored that if the Sox sign Mark Teixeira, Kevin Youkilis would move to third base and the Red Sox would try to move Mike Lowell.  Cafardo lists the Dodgers, Angels, Indians and Twins as potential trade partners with the Red Sox for Lowell's services.  The Red Sox would likely have to eat some of Lowell's remaining contract with the last two teams, if not all four.
• Cafardo believes that Jermaine Dye would work out well with the Phillies, Mets or Rays.  If the Rays were interested, it would likely take more than Andy Sonnanstine or Edwin Jackson to pry Dye lose from the White Sox.
• Willie Bloomquist could fill in for the loss of Alex Cora at the utility position for the Red Sox.

Jerry Crasnick of espn.com posted an article today discussing the free agent scenarios for Ben Sheets.  Sheets was considered in the top tier with CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett until he had arm trouble late in the season which has diminished his value.  Sheets' agent, Casey Close, insists that the injury is muscle related and not permanent. 

Sheets and the Brewers have been in contract negotiations, but nothing is expected to be resolved before Sheets hits the open market.  Crasnick notes that Sheets lives in the Dallas area during the off season and the Rangers and Astros are teams Sheets would hope to receive offers from.  The Cubs, Mets, Yankees, and Orioles are also possible destinations for Sheets, Crasnick comments.

Buster Olney breaks down the free agency road that lies ahead for six less talked about free agents:

• Juan Cruz: Because of the lack of quality middle relievers available, Olney feels like Cruz will get a four year deal similar to what Scott Linebrink signed with the White Sox last winter.
• Bobby Abreu: The aging right fielder could likely earn $17-18M through arbitration with the Yankees and he loves playing in New York.  He'd also by a good fit for the Cubs.
• Adam Dunn: Olney suggests that there are conflicting views on how valuable Dunn's offensive prowess is and that makes the market muddy for the slugger.
• Kerry Wood: Wood has spent his entire career in Chicago, but because of his obvious injury history, which includes 2008, the Cubs may be hesitant to sign Wood to any long term deal.  The Mets would likely be interested if the Cubs do not retain Wood.
• Ben Sheets: While Sheets mid-season injury will likely scare away many bidders and a large long term contract, his injury appears to just be muscle related and not ligament damage and that will help his value.
• Jaime Moyer: It's difficult to see many teams offering a 46 year old player a multi-year deal, but his 2008 stats justify one.