According to WFAN’s Mike Francesca, the Mets have signed free agent outfielder Jason Bay. Pending on a physical, the former Pirate and Red Sox will be heading back to the NL.

From the New York Daily News:

WFAN’s Mike Francesca just reported that the Mets will have an announcement early next week that they’ve agreed to a contract with Bay, one of the top free agent hitters on the market. The deal will become official if Bay passes the physical, Francesa said.

The Mets have a four-year offer out to Bay worth about $65 million.

Francesa also reported that the Mets and free agent catcher Bengie Molina remain apart on a potential contract. The Mets have offered one year plus a vesting option, but Molina is holding with a demand for a three-year deal.

This isn’t a bad deal for the Mets financially. Bay hit .267 with 36 home runs, 119 RBI and 13 stolen bases in 531 at-bats last season and isn’t bad defensively. He’ll give the Mets’ lineup durability and some much-needed pop.

That said, this is the Mets that we’re talking about here. Some how, some way, they always manage to add talent and miss the playoffs. This was a solid signing, but they need to get Jose Reyes and a slew of other players healthy so they don’t collapse again next season.

On a semi-related note, Bengie Molina needs a reality check. The only reason he was a cleanup hitter last year is because the Giants were so devoid of offensive talent outside of Pablo Sandoval. Molina is a fine player and a good clubhouse guy, but at his age he’s not going to find a club willing to give him a three-year deal.

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Even after the signings of free agents John Lackey and Mike Cameron, the Red Sox aren’t satisfied this winter. According to FOX Sports.com, the BoSox are “working hard” to obtain Adrian Gonzalez in a trade with the Padres.

The addition of Lackey will give the Red Sox the flexibility to trade right-hander Clay Buchholz, who likely would be the centerpiece of any package for Gonzalez. Likewise, the addition of Cameron will give them the flexibility to trade outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury.

The Padres would be tempted to move Gonzalez if they could get Buchholz and Ellsbury in the same deal, sources say. However, the Red Sox would be very reluctant to include both, according to another source.

A separate person familiar with Boston’s position said the team is becoming comfortable with the idea of trading Buchholz. But the source expressed doubt that the Red Sox would include outfielder Ryan Westmoreland or pitcher Casey Kelly in the deal; at present, the Padres are trying to obtain one of the two high-level prospects.

This is a deal that may never happen because Boston won’t part with the necessary pieces in order to acquire a big bat like Gonzo. San Diego wants pitching and top-level prospects so that they can compete in a few years. Plus, Gonzo is a fan favorite so they’re not going to trade him without getting a haul in return.

Boston better be ready to part with a couple of key prospects if they want the San Diego slugger.

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According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals have offered free agent outfielder Matt Holliday an eight-year contract worth roughly $16 million per year.

With the Cardinals increasingly impatient to reach a resolution, sources familiar with the talks believe it possible Holliday could reach a verdict before Christmas.

The New York Yankees may represent the most dangerous variable to the Cardinals. Previously insistent that they are not interested in entering bidding for Holliday, they could be enticed to enter at the eleventh hour.

The Yankees pose as another club’s biggest challenge when it comes to signing free agents – there’s a shock.

It’s hard to believe that Holliday would receive a better offer than the $16-million per-year deal the Cardinals just put on the table. But knowing Scott Boras (Holliday’s agent), he’ll be looking for one.

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According to a report by SI.com, the Phillies have agreed to a trade that will send Roy Halladay to Philadelphia and Cliff Lee to the Mariners.

The Phillies are in agreement on a three-team trade with the Mariners and Blue Jays to acquire star pitcher Roy Halladay, SI.com has learned. All indications are that Cliff Lee will likely be heading from Philadelphia to Seattle in the trade.

Sources say Halladay will agree to a contract extension to complete the deal. It’s expected to be a formality, and though terms are not yet clear, it’s expected to be worked out in the next couple days. Halladay wanted to be in Philadelphia, as the Phillies train in Clearwater, Fla., not far from his offseason home.

The Phillies are giving up prospects to Toronto to get Halladay, but it isn’t known yet which players are in the deal. Philadelphia, which would also get prospects from Seattle, is trying to keep its payroll at around $140 million.

At first glance, I’m shocked that the Phillies traded Lee away in order to complete this deal. He was dominating in the postseason, posting a perfect 4-0 record and a 1.56 ERA in five starts. But both he and Halladay are in their last year of their contracts and if Philadelphia can only pay for one, they might as well go with the guy that they can lock up long term – especially if that player is Halladay. There was no guarantee that Lee would re-sign with Philadelphia.

With their pitching staff now set (Lee and Felix Hernandez form one hell of a 1-2 combo), the Mariners must be gearing up to make a run and I wouldn’t be surprised if they wound up signing Jason Bay sometime this offseason to boost their offense.

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The St. Louis Cardinals officially offered free agent outfielder Matt Holliday a contract according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The article states that St. Louis expects to hear back from Holliday within the next 48 hours and that the Cardinals might move on “the middle of next week” if the free agent doesn’t accept their offer.

While Holliday is a much-needed presence in the Cards’ lineup, it’s important for the club and GM John Mozeliak to move in another direction if the outfielder can’t make a quick decision. The financial terms of the offer haven’t been released, but chances are it’s a fair deal for market value. I doubt the Cards would waste their or Holliday’s time with a lowball offer.

If Holliday doesn’t sign, it’ll be interesting to see if the Cardinals make a run at Jason Bay, although it would be tough for St. Louis to match an offer from the Red Sox or Mariners. (There’s a rumor floating around that Bay wants to play for the M’s because Seattle is close to his home.)

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One potential move that has taken a backseat to the Roy Halladay sweepstakes at the winter meetings this year is a deal that could make Dan Uggla a San Francisco Giant next season. According to FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal and MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro via their Twitter pages, the Giants and Marlins are heating up discussions involving Uggla.

Uggla is the right-handed bat that the Giants desperately need. They acquired Freddy Sanchez at the trade deadline last year, but he could potentially move over to third base (moving Pablo Sandoval to first) in order to make room for Uggla, who hit .243 last year with 31 dingers and 90 RBI. San Francisco is already a contender (and I use that word loosely) with its pitching, but in order for the G-Men to make a serious run at the postseason they need more pop in their lineup outside of “The Panda.”

The question now becomes: What do the Giants need to part with in order to acquire Uggla? They’ve already traded one top prospect away in Tim Alderson to acquire Sanchez, and they have zero plans to deal pitcher Madison Bumgarner or catcher Buster Posey.

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SI.com’s Tom Verducci writes that the Phillies are the emerging favorite to acquire Blue Jays’ ace Roy Halladay.

After almost a decade in which democracy ruled in the NL, Philadelphia is becoming the Yankees of its league: the king who wants more. Already the two-time league champion, the Phillies, given their aggressiveness and stockpile of young talent, are emerging as the favorite to land Toronto ace Roy Halladay. Anybody want to pick against the Phillies being the NL’s first three-peat champ since the 1942-44 Cardinals if Cole Hamels is their number three pitcher behind Halladay and Cliff Lee?

“They’ve been very aggressive,” one baseball source said about the Phillies’ pursuit of Halladay. “They’re putting together a package, even if they need another team. They’re trying to find the players [on other teams] the Blue Jays want to get it done.”

Hmm, one day the Angels are the frontrunners and now the Phillies are. The biggest storyline of the MLB winter meetings is only getting more intriguing.

This is an interesting report because on one hand, a rotation of Halladay, Lee and Hamels would be unbelievable and would make Philadelphia the perennial favorite to repeat as NL champions. But on the other hand, do they really want to give up more of their farm system?

The other question is whether or not they would sign Halladay to a long-term deal if they did acquire him. It wouldn’t make much sense to trade away most of your farm to acquire Halladay for just one season, would it?

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On Thursday, Barry Bonds’ agent Jeff Borris confirmed what everyone already knew: The juiced up slugger’s career is officially over.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

“It’s two years since he played his last game, and if there was any chance he’d be back in a major-league uniform, it would have happened by now,” agent Jeff Borris told The Chronicle. “When 2008 came around, I couldn’t get him a job. When 2009 came around, I couldn’t get him a job. Now, 2010 … I’d say it’s nearly impossible. It’s an unfortunate ending to a storied career.”

Technically, Bonds hasn’t retired, and he repeatedly has said he won’t retire, leaving open the outside chance that some team will call.

There are many who believe that baseball owners blacklisted Bonds from the game because of his alleged ties to steroids. If you believe in conspiracy theories, then it’s an easy argument to buy; surely one AL team in need of a DH would have called Bonds in 2008 when the Giants dumped him, right?

But considering he was severely limited (and that’s putting it mildly) in the outfield, it would make sense that no NL team would sign him. And given that he was being probed for lying to a grand jury regarding his involvement with performance-enhancing drugs, it would make sense that no AL clubs would sign him either. Let’s not forget that Bonds was also highly regarded as an a-hole and was poison to a clubhouse with what, his extra lockers, reclining chairs and big screen TV. It would make sense that no club would think he was worth the risk.

What’s interesting about Borris’ comments is that back in 2008, he said that multiple teams were interested in Bonds. Yet now Borris claims that he “couldn’t get him a job.” I realize all agents lie, but it’s just interesting to hear Borris admit now that nobody wanted his client.

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After posting a 4.38 team ERA in 2009, the Texas Rangers want pitching to become a focal point during the winter meetings and throughout the offseason. That’s why on Wednesday, the Rangers signed free agent right-hander Rich Harden, formerly of the Chicago Cubs.

According to Craig Calcaterra of NBCSports.com, the deal is for one year at $7.5 million and also comes with an $11.5 million option for 2011. The 28-year old posted a 4.06 ERA, a 1.32 WHIP and an outstanding 10.9 K/9 in 26 starts in 2009.

The book on Harden is simple: He’s great when he’s healthy, but he his career has been sidetracked by various injuries. He has dominating stuff, but he’s almost always a candidate to be placed on the DL at some point during the season.

Still, the Rangers did to acquire Harden, especially considering that Kevin Millwood might soon be heading to the Baltimore Orioles. If (and this is a big if) Harden can stay healthy, he’ll provide a much-needed lift to Texas’ starting rotation next season.

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