Seriously, will someone please sign a big free agent already? The MLB Winter Meetings begin on Monday in Vegas, and hopefully the baseball big shots will spend more time signing free agents and making trades than they do gambling.

Well, a few things have happened of note this week. The Red Sox signed AL MVP Dustin Pedroia to a new, six-year deal worth $40.5 million. And this for a guy who was making less than $500K per year. But dude has earned every penny…..Javier Vazquez was traded from the White Sox to the Braves for four young (mostly minor league) players, and Ozzie Guillen is probably smiling if he’s reading this….the Padres sent Khalil Greene to St. Louis…..and the Giants signed infielder Edgar Renteria to a two-year, $18.5 million deal and are also talking about making CC Sabathia an offer and even trading for Florida third baseman Jorge Cantu. Yeah, the Giants are not messing around. And Derek Lowe has been offered two deals, one by the Phillies and another by a mystery team

Okay, so I guess some things are happening, but not the big ones we all were waiting for, at least not yet. The Yankees are set to meet with CC Sabathia this weekend to discuss their ridiculously large offer made recently. Here are a few other rumors and possible deals that could happen next week….

The Mets are finally prepared to offer deals to Francisco “K-Rod” Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes, but it remains to be seen if both offers will happen simultaneously. Speaking of Fuentes, he, along with the likes of Sabathia and Cubs closer Kerry Wood have all been offered salary arbitration, which means anyone signing them will have to give the team that loses them two draft picks in 2009. Fuentes is also being rumored to re-signing with Colorado. And the Mets are rumored to be talking to the White Sox about sending prize prospect Fernando Martinez to Chicago for Bobby Jenks and Jermaine Dye. I just don’t see that really happening, do you?

Pat Burrell may sign with the Angels if the Angels cannot retain Mark Teixeira. And if Teixeira goes to the Red Sox, which is more than a rumor, the Sox may deal Mike Lowell to make room for Teixeira, who would be the first baseman with Kevin Youkilis moving to third.

Jermaine Dye’s name is being mentioned in trade talks (besides the Mets), and the teams being mentioned are Cincinnati, St. Louis, Atlanta and Tampa Bay. Meanwhile, the White Sox are also listening to offers for Jim Thome and Paul Konerko. Yikes….did someone give Sox GM Kenny Williams some dynamite?

Randy Johnson is hoping to sign a one-year deal with either Oakland or San Francisco…..the Cubs are thinking about signing Adam Dunn. Those two items didn’t just put you to sleep, did they?

Oh, and here’s a sure sign of the economy slowing. Dunn, Pat Burrell and Bobby Abreu are among the names not offered salary arbitration this past week. That means the D-Backs, Phillies, and Yankees, respectively, would rather piss away two draft picks than have to re-sign the player. Say it with me again, Yikes.

Hopefully we’ll have lots to report next week!

It’s been over a week since the period of free agency officially began, and yet we have no big signings just yet. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been talks, or even money offered. But it does mean that certain players and their agents just aren’t ready to make hasty decisions without weighing multiple options, and perhaps driving prices up into the stratosphere.

Brewers’ GM Doug Melvin was miffed that the Yankees made the kind of offer they knew the Brewers couldn’t match–$130 or $140 million over six years, where the Brewers were hoping for more in the $100 million range. The Dodgers reportedly are getting set to offer CC between $110 to $120 million, plus the comforts of living on the west coast and getting the chance to swing a bat every five days. The Dodgers are also interested in trading for Toronto’s Roy Halladay, who suddenly is being mentioned in trade rumors. If the Dodgers are not able to sign CC or trade for Halladay, word is they will put their resources into re-signing one Manny Ramirez. Oh, and the Giants are also talking about making CC an offer. Imagine CC and NL MVP Tim Lincecum at the top of the rotation, something that could shift the balance of power in the NL West.

There is likely to be a bidding war between the Red Sox, Jays, Yankees, Orioles, Braves and Phillies for righty AJ Burnett, the most coveted pitcher in the free agent pool not named CC.

If you saw the Mets’ bullpen blow about a quarter of their losses last season (okay, maybe more), you know that GM Omar Minaya has made the pen a priority in the off-season. So not only are the Mets looking to sign a free agent stud like Francisco “K-Rod” Rodriguez or Brian Fuentes, they are also looking to trade for Seattle’s JJ Putz or newly acquired Rockies’ pitcher Huston Street. The terribly ineffective Aaron Heilman is being dangled as trade bait, but for the names they’re looking at, the Mets would probably have to offer up a lot more than that.

Talks seem to keep breaking down about the Padres trading Jake Peavy…first with the Braves, then with the Cubs (after they re-signed Ryan Dempster)….and now the Yankees are being mentioned. Hmmm.

And Mark Teixeira is being mentioned in the same breath as the words “Washington Nationals.” Raise your hand if you saw that coming…..

Folks, your head could spin if you read all of the news and rumors about players possibly changing teams or getting big free agent money from their current or new team. So for today, we’ll focus on the big names that has everyone excited about….

CC Sabathia—The Yankees are expected to make a huge offer to the best pitcher on the market, and, well, would you expect anything less from the Steinbrenners? CC had made his desire clear that he wants to pitch in the National League and preferably on the west coast (ahem, Dodgers), but you can bet he will have a hard time turning down the $140 million offer from the Yanks. Yes, you just read that correctly. Oh, but don’t count the Angels or Mets out of the mix yet.

Manny Ramirez—It’s hard to figure if the Dodgers will make their pitch for Manny or CC first, but they if they decide Manny and Scott Boras want too many years in the deal, the team may just offer that money to Sabathia instead, who would love to pitch at Dodger Stadium in 2009 and beyond. Manny may not have to change residency though, as the Angels are reportedly interested, especially if they lose Mark Teixeira as expected.
The Mets may also make a play, but they need to shore up their pitching before adding another bat.

Francisco Rodriguez—The Angels are crazy for letting this guy walk, but maybe they just don’t think he’s worth mega-bucks at this point. Plus, the one time the guy decided to blow a save was in the postseason. The Mets seem like a likely fit, but they are not likely to pay K-Rod and his agent what they want either, and are rumored to be pursuing Brian Fuentes instead.

Mark Teixeira—The latest rumor has the Red Sox signing Teixeira as well as former Sox pitcher Derek Lowe. Would that make the Sox instant favorites in the AL? Well, the way the Rays played last season, you can’t really say that. Money doesn’t buy pennants anymore. But it would make the Sox significantly better, and that’s really saying something.

Kerry Wood—The Cubs did not pick up Wood’s option, making him a free agent. Again, the Mets have to be interested, don’t they? Yes, but the Mets are concerned about Wood’s injury history, so they are weighing all of their options, including a possible trade for the White Sox’ Bobby Jenks. Meanwhile, the Cubs picked up Kevin Gregg from the Marlins in a trade on Thursday and Gregg could possibly be Chicago’s closer in 2009.

Here are some other free agents likely to be signed quickly…..AJ Burnett, Randy Johnson, Trevor Hoffman, Ryan Dempster, Rafael Furcal. We’re just getting started folks!

It was a long, arduous negotiation, but the Bulls finally locked up Luol Deng. I estimated Deng’s value to be $11-$12 million per season, and he ultimately signed for $11.83 million per season.

Given his modest background growing up in the Sudan and Egypt before moving to London, Deng stressed to the Bulls that he was not bluffing when he vowed to play next season on a one-year qualifying offer worth about $4.5 million for the right to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2009.

The Bulls then gradually raised their offer to a higher annual average that Deng turned down in October, when Chicago was limited to offering him a five-year extension and presented the 6-foot-9 forward with a five-year package worth $57.5 million. As ESPN.com reported earlier this month, Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf chose to personally handle the bulk of the negotiations with Deng’s camp as opposed to the standard practice of Paxson serving as lead negotiator.

This negotiation seemed like it had been going on forever, so it’s good to see the Bulls lock up their star. Now they just have to figure out what to do with Ben Gordon.