The Baltimore Sun is reporting that the Orioles and 3B Aubrey Huff have agreed to a three-year deal worth $20 million.
Huff hit .267 with 21 home runs and 66 RBIs for the Devil Rays and Astros last season.
…thanks to Ryan Dragoon for the link…

A’s GM Billy Beane, as quoted by Josh Suchon in the Mercury News…
“I don’t think we’re done.  We’re still considering an extra outfielder or something along those lines.  I don’t suspect or anticipate us doing anything earth-shattering, although we are still considering some things.”

According to Suchon, Billy Beane continues to show interest in Mets OF [...]

In the Star-Tribune, Patrick Reusse believes the Twins will now end up trading LHP Johan Santana after next season, thanks to Barry Zito’s $126 million deal with the Giants.
…santana will be 28 years old after next season, like zito was this off-season, he’s lefty like zito and better than zito…i can only imagine what he [...]

At his blog for the Baltimore Sun, Roch Kubatko notes that free-agent 2B David Newhan is likely to sign a minor-league contract with either the Mets or Cubs.
Kubatko writes, “Newhan is used to battling for a job, and to people counting him out.  I wouldn’t advise it.  He’s pretty scrappy.”
Newhan, 33, hit .252 with four HR in [...]

In this morning’s New York Post, Joel Sherman suggests that the Mets obtain a pitcher like Rodrigo Lopez from the Orioles, plus sign a pitcher like Tony Armas in an effort to round out the team’s starting rotation.
…sherman is right, who puts forth a great plan in his column…by using the sherman model, the Mets will have Rodrigo Lopez, [...]

According to Lexis/Nexis and Google, since last Friday, no reporter or blogger had ever referenced a seven-year deal, the Giants and Barry Zito in the same article or post.
…the point is, i’m starting to think nobody knows what they’re talking about…well, that’s not entirely true, but we certainly need to take every bit of information with a massive [...]

In the Daily News, Bill Madden and Anthony McCarron write the Yankees ‘could’ complete a trade to send Randy Johnson back to the D’Backs before next week.”
Meanwhile, in the Star-Ledger, Ed Price writes that there is ‘nothing imminent’ regarding the Yankees efforts to trade Johnson.

…you know the names, Dan Haren, Rich Harden, Joe Blanton, Javier Vazquez, Jon Garland, Brad Penny, Rodrigo Lopez and Jon Leiber, all of whom are rumored to be available via trade, followed by Tomo Ohka, Joel Pineiro, Tony Armas, Mark Redman and Jeff Weaver, among others, still unsigned in the free-agent market…
In the New York Post, [...]

In the end, the Giants offered and won Barry Zito’s services with a seven-year, $126 million contract, with an eighth-year option.
The Rangers offer is rumored to have been for six years and $90 million, while the Mets never budged above a five-year deal worth roughly $75 million.
In a conference call yesterday, Mets GM Omar Minaya told [...]

In the Bergen Record, Bob Klapisch quotes a MLB general manager as saying…
“This is one time Omar realized something we all try to remember in this business, there’s always another star who’ll be available. It’s never about one guy.”

In the column, Klapisch asks…
“Who, exactly, will lead this staff in 2007? The better question is, who [...]

…at this point, based on what we know from the last couple of weeks, if the Mets intend to add a quality starting pitcher to their rotation, as they clearly hoped to do, they now have no choice but to bring him in via trade…
…in the last month, the Mets have been rumored to have interest [...]

Given that Barry Zito has agreed to sign with the Giants and not the Mets, I’m re-posting the poll for this week’s MetsBlog Fan Confidence Rating…
Therefore, if you’ve yet to do so, be sure and vote in this week’s MetsBlog Fan Confidence Rating by using the poll to the left…
…thanks…

In case you are wondering, LHP Mark Buerhle, RHP Bartolo Colon, RHP Freddy Garcia, RHP Jason Jennings, RHP Jake Westbrook and RHP Carlos Zambrano are all eligible for free agency next off-season.

Both Peter Gammons at ESPN.com, and Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com, report that LHP Barry Zito has agreed to a seven-year, $120 million contract with the Giants.
The Associated Press reports the deal includes an option for an eighth year that would make the deal worth $144 million.
…insanity…i think matt may have passed out when he read this, [...]

In the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Paul Hoynes notes that the Indians may approach Jake Westbrook about a new deal before opening day.
Westbrook is eligible for arbitration after next season.
During the Winter Meetings, writing to his blog for the Journal News, John Delcos wrote that Mets had talked with the Indians about Westbrook and RHP Cliff [...]