Bleed Cubbie Blue links to a story in the New York Daily News that says the Cubs have been pursuing Jason Marquis.

In related news, I expect the Cubs to come sniffing around after Ryan Franklin any day now.

Pat at WHYGAS? has taken several clips from an interview with Pirates General Manager Dave Littlefield and translated them into words you can understand.

This is so totally something RHM would have done in the days of O'Brien. However, my version would have been a little application where you entered actual words and got back the same words with stuff like “unavoidably” and “incongruously” stuck in the middle and “status quo” tacked on the end.

I guess in the Wayne Krivsky version you would type in regular words and get nothing back. Or perhaps an impressive moustache.

According to the Boston Herald, the Reds are interested in Alex Gonzalez:

There have been rumblings that the White Sox or Reds are gaining ground on landing free agent shortstop Alex Gonzalez with a three-year deal worth about $5 million a season.

The Red Sox are not believed to be interested in anything other than a one-year deal for Gonzalez. Asked about the reports, Epstein said, “We don’t comment on free agent talks.”

The White Sox are not high on legally troubled shortstop Juan Uribe, while the Reds could use Gonzalez at short and move Brandon Phillips to second. . . .

The Red Sox remain interested in free agent shortstop Julio Lugo, but there does not appear to be any urgency in signing him. They also have inquired about free agent outfielder Gary Matthews Jr.

I'm not sure that Phillips playing second would exactly be a “move” there, but whatever.

Joliet Jake at Bucco Blog put up some thoughts yesterday about the influence of Asian markets on the economics of American baseball in the post Baseball in the Red?

I'm not exactly sure whether Jake thinks we should be worried about the influence, or whether it was just an excuse to tell everyone that he drives a Cadillac. It's hard to think that anything that will bring baseball to more people is bad. On the other hand, MLB is a monopoly in the US and the sport might be better served with some actual international competition.

Something to think about while you wait for Kriv-dawg to do something.

The Baltimore Sun says that if the Orioles aren't able to bolster their offense through the free-agent market, they might come sniffing around Adam Dunn:

If the Orioles are unable to get a bat through free agency, they could also explore one in a trade. The Seattle Mariners' Richie Sexson and the Cincinnati Reds' Adam Dunn are among the players who might be available at the right price. The problem for the Orioles is that both teams would probably want Erik Bedard in return, and he is considered the most untouchable player in the organization.

I'm all for Kriv-dawg getting a player that a team really, really doesn't want to give up, but that probably wouldn't happen. I wouldn't even mind him compromising: a few players a team just sort of didn't want to give up. Just so long as he doesn't deal for middle relievers and Royce Clayton again.