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.

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.

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.

In our latest installment of the continuing saga of Scott Scheoneweis, we see that the Cleveland Plain Dealer thinks the Indians might be calling:

Shapiro talked with agent Scott Boras on Wednesday night. Boras has outfielder J.D. Drew, who at one time was interested the Indians, but has since moved to a higher market.

“Scott has some relievers,” said Shapiro. “It's safe to say we talked to him about those relievers.”

Lefties Ron Villone and Scott Schoeneweis are Boras clients. The Indians could use one or two lefties.

The story goes on to mention that Schoeneweis had a 0.63 ERA in 16 appearances during the Reds' stretch run. Really? Then why the heck did Ryan Franklin pitch so much?

Everyone's favorite ex-Red, Sean Casey, has re-upped with Detroit for another year. Sez Marc:

All I'd been hearing the last couple weeks was there was no way Sean Casey would be back in Detroit next year. The Tigers wanted someone with more pop at first base (sound familiar?) and they seemed poised to look elsewhere. Maybe acquiring Gary Sheffield helped ease some of those production concerns, because Casey has agreed to a one-year deal with the Tigers.

The Tigers, as you'll recall, have some interest in Scott Schoeneweis. It would make for a lovely reunion of ex-Reds if the two had played together. As it is, I imagine the conversation going something like this:

Casey: Hi, Scott, nice to meet ya. Awesome to have you here. Welcome to the team.
Schoeneweis: Sup.
Casey: So you used to play for the Reds, too, huh? That's awesome. I used to play there, you know.
Schoeneweis: Yeah, I heard.
Casey: How'd you like it there? It was pretty awesome, right? Lots of nice people and cool places to hang out.
Schoeneweis: I guess so.
Casey: So--um--does--uh--my name ever come up in conversations in the ol' clubhouse?
Schoeneweis: Yeah. I mean, sure man.
Casey: What do people say?
Schoeneweis: They're all like, 'he's so nice' and everything.
Casey: (beaming) Wow, that's really awesome. I'm going to go find some underprivileged kids to inspire or something. Catch you later.
Schoeneweis: Awesome.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm looking forward to the 2007 season already.