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Players in the News
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Darren Oliver
Oliver accepted the Angels' arbitration offer before ...Oliver accepted the Angels' arbitration offer before the Sunday night deadline.

Fantasy Spin: Of the 24 free agents offered arbitration, only Oliver and David Weathers accepted. This means Oliver will be back on a one-year deal with the Halos, despite receiving some interest on the free agent market.

News:
Laird has officially been dealt to the Tigers for pitching prospects Guillermo Moscoso and Carlos Melo, according to MLB.com.

Spin: After trading away Ivan Rodriguez and announcing that Brandon Inge would play third base, it was pretty clear that the Tigers were going to acquire a catcher this offseason. By trading for Laird, they've also decided that they're not comfortable with opening the season with Dusty Ryan as their starting catcher. Laird will get hurt by the change in ballparks, but in he gets some job security.

News:
Reds GM Walt Jocketty vehemently denied a Dayton Daily News report that a deal to send Dye to the Reds for Homer Bailey and others had been struck, the Reds' official site reports.

Spin: It's no secret that Dye has been the subject of trade talks, and that the Reds at least at one point were involved, but apparently those talks haven't been recent. "Wrong. It's not even close," Jocketty said. "We haven't had any discussions with the White Sox since before Thanksgiving."

News:
Weathers accepted the Reds' arbitration offer before Sunday's deadline, the Reds' official site reports.

Spin: This means he'll be back for one more season with the team, presumably at a rate higher than the $2.75 million he made with them in 2008.

The Mets are desperate to move Castillo to create a spot for Orlando Hudson, according to Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.

Fantasy Spin: The only way to do it would be to exchange Castillo's contract for another of similar value, which is a difficult task. When the Mets asked the Rangers about a Castillo-for-Vicente Padilla ? a swap that would require the Rangers to move Ian Kinsler to left field ? they were told, "No thank you." The Mets will either need to take on someone with an equally bad contract or eat a lot of cash to move Castillo, which will be a more likely occurrence.

Francisco Rodriguez
Mets GM Omar Minaya is expected to ...Mets GM Omar Minaya is expected to meet face-to-face with Rodriguez, Brian Fuentes and Trevor Hoffman, as well as possibly Kerry Wood or his agents, during the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, the NY Daily News' Mets blog reports.

Fantasy Spin: Minaya may make offers to several or all of the players, similar to what he did several years when looking for a catcher, with the first person to accept the offer to get the job as the closer. K-Rod is expected to demand the highest salary, with the Mets unlikely to go the five years, $75 million he originally wanted. Jon Heyman of the SI.com is reporting that Mets management has been internally discussing a three-year contract, and might include a fourth-year vesting option to Rodriguez.