The Daily Hot Stove

Here is a look at the action around the MLB...

- As reported earlier the Brewers have signed Hoffman to will earn him 6MM in '09 with $1.5MM in incentives, plus the 2010 club option.

- John Smoltz has preliminary agreement with the Sox. No word on how much.

- Since the Sox got Smoltz the Braves are really going hard have Derek Lowe. the Braves have lost in almost every offseason move they wanted to do, so expect them to just give Lowe what he wants. Derek Lowe is scheduled to meet with the Braves today in Atlanta.

- Andy Pettitte is now looking to the Astros after turning down a deal with the Yankees this week.

- We all know the Sox are about to sign Baldelli, but what you may not know is that his "disease" is not as serious as it was believe to be. "a few weeks ago, a report surfaced that new medical tests revealed that Baldelli in fact has channelopathy, a non-progressive, highly treatable disease". That is much better news then teams just accepting that he can't play more then 60-80 games a year. We shall see....

- The Rangers are taking a look at Joe Crede, as they would like to upgrade there defense, which is why Crede is more appealing then Ty Wiggington. Crede is great when healthy, but that happens rarely.

- The Orioles and Brian Roberts have moved no closer to a contract extension, which makes it more likely that the Orioles will look to trade him.

- The Orioles are keeping an eye on Greg Zaun, but they are not willing to give him the 2 year deal that he wants.

- Bobby Abreu seems to be the odd man out, as most teams that were looking at him (Cubs, Rays and Athletics) have all decided to look elsewhere. I still think he can bring a lot to a team, and some team will probably be able to steal him for a lot less then he is worth.

-BMack