We start our off-season Hot Stove talk with a look at the week's latest headlines...

WHITE SOX DANGLIG DYE
Lance McAlister of 1530 Homer the Sports Animal discussed some trade rumors on his Tuesday involving the Reds and White Sox. McAlister's source says the White Sox initiated talks to send Jermaine Dye to the Reds for Homer Bailey and another player.  Ken Rosenthal says Dye's no-trade clause mostly covers teams in the northeast.  Perhaps the Sox can trade him to the Reds without his consent.  Ken Williams and Walt Jocketty matched up in July on the Ken Griffey Jr. trade.  It's known that Jocketty prefers trades to free agency.

ANGELS MAKING PITCH TO SABATHIA
The L.A. Times reports that the Angels have begun contract discussions with C.C. Sabathia. The authors believe the Halos could make an offer in the range of Johan Santana's six-year, $137.5MM deal. If the Angels do make such an offer, you have to imagine the Yankees will respond by upping their bid significantly. Despite the talks for Sabathia, Mark Teixeira remains the Angels' top priority.  They haven't made an offer yet, but Scott Boras seems to want ten years while the Angels are willing to do seven.

FURCAL DRAWING PLENTY OF INTEREST
Despite his durability concerns, free-agent shortstop Rafael Furcal is one of the hottest names on the market. His return to the Dodgers seems unlikely and the A's appear to be the front-runners after rumors of a 4-year, $48 million offer, however their his a third "surprise team" that is believed to me in the mix.  Furcal is not only a stellar defensive option at shortstop, but when healthy he is one of the best leadoff men and baserunners in the game.  The Giants apparently are out of the running for his services. WFAN in New York reports that they have agreed to terms with Edgar Renteria on a two-year, $18 million contract. Renteria became a free agent when the Tigers declined his $12 million option for 2009 and reportedly will now replace Omar Vizquel in San Francisco. 

GRIFFEY'S AGENT SAYS ALL TALK, NO ACTION
John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports on his blog that Brian Goldberg, Ken Griffey Jr.s' agent, said he's been in contact with nine teams -- six AL teams, three NL teams. Nothing is close. Goldberg's theory is things will pick after Dec. 1. That's when club must offer arbitration to their free agents. Players have until Dec. 7 to accept. If a player refuses, a club gets compensation for him if he's A or B. The former Reds' outfielder doesn't appear set to retire.

CUBS OUT OF THE MIX FOR PEAVY
After resigning Ryan Dempster last week Cubs' manager Lou Piniella believes that the Cubs' pitching is set. When asked if the Cubs still might be pursuing starting pitching, such as the Padres' Jake Peavy or free agent Randy Johnson, even after the Ryan Dempster signing Pinellas told the Chicago Sun Times, ''No. Starting we don't need. We're set. We've got six good starters [including Sean Marshall], and they're all experienced. Getting Dempster back was the key. We're in good shape with our starting pitching. Bullpen-wise, [we're looking for] possibly one more experienced pitcher. We've got a lot of young kids out there.''

METS LOOKING TO BOLSTER BULLPEN
Mets' GM Omar Minaya today began reaching out to the agents for free-agent closers Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes, according to SI.com. The Mets are intent on landing an elite closer after their bullpen was the main culprit in their second straight September disappointment. It is believed Rodriguez is favored slightly over Fuentes, but they consider either pitcher an excellent candidate to take injured closer Billy Wagner's spot.

There is some reason for hope that Rams' RB Steven Jackson may be able to make it back for Week 13's action. The Rams are reeling right now and could really use a spark.  Jackson (thigh) was able to run during workouts on Saturday and Monday, and Haslett was optimistic that he would able to participate in practice on Wednesday.

“I’m optimistic, but I’m not really sure what that means because we’ve said that for the last three or four weeks, but he did look good Saturday and today running,’’ Haslett told the Belleview News Democrat.

Jackson has had a disappointing season after missing most of the preseason in a contract holdout. He has only carried the ball seven times since Week 7's blowup against the Cowboys and has just 4 TD's in seven games this season.

He clearly has the talent to be an elite runner, but the past two seasons have shown durability is a defiinite concern. Look for Antonio Pittman to continue to get the start if Jackson continues to miss time. Stay tuned to see how he fares in practice throughout the week. 

As I like to do on every Tuesday, let's take a look back to see who was targeted the most in Week 12...

With Turkey Day just a couple of days away, you have to check out this hilarious take from HolyTaco.com:

Thanksgiving is one of our greatest holidays. We eat until we feel like we're going to die and then we lay around and watch football.  But you're also forced to see family members that can turn all the gluttony into a big downer. Here are the seven worst. 

7. THE RELIGIOUS RELATIVE
­­It's fine if you love Jesus.  No one is saying you can't. But you have to understand that for the rest of us, Thanksgiving is the only Holiday we get where we don't have to hear about the man upstairs. Therefore, I don't give a shit that the shape of my mashed potatoes reminded you of a passage from Corinthians, I just want you to pass the salt.

6. THE PERSON WITH THE SECRET EVERYONE ALREADY KNOWS
--You'll know this person is coming to your thanksgiving about three and a half minutes before they get there, because you're mother will pull you aside and say, "Ben is coming.  Now, he's gay, but he hasn't come out to the family yet, so don't say anything about gay things.  Everyone, did you hear that?  Ben is coming and he's gay, but he hasn't come out yet!"

5. THE FANTASY FOOTBALL GUY
--Football on Thanksgiving is a tradition, but your fantasy team is not. So when the entire room wants to change the channel because the Lions are losing by 42 points with six minutes left, it's super annoying when you respond with, "Wait, wait, I just have to see if Calvin Johnson gets fourteen more receiving yards."  To make matters worse, this person insists on telling you the score to their fantasy game, and the picks they made early in the season that have or have not panned out.

4. THE NEW BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND THAT WON'T LAST
--This person brought their boyfriend that they met three weeks ago when they were shit-faced drunk and letting people take body shots off their titties.  Now everyone has to pretend like she and he are in a serious relationship, even though when he tells someone he's originally from Tuscon his "girlfriend" responds with "really, I thought you were from Fresno...Huh."

3. THE OVERLY POLITICAL RELATIVE
--You haven’t read the latest book by Ron Paul, and you have no idea what the trade deficit is, but that’s not going to stop the political freak from constantly quoting Ron Paul’s latest book about the trade deficit whenever there’s a two-second lull in the conversation.

2. THE SUPER OLD GRANDPARENT
--We should all have some respect for our elders, but trying to have a conversation with your 96-year-old great grandmother is like talking to a junkie who just shot up. There’s a lot of mumbling and nodding off and when there is some conversation, it’s mostly just a series of repetitive stories from your childhood.

1. THE RECOVERING ALCOHOLIC
--We get it. You don’t drink anymore. But we don’t need updates every five minutes that you “haven’t touched the stuff in six years, 48 days and 15 hours.” And you know what? I’m not an alcoholic. Just because one sip of booze would turn you into a raging alcohol monster who would drain the liquor cabinet and then start chugging Aqua Velva doesn’t mean the rest of the world can’t have a glass of wine.

COMPLETE ARTICLE