Cabrera's status a hot topic at meetings  —  LIKE THIS STORY?  —  ORLANDO, Fla. - The Marlins are almost certain to trade third baseman Miguel Cabrera.  The question is where.  —  The Cabrera talks intensified at the general managers' meetings on Wednesday, with the Angels emerging as a particularly intriguing possibility.

Twins seem willing to part with pitching  —  The team has plenty of good, young arms, so teams such as the Padres and Devil Rays might deal talented hitters.  —  ORLANDO - The San Diego Padres are one of several teams that have expressed interest in the Twins' young starting pitchers this week at the general managers meetings.

Sox make 'really strong' offer to Lowell … ORLANDO — While they are not sending out any take-it-or-leave-it signals to his camp, the Red Sox [team stats] made a three-year guaranteed offer to third baseman Mike Lowell, that one club source described yesterday as "really strong."

Torre to recall Yankees years in new memoir  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Joe Torre, named last week as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers after ending a 12-year reign with the New York Yankees, is working on a memoir.  —  The book, currently untitled, will be co-authored by Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci …

11 free agents in Mitchell report  —  ORLANDO—Player agents who attended yesterday's union meeting in New York were told that 11 current free agent players are named in the George Mitchell report on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, which could come out sometime around …

Lidge Is Here, Romero Is Near  —  The Phillies bolstered their rotation and bullpen yesterday when they acquired Brad Lidge from the Houston Astros for Michael Bourn, Geoff Geary and Mike Costanzo.  —  The move makes Lidge the Phillies' closer next season.  It also returns Brett Myers to the rotation.

Rockies make it clear: Atkins is their man  —  ORLANDO, Fla. — So much for the curiosity about who's on third for the Rockies.  —  General manager Dan O'Dowd, admitting there have been inquiries from other teams about third baseman Garrett Atkins, said Wednesday he has declined to get involved in trade discussions.

O Captain!  My Captain!  Rise up and Hear the Bells  —  Dave Pinto over at Baseball Musings just posted his Probabilistic Model of Range for Shortstops in the 2007 season.  This year Dave worked out the models both by team and by individual.  I've listed his findings below.

Posada and Rivera at Top of Yanks' List  —  The Yankees are preparing new offers to their top free agents, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera, in an effort to sign them before other teams can negotiate with them.  —  "The offers are going to be very generous offers," the senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner …

Baseball Coaches to Wear Head Protection  —  ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — General managers decided Thursday that first- and third-base coaches will wear some sort of head protection during games next season, an action taken four months after Mike Coolbaugh was killed when he was struck in the neck by a line drive.

Starting pitcher, catcher among the Mets' needs  —  The Mets are coming off the worst collapse in regular-season history — they blew a seven-game lead with 17 games to play — so it's safe to say, there isn't much joy in Flushing this offseason.  —  The Mets have the biggest payroll …

A's take next step with new ballpark  —  Organization submits formal development proposal to Fremont  —  OAKLAND — The new ballpark for the A's in nearby Fremont, Calif., went from concept to formal proposal Thursday morning, when the team submitted a development application to the City …

Kinsler deal a priority for Texas Rangers  —  Club looking to sign second baseman to a five-year deal  —  egrant@dallasnews.com  —  ORLANDO - The Texas Rangers are making a renewed effort to lock up second baseman Ian Kinsler to a contract that would keep him with the club through at least 2012.