Guillen-Cabrera reunion a possibility  —  LIKE THIS STORY?  —  The White Sox will be outbid for Miguel Cabrera if a prospect-rich team such as the Angels or Dodgers is willing to meet the Marlins' price.  —  Still, the Sox are in the mix for Cabrera, according to major-league sources, with the intent of playing him in left field.

Star slugger Fukudome declares free agency  —  NAGOYA, Japan (AP) — Chunichi Dragons outfielder Kosuke Fukudome declared for free agency Monday, opening the way for a possible move to the major leagues.  —  "I'd like to see what kind of interest I get," he said.  "We'll see where this goes."

PAVANO ERROR NEARING END  —  The four-year, $39.95 million contract the Yankees gave Carl Pavano was a turkey.  Fittingly, he probably will be an ex-Yankee by Thanksgiving.  —  There is a strong likelihood the Yanks will release Pavano before Nov. 20 so that they can use his 40-man roster spot for a player valuable to their future.

TV's King: Kent returning to Hollywood  —  Talk show host says infielder excited to play for Torre  —  One of the Dodgers' biggest offseason questions revolves around the future of incumbent second baseman Jeff Kent, who hasn't publicly said whether he would be back in 2008 at age 40 …

Posada Likely to Return to Yankees  —  Jorge Posada acknowledged last night that he was likely to return to the Yankees next season.  —  Standing on the court of Madison Square Garden during the halftime break of the Knicks' game against the Miami Heat, Posada, the Yankees catcher, said he was "really close" to signing a new contract.

We hear:  —  That Red Sox [team stats] Golden Glover Kevin Youkilis [stats] will shave off his goatee tomorrow night to raise some dough for his Hits For Kids charity.  Yooooouk will take it all off for a $5,000 donation from Gillette at the Cask 'n Flagon at 5 p.m.

In the projection room  —  Stat book gives '08 sneak preview  —  Jacoby Ellsbury is projected to bat .320 and steal 42 bases next season, according to the Bill James Handbook 2008, the kind of numbers that would make Ellsbury a strong candidate to be the American League's Rookie of the Year.

No gold mine in free agency has GMs wary  —  Talent burns like rocket fuel in sports, leaving the most challenging aspect improving a product or maintaining it.  A credit card used to be the solution, recruiting new players with promises of riches and great school systems.

Rangers should just go west, young men, go way, way, way West  —  A former Rangers executive once shook his head at the idea of looking to the West for free-agent help.  —  How far west?  So far west, actually, it was almost east.  —  "I doubt it," the front office man said.

Probabilistic Model of Range, Centerfielders, 2007  —  Here are the team rankings for centerfielders:  —  Team Centerfielder PMR, 2007, Visit Smooth Distance Model, 2007 data only  —  Team In Play Actual Outs Predicted Outs DER Predicted DER Ratio  —  Mariners  —  4535  —  452  —  423.84

Guaranteed to have the angst of your life  —  As a literature professor at Hofstra with a PhD from Yale, Dana Brand has spent his career studying the great authors who have shaped American thought and culture.  Now he has taken on a much deeper, thornier topic:  —  Why on Earth would anyone be a Mets fan?

THE HAREN NOW  —  A'S STARTER WOULD BOLSTER AMAZIN'S  —  IF the Mets really wanted to make a splash and a statement in this city they would turn around and sign Alex Rodriguez, put him at shortstop and then use Jose Reyes in a trade to acquire the Twins' Johan Santana.