@JoeStrauss: For those wondering: Cards may be realizing traction w/Beltran.

It’s no surprise when you consider the other options he had. The two main ones were the Colorado Rockies and the Toronto Blue Jays. Colorado just signed Michael Cuddyer to play in their outfield while Toronto won the Yu Darvish bidding and will look to sign him to a major deal. With them off the table all signs would point to St. Louis, especially at the suggested dollar figure.

@DKnobler: Rockies signing Cuddyer closes out one option for Beltran. Heard yesterday he has at least one offer for $10 mill per year.

And here’s Buster Olney’s tweet from a couple days ago.

@Buster_ESPN: STL is serious entity in the Carlos Beltran talks; he’s a fit, especially with questions about when Allen Craig will be back from surgery.

When you take all of this into consideration I really don’t see how he winds up in St. Louis. The question is how long will it take and what the final deal will look like.

Four American League contenders — the Rangers, Angels, Red Sox, and Blue Jays — have shown interest in free-agent left-hander Darren Oliver, a major-league source told FOXSports.com.

Oliver, 41, is coming off a season in which he posted a career-low 2.29 ERA in 61 relief appearances for the Texas Rangers.

Oliver pitched for the Red Sox (2002) and Angels (2007-2009) earlier in his career.

Oliver has reached the postseason in each of the last six years but is still looking for his first World Series ring. So, he is almost certain to sign with a team that has a realistic chance of winning it all in 2012. He lives with his family in the Dallas area, so a return to the Rangers would be easiest from a personal standpoint. (FOX Sports)

With all of these teams involved now his price tag has definitely gone up. In 2011 he made $3.25 million with the Rangers and could get more then that if a bidding war ensues.

Who would have ever thought that so many teams would be interested in a 41-year old? I guess when you’re a lefty and coming off the best season in years, possibly his career, I guess that will happen.

Free-agent catcher Jose Molina is close to signing a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Rays that includes an option for the 2013 season, major-league sources told FOXSports.com. A deal could be completed within the next several days. (Jon Paul Morosi – FOX Sports)

Personally, I think Molina would be a great addition to the Rays if they can seal the deal. He can give them about 50 so games a year and help in the development of a young pitching staff as he’s a great game caller. I’m sure he’ll be a great mentor on the bench with those guys as well.

He’ll never give them much at the plate no matter what anyone tells you. Yes, in 2011 he batted .281 but that was his second highest average of his career. His career average is a mere .241.

Molina will never be counted on to hit though, his purpose in Tampa will be to call a great game and help grow their young pitchers. Solid bench move for the Rays.

@KenDavidoff: The #Mets met with the representatives for free agent RHP Frank Francisco.

With so many big name closers on the market I’m surprised the Mets are talking to Francisco but then again I’m not. Remember they’re a team trying to cut payroll soon but yet trying to improve.

They’re rumored to be going after relievers like Francisco and Matt Capps, guys with proven track records as closers but won’t cost much. My guess general manager, Sandy Alderman tries to sign a couple guys. Let them battle for the closer spot in spring training with the other guys rounding out the pen.

Wouldn’t be a bad idea to build up depth with the rotation they’ve got.

This first comment was from two days ago, June 9th.

@ShiDavidi: Farrell: Rauch lat issue no problem. On using Janssen: “(Rauch) is our closer and we felt like a day off would have been more beneficial”

The next comment was from today, June 11th.

@Wilnerness590: Farrell:Looking for consistent location from Francisco in low-leverage situations, build his confidence, then gets to close.

So let’s see in a matter of two days, he’s said Rauch is his closer but that Francisco will get the role once his confidence is higher.

To me that sounds like a manager who has no clue what he wants to do. It sounds like me he is just talking out of both sides of his mouth there. Rauch is on one side, Francisco the other and Farrell is telling both what they want to hear.

Personally, I believe both pitchers better get used to this as the Jays are going to stay with the closer committee for the rest of the season. There are two reasons for that.

Farrell can’t make up his mind but more importantly neither pitcher is true closer material. Both are pitchers who can fill in when needed but they don’t have the “stuff” you’d want from an elite or even good closer. They both wind up with decent numbers at the end of the year but they’re both known for meltdowns, in my opinion they’re great setup men but nothing more.

With all of that you can expect the closer title to continue rotating between the two.

With all the injuries Scott has suffered throughout his career I’m sure he’s received plenty of love and care at home.

@LottOnBaseball: Morrow to start season on DL with right forearm inflammation.

It doesn’t sound like it’s too serious of an injury as Lott says it will be a short term stint.

@LottOnBaseball: Morrow’s DL stint will be backdated and he’s expected to miss only one start.

With it looking like only one start missed there shouldn’t be much cause for concern but I’d definitely watch this. Morrow had a huge innings jump in 2010. In the 2009 season he threw 69 innings over 26 appearances, in 2010 he threw 146 innings over 26 starts. That’s a 77 innings jump and with him being a major walks/strikeouts pitcher that was a lot of pitches.

There’s got to be some concern with any inflammation right now so the Blue Jays are most likely using some kid gloves on the youngster. If there’s any grimace or complaint of tenderness that DL stint could turn into two or three starts missed.

Hopefully it’s just one start thou, I think this kid’s got some major potential in his second season as a full-time starter.

Luckily for the Blue Jays it’s early in the season, not the middle.

Nope, they shouldn’t. According to Ken Fidlin of the Toronto Sun, Bautista has no interest in leaving the team.

“My desire is to play in Toronto long term but, after the hearing, or during the season, I have come to the conclusion that it’s probably not the best thing for me to be negotiating any type of deal,” he said. “I want to focus on the game and trying to win ballgames.”

“After the hearing, I believe we will notify the team that (a long-term deal) is not going to be a possibility, unless it’s in that window they have from the end of the season until the free agency period begins.”

This is great news for the fans as it truly sounds like Bautista doesn’t want to leave. He just doesn’t want the extension talks to turn into a distraction.

“If I’m in that type of negotiation, it’s going to shift my focus from what I need to worry about and that’s baseball. I don’t want my mind to be elsewhere when I come to the ballpark to help my team win.”

That’s great talk, something every fan wants to hear from their superstar BUT is it the normal rhetoric or does he mean it? That I’m not so sure of. Regardless of that thou, is it smart for him to cut off negotiations?

Over seven seasons, five full Bautista has hit 113 homers. The alarming thought is that almost half of them came in 2010 alone. Is this a player who finally came into his own at the age of 30? Or a one-year wonder?

That I don’t know. All I do know is that he back those numbers up or he’ll be leaving a lot of money on the table. Fidlin suggests an extension could be in the $40-50 million range, so yea that’s a LOT of money.

Rivera’s middle name ought to be “available.” The Angels finally dumped him by including him in the Wells trade. The Blue Jays took on Rivera’s $5.25 million salary as part of the price for moving Wells. But Rivera, a potential free agent, is not in the team’s long-range plans.

For now, Rivera projects to be a reserve if the Jays go with an outfield of Travis Snider, Rajai Davis and Jose Bautista, or a regular in one corner if Bautista plays third. It’s not likely the Jays will trade Rivera before the start of spring training; they may need to wait for teams to develop needs after the exhibition games begin.

I’m thinking this is more speculation then anything. Yes, Rivera isn’t a player the Blue Jays wanted but he could be a valuable asset in 2011. Yes, Juan could wind up a regular if Bautista is moved to third base but I like his value as a fourth outfielder.

Davis did well in the first extended action in his career but Snider has never played in more then 82 games. Outside of some power potential, Snider didn’t really bring much else to the table as he had a .250 range average and struck out 79 times in under 300 at bats.

Is Snider a guy you can really trust to play 140+ games? I’m not so sure about that. If he can’t handle the extended workload, Rivera would be the perfect fill-in.

I agree with Rosenthal that Rivera won’t be with the team for long and that he won’t be traded prior to Spring Training. But really, I don’t think he’ll even be traded during it, if he were to be moved I’m guessing it will be in July around the trade deadline. You know once injuries take their toll and a contender needs a solid outfield bat.