MLBeat

Our hero still stands accused of brandishing a machete on some of the workers on his farm and threatening to light them on fire. Jerry Crasnick lays out a grisly scene at the jail in Venezuela where once and future ace reliever Ugueth Urbina awaits his still-uncertain fate.

Urbina is a free agent, though "free" may have to be amended somewhat in the near future. The article linked above is Insider-only, but here's your quote of the week, courtesy of his agent, Peter Greenberg:

Ugie has asked me, 'What's the interest?' I've told him, 'We're going to keep pushing every angle, but you have to understand we're kind of handcuffed right now.'

Yeah, kind of.

The hot topic this winter? Once the dust clears in the Boston and Los Angeles GM offices, it will be the anticipation of a grand World Cup sort of experience for baseball. The concept has been discussed in back rooms and purely speculative articles for many years, with dreamy-sounding lineups bandied about for the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and many others, and it's no secret that MLB would like to become as marketable abroad as humanly possible. Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes is clearly on board, having referred to the World Baseball Classic as "the most important international event in baseball's history." Call it that enough times, the thinking goes, and it will be so.

But as nice as the idea sounds -- and you can count me as one of its supporters for many years -- the folks in charge have been rather skimpy on the details, which is rather scary when you consider that the "folks in charge" are basically just Bud Selig. And now that the offseason GM meetings have commenced, we get this story. The unidentified AP writer paid enough attention to come up with the proper lede:

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- Mike Piazza be eligible to catch for Italy in the inaugural World Baseball Classic next year under eligibility rules being discussed by the commissioner's office and the players' association.

Piazza, by the way, was born in Norristown, Pa. The article points out that the usual determining factors for eligibility, including country of origin and passport status, wouldn't apply to Piazza here, presumably as much as does the presence of a 'zz' in his surname. He's about as Italian as a box of Domino's Cheesy Bread.

It's worth pointing out that the eligibility guidelines mentioned in the article are not definite yet, only being discussed and floated out here for bloggers and columnists to kick up a fuss over. It's also worth pointing out that, at this point in his career, Piazza probably wouldn't even be the starting catcher for Team USA: Jason Kendall, Jason Varitek, Joe Mauer, and Mike Lieberthal would all probably come first, as would Paul Lo Duca if the committee can get past his last name too (he was born in Brooklyn). It has been previously established that American citizens of, say, Dominican origin can decide for themselves whether they want to suit up for Team USA or Team Motherland.

So for a major international tournament that kicks off in four months, remarkably little has been decided. Most star players have not yet committed to one country or another -- or to participating at all -- and may well subject themselves to criticism no matter what they decide (I don't envy A-Rod, for one, if he dominates on behalf of the Dominican Republic and then faces a backlash for choosing against the U.S., where he has lived all his life.) The World Baseball Classic still has the chance to be an exciting spectacle that sparks untapped passion in baseball fans here and overseas, but we need to be prepared for it to suck in 2006. I don't mean to rain on Indian Wells, but anything better would be a pleasant surprise right now.

The free agent market is thin this winter, unless you're counting general managers. This means the few available star players have the market all to themselves, and what with all the soon-to-be-new GMs in place, plenty of teams will likely be antsy to land a big name and try to win now. So we're looking at some serious payday action for Rafael Furcal, Johnny Damon, Paul Konerko, and A.J. Burnett.

Of critical importance for a free agent is the ability to snag that extra couple million dollars. I direct you to Exhibit A, from yesterday's NY Daily News: "Furcal Could Play 2nd for Mets."

Right away the headline gives you a clue. "Furcal Could Play 2nd" is not a late-breaking development, nor is it apropos of anything really. At no point in the article do the Mets express interest in signing Furcal. The only person talking is Paul Kinzer, Furcal's agent. He says of the Mets, "I think they'll be a player."

Transparent enough. The more bidders we have, the higher Furcal's price tag goes. But one practical question leaps forward: If the Mets did sign Furcal, why would they move him to second base and negate one of his strengths, his Howitzer for an arm? Why not move Jose Reyes to second and keep Furcal at short?

That question, it turns out, is the keyhole through which we can catch a glimpse of the gears turning here. The answer, of course, is the Mets wouldn't move Furcal to second. In fact, they probably won't even sign him, not when they have bigger holes elsewhere on the depth chart, two established middle infielders (Kazuo Matsui not being established quite the way he wants to be, admittedly), and a hot prospect named Anderson Hernandez on the rise to boot. When Paul Kinzer leaks the information that Furcal is willing to play second base in New York, the Mets aren't really listening.

But the Yankees are. Furcal would make a sweet upgrade over Robinson Cano at second, and Cano would make decent trade bait for the starting pitcher the Yankees so sorely need. Of course, New York may not be the ultimate destination in mind for Furcal and Pinzer. All they want is for newly-extended GM Brian Cashman to put in a bid for Furcal, at which point the bar suddenly goes up a couple rungs, Furcal ends up driving a new Porsche with a built-in Breathalyzer, and everyone wins.