Maikel Franco, who has been a sensation for the otherwise struggling Philadelphia Phillies, nearly signed with the New York Yankees as an international free agent.

According to one report, Franco signed with the Phillies because they offered him $5,000 more than the Yankees.

Franco confirmed Wednesday that he nearly signed with New York in January of 2010, when he was a free agent prospect out of the Dominican Republic.

The Yankees offered a $95,000 signing bonus while the Phillies offered $100,000. Franco also said he spent two or three weeks at the Yankees complex in Santo Domingo before making his decision.

"It's tough. I know I was almost close to coming here and almost close to signing to the Yankees," he said.

Ryne Sandberg is aware of Chase Utley's vesting option for 2016, but says the contract issue won't dictate who he puts in the lineup.

Utley, 37, has a $15 million option for next season that vests if he reaches 500 plate appearances this season.

He entered Monday's action with 244 plate appearances, nearly halfway to the mark. The Phillies have played 72 games.

The Seattle Mariners have released Rickie Weeks, who was designated for assignment last week.

Weeks, 32, signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Mariners in the offseason to serve as Robinson Cano's backup and a utility man.

The Kansas City Royals are expected to talk with Salvador Perez about a renegotiation or extension either later this season or in the coming winter.

Perez recently told Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports that he's open to a new contract.

"Kansas City people have even been heard to express sympathy for Perez over his inexplicably low contract," writes Jon Heyman.

Folks around Major League Baseball fully expect the Chicago Cubs to sign a big-name free agent pitcher this coming winter.

David Price and Jordan Zimmermann appear to be the leading candidates at this point.

Price has a longtime connection to Joe Maddon stemming from their many years together with the Tampa Bay Rays.

The New York Mets may be in the market for a bat, but there should also be some focus on adding a late-inning reliever.

"Closer Jeurys Familia has been a savior for Terry Collins, but the dominance stops there. In a world where the Kansas City Royals turned an unremarkable team into American League champs last year because of a shutdown pen, the Mets realize that they need to seek improvements," writes Andy Martino.

New York's internal options may not be reliable for a number of reasons -- injury, inexperience of ineffectiveness.

The Miami Marlins have had internal discussions about re-signing Ichiro Suzuki for the 2016 season.

Dan Jennings called the 41-year-old the "most prepared player" he's been around and a good example for Miami's young players.

Ichiro has hit well enough this season to remain a fourth outfielder. He's hitting .289/.342/.338 in 155 plate appearances.

The Milwaukee Brewers have claimed Matt Dominguez off waivers from the Houston Astros.

The Astros designated Dominguez for assignment last week in order to clear space on the 40-man roster for top prospect Carlos Correa.

Dominguez, who has spent parts of the past four seasons in the Majors, is still just 25 years of age.

The Houston Astros have needed to add a starting pitcher for some time, but Collin McHugh's struggles have made that need more immediate.

"Not an average starting pitcher, because they have those. Tier one or tier two needs to be the mission if this team has visions of doing more than showing up in the playoffs and being my-gosh glad they made it to October earlier than the prognosticators pegged," writes Evan Drellich.

The trade market for starters is beginning to take shape now that the amateur draft is over.

"Now people start to look at that, but there's still so much ambiguity as far as who's in and who's out (of contention)," general manager Jeff Luhnow said. "Some of that needs to settle. We've been preparing all season, but I think it'll intensify over the coming weeks."

The Minnesota Twins won't shy away from upgrading their roster this summer despite swinging and missing last season.

They signed Kendrys Morales, who was tied to draft-pick compensation, after last June's First-Year Player Draft and ended up paying him about $7.5 million. Morales was awful, hitting .234/.259/.325 without providing value in the field. They eventually dumped him in a trade with the Seattle Mariners.

"I would do it again if I had an opportunity," Terry Ryan said. "It just didn't work."

"We'll see. We're all in the phase here -- We're doing pretty good and we certainly have to have our eyes open," Ryan said, when asked if he'd pull the trigger on another move this year aimed at improving his club's chances. "We're in contention, there's no secret here. We have an opportunity to do some things and hopefully we'll be able to."

Minnesota should get Ervin Santana back from suspension in July. They entered action on Friday seven games over .500 and two games back in the American League Central.