The Boston Globe reports that if the financial picture in Tampa Bay clouds up, the Rays may be forced to trim their payroll. In order to do so, they'd likely to have get rid of either Carl Crawford or Carlos Pena by July's trade deadline.

The Mets have a deal to acquire Gary Matthews Jr. from the Los Angeles Angels according to an American League source. Matthews has two years and $23 million remaining on his contract and the Angels will be paying the vast portion of that money. Matthews also gets $500,000 for being traded. It is not yet known what the Angels will receive in return.

Dan Uggla will be with the Marlins in 2010, at least on Opening Day. "He is a Marlin and will be a Marlin this season," Samson said Wedneday on 790 The Ticket. Asked by host Dan LeBatard whether Uggla would be the Opening Day second baseman, Samson replied: "Yes. The fact of the matter is he is a Marlin. I never actually went to bed one night this offseason thinking he was not going to be a Marlin." The Marlins had trade discussions with several teams about Uggla in December.

The Marlins still hope to trade Dan Uggla, according to a Miami Herald source. Florida continues to ask for a substantial return and won't give him away.

While on his honeymoon in Hawaii, Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos said he was still keeping in touch with a handful of other GMs. "I probably talked to six GMs while I was there," he said. AA added that he was working on three separate trades, but they just didn't come to fruition."

According to sources, the most competitive offers for Roy Halladay initially came from clubs he was ultimately unwilling to go to; the White Sox, Cubs and Dodgers. Heading to the meetings, GM Alex Anthopoulos had not asked for a list of teams to which his ace would accept a trade. He could then honestly approach everyone and find out what they had to offer without feeling he was leading them on. Here is a list of some of the real offers against which the Phillies were ultimately competing, according to sources. The Angels offered lefty Joe Saunders and catcher Mike Napoli. The Yankees offered catcher Jesus Montero in a straight-up scenario. The Red Sox were now not even willing to make a one-for-one with Clay Buchholz. They were saving their financial bullets for one stud hitter, John Lackey, and/or Aroldis Chapman.

A month ago Derek Lowe expected to be traded by the Braves, but he's now putting rumors in the past and focusing on staying in Atlanta. The Braves tried to trade Lowe, but no team was interested in taking on his contract without Atlanta picking up a large portion of the money owed. Atlanta dealt Javier Vazquez to New York for center fielder Melky Cabrera, a move that appears to have solidified Lowe's place in the rotation. "Absolutely not," Lowe said when asked by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution if he'd enter Spring Training with a chip on his shoulder. "When you're a year into a four-year deal -- obviously when you're going through the free-agent process you pick a place you want to go, you do all that homework, you get there, find a place," he said. "That was the frustrating part, you find a place you like, [but] Atlanta gives no no-trade clauses. ... That had everything to do with [his comments last month]. It was nothing with not liking Atlanta. Look at it any way you want, but it was just that I wanted to stay."

The Pirates are expected to have top prospect Pedro Alvarez play third base for Class AAA Indianapolis early next season, which would leave another former first-round pick without a position. Neil Walker has a background as a catcher, but has enough athleticism to try the outfield or second base, according to the Post-Gazette. A trade seems highly likely, but management sounds reluctant to trade Walker until he has an offensive breakout.

Cleveland has traded left-hander Zach Johnson to Toronto for a player to be named later. Jackson was one of the four players the Indians received from Milwaukee in the CC Sabathia trade in 2008. He went 4-8 with a 6.05 ERA in 30 appearances at Columbus in 2009.

A baseball source told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel recently that it is looking more and more likely that Dan Uggla will remain with the Marlins. Uggla, who is arbitration-eligible, is expected to take a huge chunk out of Florida's expected payroll of $40 million. If Uggla stays it could mean that the Marlins will begin taking calls for Jorge Cantu, who as a fifth-year, arbitration-eligible player also is due a huge raise.