Giants express they want Bonds back next season

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The San Francisco Giants want Barry Bonds back. It's unclear whether the Boston Red Sox feel the same about Manny Ramirez.

Baseball's winter meetings opened Monday with a whole lot of talk and little action. On the free-agent front, San Francisco finalized deals with Rich Aurilia and Pedro Feliz, and Seattle completed an agreement with Jose Guillen.

Some other contracts were nearing agreement. Joe Borowski, whose physical caused Philadelphia to back away last week, was closing in on a deal with Cleveland, and David Weathers was nearing a contract with Cincinnati. But the remaining big names on the market were still in the preliminary phases of talks.

Barry Zito's agent was scheduled to meet with the New York Mets -- chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon arrived Monday evening. Agents for Jason Schmidt and Ted Lilly also were due at the meetings, with multiple teams interested.

Zito's old team, the Oakland Athletics, was interested in Mike Piazza, who would replace Frank Thomas as their designated hitter.

With the meetings just under way, the price of pitching has scared many teams off from even midlevel talent.

"It's like I tell my wife when she goes shopping: Just because you have the money doesn't mean you have to spend it all," Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty said.

The winter meetings are a time when teams inquire about nearly every player in the game. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, who repeatedly has said he won't trade Alex Rodriguez, said teams still keep inquiring about A-Rod's availability.

"I still get some stragglers," he said.

Monday's most significant development might have occurred when Giants general manager Brian Sabean said he is exchanging offers with Bonds' agent, Jeff Borris. Sabean was scheduled to meet with Borris on Monday night.

"I don't know where the story line came from that we didn't want him back," Sabean said "We've had a long-standing conversation and offer out there that we've adjusted a number of times. Because we were pursuing other players didn't mean we weren't interested in Barry. We're trying to put the best team on the field and sign other people also. I guess it was misconstrued the other way."

Borris was angry when the Giants didn't offer arbitration Friday to the seven-time NL MVP, coming off a $90 million, five-year contract. The 42-year-old outfielder has 734 homers, 21 shy of Hank Aaron's record.

"We need a presence, a fourth hitter," Sabean said. "Obviously, he can still play baseball. He can still hit a baseball and is a threat in the middle of the lineup."

San Francisco did agree to an $8 million, two-year contract with first baseman Rich Aurilia and a $5.1 million, one-year deal with third baseman Pedro Feliz. The Giants also are nearing agreement on a three-year deal with catcher Bengie Molina. Second baseman Ray Durham agreed to a two-year, $14.5 million contract last Friday, and 11-time Gold Glove shortstop Omar Vizquel is signed through the 2007 season.

"It's a good infield," new manager Bruce Bochy said. "These guys have played together. They know each other. It's nice getting both Pedro and Ray back."

Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein wouldn't mention Ramirez by name, instead discussing the trade market for an "elite position player," which later morphed into "E.P.P."

"We're not going to trade elite position players without getting fair value," he said. "We've proven that in the past when we've walked away from deals for the player."

Epstein did set a soft deadline for Wednesday before turning his attention to other things.

"It's not going to take up much of the team's time (after that). We'll only be listeners," he said. "You can't spend all your time on elite position players."

Zito met last week with the Texas Rangers, and the Chicago Cubs also are thought to be interested. The Mets have scheduled a session with Zito's agent, Scott Boras.

"Scott will tell us about his player and how great his player is. That's his job. I have a lot of respect for Scott. He is good at what he does," Mets general manager Omar Minaya said. "I just can't worry about what other teams are doing. I know who we like and what we feel value is, and that's all we can do."

While the Mets would like to have Zito, they haven't been involved in Boston's latest efforts to unload Ramirez, owed $38 million over the final two seasons of his contract.

"I've been down that road," Minaya said. "We're very happy with Moises Alou in left field."

Guillen's contract was the first formal signing of the meetings, and it includes a $9 million mutual option for 2008. The outfielder missed much of last season following reconstructive surgery on his right elbow.

"I'm just looking forward to this opportunity to try to get back on board and have the success that I've had before," he said.