We start our off-season Hot Stove talk with a look at the week's latest headlines...

WHITE SOX DANGLIG DYE
Lance McAlister of 1530 Homer the Sports Animal discussed some trade rumors on his Tuesday involving the Reds and White Sox. McAlister's source says the White Sox initiated talks to send Jermaine Dye to the Reds for Homer Bailey and another player.  Ken Rosenthal says Dye's no-trade clause mostly covers teams in the northeast.  Perhaps the Sox can trade him to the Reds without his consent.  Ken Williams and Walt Jocketty matched up in July on the Ken Griffey Jr. trade.  It's known that Jocketty prefers trades to free agency.

ANGELS MAKING PITCH TO SABATHIA
The L.A. Times reports that the Angels have begun contract discussions with C.C. Sabathia. The authors believe the Halos could make an offer in the range of Johan Santana's six-year, $137.5MM deal. If the Angels do make such an offer, you have to imagine the Yankees will respond by upping their bid significantly. Despite the talks for Sabathia, Mark Teixeira remains the Angels' top priority.  They haven't made an offer yet, but Scott Boras seems to want ten years while the Angels are willing to do seven.

FURCAL DRAWING PLENTY OF INTEREST
Despite his durability concerns, free-agent shortstop Rafael Furcal is one of the hottest names on the market. His return to the Dodgers seems unlikely and the A's appear to be the front-runners after rumors of a 4-year, $48 million offer, however their his a third "surprise team" that is believed to me in the mix.  Furcal is not only a stellar defensive option at shortstop, but when healthy he is one of the best leadoff men and baserunners in the game.  The Giants apparently are out of the running for his services. WFAN in New York reports that they have agreed to terms with Edgar Renteria on a two-year, $18 million contract. Renteria became a free agent when the Tigers declined his $12 million option for 2009 and reportedly will now replace Omar Vizquel in San Francisco. 

GRIFFEY'S AGENT SAYS ALL TALK, NO ACTION
John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports on his blog that Brian Goldberg, Ken Griffey Jr.s' agent, said he's been in contact with nine teams -- six AL teams, three NL teams. Nothing is close. Goldberg's theory is things will pick after Dec. 1. That's when club must offer arbitration to their free agents. Players have until Dec. 7 to accept. If a player refuses, a club gets compensation for him if he's A or B. The former Reds' outfielder doesn't appear set to retire.

CUBS OUT OF THE MIX FOR PEAVY
After resigning Ryan Dempster last week Cubs' manager Lou Piniella believes that the Cubs' pitching is set. When asked if the Cubs still might be pursuing starting pitching, such as the Padres' Jake Peavy or free agent Randy Johnson, even after the Ryan Dempster signing Pinellas told the Chicago Sun Times, ''No. Starting we don't need. We're set. We've got six good starters [including Sean Marshall], and they're all experienced. Getting Dempster back was the key. We're in good shape with our starting pitching. Bullpen-wise, [we're looking for] possibly one more experienced pitcher. We've got a lot of young kids out there.''

METS LOOKING TO BOLSTER BULLPEN
Mets' GM Omar Minaya today began reaching out to the agents for free-agent closers Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes, according to SI.com. The Mets are intent on landing an elite closer after their bullpen was the main culprit in their second straight September disappointment. It is believed Rodriguez is favored slightly over Fuentes, but they consider either pitcher an excellent candidate to take injured closer Billy Wagner's spot.

MLB white sox, reds, jermaine dye, homer bailey, a's, giants, dodgers, rafael furcal, ken griffey jr, angels, c.c. sabathia, cubs, lou pinella, jake peavy, randy johnson, ryan dempster