A few quick bullet points with some detail to come.

* Zduriencik did speak to the Cardinals and Brewers today about J.J. Putz. The Prince Fielder and Putz in a packaged deal rumor was shot down with Zduriencik saying those two players were never talked about together in any sort of deal.

* Zduriencik also said that any personnel changes to the 25-man roster would have no effect on expediting negotiations with unsigned No. 1 draft pick Josh Fields. But he is supposed to meet with Fields' agent Scott Boras in the next day or two.

* Zduriencik said he feels no urgency whatsoever to get a deal done before the meetings come to an end.

UPDATED: Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik met with his former boss Doug Melvin of the Brewers about Putz, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, but nothing came of it ...

But when asked whether he sees a match between those two teams, Melvin said, "I don't think so at this point."

I haven't posted this latest rumor surrounding M's closer J.J. Putz for a few reasons.

ESPN analyst Steve Phillips had this comment in ESPN's winter meetings blog: • The Mariners need a power hitter. The Brewers need a closer. There is speculation that the two teams are discussing a package involving J.J. Putz and Prince Fielder.

The original post had Fielder playing for the Tigers. But it has been edited. Hey, it's been a long day and mistakes can happen, I know my copy on the blog isn't always the cleanest.

But that's one reason I didn't post it right away, the other is that I don't know how reasonable it is. Now let me clarify, I think the Brewers have inquired about Putz. They need a closer. They already decided not to jump on the emotional roller coaster that is Eric Gagne in that role.

I think the Brewers are willing if not looking to trade Prince Fielder. It was reported as much a few weeks ago.

And I think the Brewers and Mariners could be trading partners because: 1. Jack Zduriencik worked there and is familiar with what they have. 2. The Brewers have plenty of talent in the minor league system. The type of talent the Mariners are looking for.

BUT .... the Brewers are right now a little predisposed with trying to re-sign C.C. Sabathia and/or Ben Sheets. The Sabathia saga seems neverending just check out this growing list of links on mlbtraderumors.com, And that's the priority now. The Brewers would love to probably sit down and talk with the Mariners about Putz, but they have to figure out their starting pitching first before trying to figure out a closer.

ALSO ... There is no way they are swapping Putz for Fielder, which is also what Phillips post said. It will have to be multi-player deal, perhaps on both ends.

But you know what, I guess just speculating about the possibilities could be fun.

Ok, I got a hold of both J.J. Putz and Brandon Morrow today to talk to them about what's going on down here.

J.J. of course is well aware. He talked with the P-I briefly yesterday, and his friends back in Michigan have been keeping him updated on the speculation coming out of there.

Let's be clear about this, J.J. doesn't want to leave Seattle. He may be a native of Michigan (Trenton, Mich.) and he may have pitched for the University of Michigan, but his loyalty is with the Mariners, not the team he grew up cheering for.

“If you would have told me 20 years ago, I had chance to pitch for the Tigers, I would have said, ‘heck yeah,’” Putz said. “But I’ve been with the Mariners my whole career and it’s where I want to be.”’

Morrow wasn't aware of the trade rumors about J.J.; in fact he was somewhat surprised. He was even more surprised when he was told of Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik's general statement about switching roles based on personnel moves.

"I do think that any type of player moves, whether it be signing someone, or trading someone, or bringing someone in, whatever you do to improve your ball club, has a domino effect, no question about it,'' Zduriencik said. "I think when the day is said and done, our job is to put the best talented players on the field in the position where they can have the most success. How we determine that is an ongoing process that will remain unanswered until we roll into spring training and realize exactly what this ball club is going to look like.''

Now, he wasn't being specific about Morrow, but his answer came after being asked if something could change Morrow's status.

Morrow obviously wasn't keen on the idea of switching back to being a reliever, but he's a team guy and he would never say "no," or as he pointed out, "“I don’t know that I’d have choice."

Anyway, here's my full story that I wrote up for the website.

It looks as though free agent closer Kerry Wood is going to sign with the Cleveland Indians. MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince reported that it is a two-year deal with an option for a third.

UPDATE (3:08 p.m) - this deal still hasn't been finalized. Yahoo's Gordon Edes reports that it is a pretty close to being finalized.

But ESPN's Peter Gammons had this : • The Indians are said to be "making progress" with Kerry Wood, "but are far enough away so that they are talking to alternatives."

Why is this important?

Wood was also drawing interest from the Detroit Tigers, who also are interested in J.J. Putz.

With Wood going to sign with the Cleveland and Francisco Rodriguez set to sign with the Mets, that leaves Trevor Hoffman and Brian Fuentes as the only established closers left on the free agent market. Neither has been way up on the Tigers radar so far, so the push to get Putz might increase.

Good morning. After one day of rumors, speculation and a few late night cocktails, we are back here early in the morning with not much changed. J.J. Putz is still with the Mariners, at least for the moment.

Quickly, here's a link to my story from yesterday.

Offering the other side's perspective is Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press. J.P. also checks in with an update that said the Mariners are looking for possibly a 3-for-1 deal, perhaps including outfielder Matt Joyce and first baseman Jeff Larish – both left-handed hitters – and a minor leaguer.

Does that seem like too much? Well, Joyce and Larish are major-league players, but are they major-league contributors?

Joyce made his big-league debut on May 7th last season when manager Jim Leyland decided to shake up the line-up of his reeling team by inserting him as a starter.

Joyce appeared in 92 games, starting 59. He had 277 plate appearances and hit .252 with 16 doubles, 3 triples, 12 home runs and 33 RBI. Hardly Ruthian numbers, but not bad. He also had 31 walks and 65 strikeouts. Joyce posted on OPS (on-base+slugging) of .831, which is better than anybody on the Mariners last season, not named Raul Ibanez.

Larish also made his debut last season, appearing in 42 games and starting 25, getting 111 plate appearances.

He hit .260 with six doubles, two homers and 16 RBI. Kind of scary is the fact that he struck out 34 times and walked just seven. But I've been told by a source close to the team that he does have a good eye and is willing to work counts. He had an OPS of .681, but it was from a relatively small sample size. His numbers at Triple A Toledo were obviously better. He still hit .250, but had 20 doubles, 20 home runs, 64 RBI, and had an OPS of .818.

Larish is kind of blocked with Miguel Cabrera and his gargantuan contract and even larger frame hulking around first, while Brandon Inge has taken over at third. Larish has even worked out at third to find time, but he is clearly blocked.

One thing to remember in all of this is that Tigers aren't just looking at Putz. They are also looking at possibly signing free agent closer Kerry Wood.

But MLB.com's Jason Beck mentions that could be a reach with Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski being quoted as saying, "I would say I doubt it" when asked about going after a bigger free agent closer.

The Tigers' payroll is pretty bloated, and unless they could dump a major contract, like Magglio Ordonez, it doesn't seem likely they could take a $30-plus million contract to Wood.

So it seems a trade for Putz is very possible. One question is whether they would give up both Larish and Joyce. A source close to the team says that's unlikely, but did say the Tigers are willing to pay and sometimes overpay to get what they really need, and they can't go into next season without having the closer position solidified.