Friday deadline for Varitek; Pirates active

• Jason Varitek reportedly has until Friday to either accept or decline Boston's offer.
• The Marlins are still fishing for a catcher, and most seem to think that they would rather trade for a young backstop (like Max Ramirez, for example) than sign a veteran like Ivan Rodriguez.
• Minnesota signed Jason Kubel to a two-year, $7 million deal with a third-year option.
• The Pirates are interested in both Luis Gonzalez and Pedro Martinez. They also appear to be on the verge of locking up Paul Maholm with a long-term deal and are close to signing Eric Hinske.
  
• Arizona is closing in on a deal with Jon Garland.
• The Padres are looking for a cheap, left-handed bat. Players like Bobby Abreu and Adam Dunn are obviously out of the question, but San Diego will probably explore options such as Luis Gonzalez, Doug Mientkiewicz, Brad Wilkerson, and Daryle Ward.
• Brewers' GM Doug Melvin said that his team is not at all interested in Oliver Perez. He did make it seem like they would welcome Ben Sheets back, but only at the right price.
• Speaking of Oliver Perez, reports say that negotiations with the Mets are beginning to improve. I find it hard to see Perez donning anything other than a Met uniform in 2009. Still, New York is examinining options, such as Randy Wolf.