Tim Raines, Sr. signed a minor league deal with Florida on Monday. The Marlins don't have a lot competition for their bench positions, so we can expect that Raines will make the team. He spent around half of his time last season as a pinch hitter, and it's likely that he will be even more limited to that role this year. Aside from the shoulder injury and surgery that caused him to miss time last season, his health appears to holding up rather well, so the 42-year-old Raines should be a positive addition to their bench and a good fan draw as a future Hall-of-Famer.

When Mark Smith signed a minor league contract with Montreal earlier this season, he made sure to include a provision that would allow him to move south with manager Jeff Torborg if that situation were to arise. Of course, Torborg has now left Montreal for Florida with former-Expo owner Jeffery Loria, and Smith has chosen to go with them. Smith obviously realizes that finding another manager as interested in providing him with major league at-bats as Torborg is highly unlikely. Though a smart move for Smith, this doesn't add much to Florida. He was completely undeserving of his playing time last season. As previously mentioned, the Marlins have available bench positions, but they could also do much better than Smith, even if they were just to give the at-bats to Raines.

Kansas City signed Josue Espada to a minor league contract on Monday. Espada has little power, but he does have some speed and relatively good plate discipline. He began in the Oakland system and has spent the last several years primarily in AAA without seeing any major league time. He can play SS and hits well enough that he deserves time as a middle infielder, but I don't know that he'll find it on the Royals this season unless they suffer injuries.

Jeff Tabaka signed a minor league deal with the Cubs on Monday. Tabaka hasn't spent much of the last few seasons in the majors, but considering that he's younger than Jeff Fassero, he should have every chance to compete with Ron Mahay for the second lefty spot in the pen. Jesus Sanchez probably needs to make the rotation for either Mahay or Tabaka to make the team. Sanchez is currently favored for the fifth spot, but he would be the second lefty in the pen if bumped from the rotation. Given Fassero's age and his 2001 workload, Chicago will likely be looking for a lefty injury replacement at some point, so even if Tabaka doesn't make the roster out of camp, I'd expect him to see some time this season.

Sang Hoon-Lee signed a minor league contract with Oakland on Monday. Signed by Boston in December of 1999, Lee, who turns 31 in March, has had serious troubles with allowing home runs in his two years at AAA. He seems to have the other skills needed to pitch in the majors but won't make it until he can control the dingers.

In discussing the Oakland roster recently, it appears that they have a glut of players at several positions as well as several players who have expiring options. As I mentioned when they signed Scott Hatteberg, despite their willingness to give Hatteberg playing time at 1B, the A's really need to trade Greg Myers and only carry two catchers. Carlos Pena should receive the majority of the 1B at-bats, and other players like Mario Valdez (out of options) are lined up to take the leftovers. A Myers' trade frees up playing time for everyone.

In addition to the overflow at 1B and DH, the team also has a surplus of relievers. Of the three lefty Mikes, one has to go, and Venafro doesn't really fit on the Oakland roster. Jeff Tam is also expendable with Luis Vizcaino and Chad Bradford around and out of options. Tam's a soft-tosser, while both Vizcaino and Bradford are power relievers. Vizcaino is a future closer, and the side-armer Bradford improves the Oakland bullpen with his strikeouts as well as giving them a different look out of the pen. Moving Venafro opens up one roster spot, but if they can move Tam, they won't have to send either player through waivers.

While their major league roster is crowded, Oakland's recent trades have somewhat tapped their minor league system. The six first round picks they will receive this season as compensation for Jason Giambi, Jason Isringhausen, and Jermaine Dye will aid in replenishing their prospects, but they have the extra players to replace some of the lost talent now.

When looking around the majors at teams with which the A's might match up well with for a trade, the two that come to mind, yet again, are Colorado and Kansas City. Colorado is still looking for a catcher, preferably a lefty like Greg Myers. The Rockies think they need to clear roster space for Pete Harnisch, so they are looking to make a trade. Kansas City will have a large surplus of pitchers leftover from those who don't make the rotation, but they lack a solid lefty for the pen.

Colorado trades Gary Bennett to the Royals to back up Brent Mayne and receives Greg Myers form Oakland to fill their catching and bench needs. Mayne is the only catcher currently on Kansas City's 40-man roster, and although they have A.J. Hinch and Hector Oritz in camp, Bennett is an upgrade over these two guys. The Rockies also send Ross Gload to Oakland to cover the difference between Bennent and Myers.

Meanwhile, Oakland trades Venafro to the Royals for Jeff Austin or possibly Blake Stein. The Royals were converting Austin to relief last season, but the A's could always reverse the process, as they'll have time to give him another season or three in AAA. Even if he does turn into just another reliever, the bullpen is the one area in which Oakland hasn't yet been able to grow a lot of their own talent. Stein has been jerked around by the Royals, and the Athletics really liked him in the past, acquiring him for McGwire and then dealing him for Appier. The downside is that he wouldn't solve their roster crunch. If Kansas won't give up Austin or Stein in this deal, Oakland could take another young hard-thrower like Shawn Sonnier to improve their AAA relief depth this season, although Sonnier did just have shoulder surgery last month. Almost regardless of who they receive in return, Oakland needs to move Myers, Tam, and a lefty reliever to keep all of their players with significantly higher-upside, and even potential AAAA guys like Gload and Sonnier are better than losing their current guys on waivers.

Tam could be included in this trade to Kansas City, but with all of the pitchers they have competing for starting positions, some of the overflow is going to wind-up in the bullpen. The Royals have taken relief bait in the past and might be interested in Tam, but Oakland will likely have to deal him elsewhere.