Ken Rosenthal reports that the Jays "on the verge of signing David Eckstein, according to a major-league source".
The Cardinals did not offer Eckstein arbitration so the Jays would not give up any compensation if the deal was struck.
11:15 Update: Jeff Blair reports that it's a one year deal for $4.5 million and that Eckstein will lead off. That would likely leave Stairs/Johnson for the #2 spot in the order.
The Blue Jays tendered contracts to all arbitration eligible players with the exception of Josh Towers. As mentioned previously, that's not a huge surprise despite what Ricciardi was saying publically a few weeks ago.
The SF Giants signed Aaron Rowland to a 5 year contract which should all but shut the door on any trade involving Alex Rios.
Catchers released into the free agent pool yesterday were Johnny Estrada and Miguel Olivo.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20071213084658434