Leaving for the Leafs?

Former Phillies GM Pat Gillick will not return to the Toronto Blue Jays as team president, but he may consider a much different move to Toronto instead: general manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"I might be interested in something other than baseball," he said.

Gillick also has a prior business relationship with Gordon Kirke, the man who has teamed with interim Leafs boss Cliff Fletcher to find a new hockey chief for Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment Ltd.

Although he denied that he has been contacted about the job, Gillick left the door open to a move from MLB to the NHL.

"I probably would be interested in doing something like that, you know, something different," he said. "It could be hockey."

I don't see this happening. We're in the middle of the hockey season, and Gillick (71) will likely be retired away to Seattle before the next hockey offseason. This is probably a reporter drumming up something to write about. Still, it would be intriguing to see a baseball guy suddenly shift gears into hockey.

Hunting for Pence

I think it's very difficult to pick the top nine National League defensive players for the Gold Glove. I don't pay much attention to the award, because it is difficult to judge players on their defensive performance. So many factors go into how good a player is defensively, and some of those factors are practically immeasurable from watching a game on television.

That said, I'm surprised Hunter Pence didn't earn himself the award this season. The Astros outfielder matched Gold Glove winner Nate McClouth's fielding percentage (.997) and was better than Gold Glovers Shane Victorino (.994) and Carlos Beltran (.993). Pence gunned down 16 base runners from the outfield which was tied for most in the majors. He also played for the best defensive team in the league, and somehow Houston didn't earn a single Gold Glover.

Pence is not the most graceful fielder in the world, but he's done a competent job for the Astros.

Manny being money

Dodgers GM Ned Colletti offered Manny Ramirez a contract worth somewhere in the $22.9 to $27.5 million range per year. While that's a ton of money, especially for a player who turns 37 in May and was unceremoniously run out of Boston in the middle of a pennant race, in this case it is worth it.

"If you saw the bid, it's nothing that we're embarrassed by," Colletti said at the GM meetings. "Manny was close to that number, anyway — closer to that area than the last place he's been."

Most likely, the Dodgers offered Ramirez a two-year contract worth just over $50 million. Colletti said the Dodgers also offered an option year, but declined to specify the exact length of contract.

"We said, 'Think about it for a while. It's not going to be there forever,"' Colletti said. "Things are always subject to change, and it depends on what else we do, to some extent. I've been asked a few times here if we're going to wait to see what happens with this before we do anything else. But I'm not sure we're going to have the luxury to do that. If there's something else that comes about that we feel we need to do, and the timeliness is there to do it, we'll have to do it."

The Dodgers would be smart to tie up a slugger for the next two seasons. Ramirez is something they haven't had in a long time (he hit .520 in the playoffs!), and even if he does decline the Dodgers would only be on the hook for a couple of seasons. That's nothing.

Now Gwynn needs to win

Tony Gwynn will continue to coach at San Diego State after signing a three-year deal. Anyone who thought Gwynn's original hiring was a PR stunt for the school should probably reconsider. He's been coaching at SDSU now for six years, so his current contract will make it nearly a full decade as head coach.

The length of his stay, however, should up the ante a bit for Gwynn. He's just 173-190 in his six seasons at the helm. That's not a terrible record, but for someone who should have an almost unlimited ability to recruit, wouldn't you expect something better?

“We're judged on how many games we win or lose, but college coaching is a whole lot more than that,” Gwynn said. “The average fan is not going to pay attention to the other part. They just want to see if you're playing in a regional in late May or June.

“But it's more than just baseball.

“I think they trust me enough that I'm going to make good decisions. They trust me enough that I'm going to teach these young men what they need to know to become men. I keep talking about how important the baseball is, but there's more to it than that.

“We need to teach our kids that you need to get out there and be part of your community. Do stuff. And try to help other people while you're helping yourself.”

Free agent list

As of Wednesday there were 166 players who had filed for free agency. A.J. Burnett's status is not yet official, so he has not been added to the current pool. Here's the list:

AMERICAN LEAGUE
BALTIMORE (4) -- Juan Castro, ss; Alex Cintron, ss; Kevin Millar, 1b; Jay Payton, of.
BOSTON (9) -- Paul Byrd, rhp; Sean Casey, 1b; Bartolo Colon, rhp; Alex Cora, ss; Mark Kotsay, of; David Ross, c; Curt Schilling, rhp; Mike Timlin, rhp; Jason Varitek, c.
CHICAGO (6) -- Orlando Cabrera, ss; Joe Crede, 3b; Ken Griffey Jr., of; Toby Hall, c; Horacio Ramirez, lhp; Juan Uribe, 3b.
CLEVELAND (4) -- Brendan Donnelly, rhp; Scott Elarton, rhp; Sal Fasano, c; Juan Rincon, rhp.
DETROIT (6) -- Kyle Farnsworth, rhp; Casey Fossum, lhp; Freddy Garcia, rhp; Todd Jones, rhp; Edgar Renteria, ss; Vance Wilson, c.
KANSAS CITY (1) -- Mark Grudzielanek, 2b.
LOS ANGELES (6) -- Garret Anderson, of; Jon Garland, rhp; Darren Oliver, lhp; Juan Rivera, of; Francisco Rodriguez, rhp; Mark Teixeira, 1b.
MINNESOTA (4) -- Adam Everett, ss; Eddie Guardado, lhp; Nick Punto, ss; Dennys Reyes, lhp.
NEW YORK (8) -- Bobby Abreu, of; Jason Giambi, 1b; c-Damaso Marte, lhp; Chad Moeller, c; Mike Mussina, rhp; Carl Pavano, rhp; Sidney Ponson, rhp; Ivan Rodriguez, c.
OAKLAND (4) -- Emil Brown, of; Alan Embree, lhp; Keith Foulke, rhp; Frank Thomas, dh.
SEATTLE (3) -- Willie Bloomquist, of; Miguel Cairo, inf; Raul Ibanez, of.
TAMPA BAY (4) -- Rocco Baldelli, dh; Cliff Floyd, dh; Eric Hinske, of; Trever Miller, lhp.
TEXAS (5) -- c-Hank Blalock, 1b; Milton Bradley, dh; Jason Jennings, rhp; Ramon Vazquez, 3b; Jamey Wright, rhp.
TORONTO (3) -- John Parrish, lhp; Brad Wilkerson, of; Gregg Zaun, c.
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
ARIZONA (6) -- Tony Clark, 1b; Juan Cruz, rhp; Adam Dunn, of; David Eckstein, ss; Orlando Hudson, 2b; Brandon Lyon, rhp.
ATLANTA (8) -- Elmer Dessens, rhp; Tom Glavine, lhp; Mike Hampton, lhp; Jorge Julio, rhp; Greg Norton, of; Will Ohman, lhp; John Smoltz, rhp; Julian Tavarez, rhp.
CHICAGO (8) -- Henry Blanco, c; Ryan Dempster, rhp; Jim Edmonds, of; Chad Fox, rhp; Bob Howry, rhp; Jon Lieber, rhp; Daryle Ward, 1b; Kerry Wood, rhp.
CINCINNATI (9) -- Jeremy Affeldt, lhp; Paul Bako, c; Josh Fogg, rhp; Jerry Hairston Jr., of; Mike Lincoln, rhp; Kent Mercker, lhp; Corey Patterson, of; Javier Valentin, c; David Weathers, rhp.
COLORADO (6) -- Brian Fuentes, lhp; Matt Herges, rhp; Livan Hernandez, rhp; Adam Melhuse, c; Scott Podsednik, of; Glendon Rusch, lhp.
FLORIDA (4) -- Luis Gonzalez, of; Mark Hendrickson, lhp; Paul Lo Duca, c; Arthur Rhodes, lhp,
HOUSTON (5) -- Brad Ausmus, c; Doug Brocail, rhp; LaTroy Hawkins, rhp; Mark Loretta, 2b; Randy Wolf, lhp.
LOS ANGELES (12) -- Joe Beimel, lhp; Gary Bennett, c; Casey Blake, 3b; Rafael Furcal, ss; Nomar Garciaparra, ss; Jason Johnson, rhp; Jeff Kent, 2b; Derek Lowe, rhp; Greg Maddux, rhp; Chan Ho Park, rhp; Manny Ramirez, of; Mark Sweeney, 1b.
MILWAUKEE (10) -- Russell Branyan, 3b; Craig Counsell, 3b; Ray Durham, 2b; Eric Gagne, rhp; Gabe Kapler, of; Mike Lamb, 3b; Guillermo Mota, rhp; CC Sabathia, lhp; Ben Sheets, rhp; Brian Shouse, lhp.
NEW YORK (11) -- Moises Alou, of; Tony Armas Jr., rhp; Luis Ayala, rhp; Damion Easley, 2b; Orlando Hernandez, rhp; Pedro Martinez, rhp; Ramon Martinez, 2b; Trot Nixon, of; Oliver Perez, lhp; Ricardo Rincon, lhp; Matt Wise, rhp.
PHILADELPHIA (2) -- Tom Gordon, rhp; Rudy Seanez, rhp.
PITTSBURGH (4) -- Chris Gomez, 3b; Jason Michaels, of; Doug Mientkiewicz, 1b; Luis Rivas, ss..
ST. LOUIS (8) -- Jason Isringhausen, rhp; Cesar Izturis, ss; Jason LaRue, c; Braden Looper, rhp; Felipe Lopez, 2b; Mark Mulder, lhp; Russ Springer, rhp; Ron Villone, lhp.
SAN DIEGO (2) -- Trevor Hoffman, rhp; Mark Prior, rhp.
SAN FRANCISCO (2) -- Rich Aurilia, 1b; Omar Vizquel, ss.
WASHINGTON (2) -- Aaron Boone, 1b; Odalis Perez, lhp.