- According to the Kansas City Star, the Royals already have an agreement in place with Japanese reliever Yasuhiko Yabuta.

It looks like it will be two years at $3 million per season, with an option for a third. I had Yabuta to the White Sox for $9 million over three years in the free-agent prediction column.

- General manager Tony Reagins said Thursday that signing Torii Hunter will not preclude the Angels from continuing to pursue other hitters like Miguel Cabrera or Miguel Tejada.

The Angels still look like the favorites to land Cabrera even after signing Torii Hunter. The Marlins are still insisting on Howie Kendrick. If the Angels include him, they could make Chone Figgins their second baseman, with Cabrera coming in to play third. Reggie Willits could also be included in the deal. If he becomes the Marlins’ center fielder, he could also take over in the leadoff spot, with Hanley Ramirez batting third behind Dan Uggla. Uggla would move to third base unless traded.

- The White Sox and Scott Linebrink have agreed to a four-year, $19 million deal, ESPN 1000 in Chicago is reporting.

I had Linebrink to the Yankees (at $24 million for four years) and Luis Vizcaino to the White Sox (at $15 million for three years) in the free-agent prediction column. I still think that would have made more sense, though Vizcaino isn’t the groundball pitcher some think he is. Even though he was pitching at Petco Park 40 percent of the time, Linebrink gave up 21 homers in 146 innings the last two years. Now he’s going to what’s arguably the game’s top park for home runs. An ERA under 4.00 is unlikely.

- Angels agreed to terms with outfielder Torii Hunter on a five-year, $90 million contract.

Stunning. Before A-Rod re-signed, I had Hunter to the Yankees at six years and $96 million. After that, I thought Texas was the favorite over the White Sox. It appears as though that was the case before the Angels came out of nowhere. Their $18 million-per-year offer easily bested the Rangers’ five-year, $75 million proposal, even after the deduction for California’s state income taxes were figured in.

So, after all the talk that the Dodgers wanted a new center fielder one year after giving $44 million to Juan Pierre, it turned out that the Angels felt the same way, signing Hunter nearly 12 months to the day after inking Gary Matthews Jr. for $50 million. I thought that was even worse than Pierre’s deal at the time:

“So many contracts already with the potential to be the biggest busts of the offseason and the starting pitchers haven't even begun to sign yet. Matthews' huge deal is almost entirely the result of his 2006 performance. Entering the year, the 32-year-old had never batted 500 times in a season, and his only other year with an 800 OPS also came for the Rangers, who play in one of the game's best parks for hitters. Matthews will play quality defense for the Angels, but it's doubtful that he'll be a solid regular by the end of the deal. He could easily lose 50 points off his 2006 average of .313 next year.”

Matthews has no-trade protection through 2009. The Angels say they’ll play him in the corners, but there’s little reason to think he’d be a better choice than Juan Rivera. While Matthews was posting an 867 OPS in his breakthrough 2006, Rivera actually bettered him, finishing at 887 in 448 AB. Rivera has the superior career OPS by 50 points, and he should prove to be a solid enough defensive outfielder a year and a half removed from suffering a broken leg. It won’t happen right away, but Matthews needs to eventually return to the reserve role he occupied for most of his career before allegedly turning to PEDs.

- Brewers agreed to terms with catcher Jason Kendall, who had been with the Cubs, on a one-year contract with a vesting option for 2009.

I wasn’t fond of this sequence of events at all. It’s clear now that the Brewers had no intention of bringing back Johnny Estrada. However, taking on Guillermo Mota’s $3.2 million salary when they could have simply non-tendered the catcher was a poor gamble. Now they’re bringing in the catcher with the worst arm in the majors. Maybe Kendall still has something left offensively, but all he’ll be doing is clearing the pitcher’s spot in the order if he amasses a .350 OBP. He’s not going to drive in runs. And as overrated as the stolen base can be, Kendall is costing his team a bunch of runs when guys who don’t normally run can take off against him and still make it 80 percent of the time. He almost never guns down an actual quality basestealer. At least the Brewers are in the right division to employ such a liability. Their NL Central rivals ranked 14th, 18th, 24th, 25th and 28th in steals last season.