Put up or shut up time — Sox warn teams to give Ramirez offers quickly  —  LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - As good as the Red Sox are getting in their annual exercise in trading Manny Ramirez, this year's so far futile attempt will scale back dramatically after tomorrow.

Fish refuse to bite on Dontrelle trade  —  LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Typically quiet first day at baseball's winter meetings, other than another idiotic signing by the Texas Rangers - three years, $34 million for Vicente Padilla.  Manny Ramirez still is an apparently reluctant Red Sox …

Mets, Zito talking  —  Greet Boras to start chase  —  LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Mets brass met with agent Scott Boras last night, beginning its pursuit of Barry Zito as speculation swirled that the Rangers were mounting a huge offer.  —  Chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon even arrived …

Boras is gatekeeper, again  —  LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Scott Boras ended Monday at baseball's winter meetings well into Tuesday morning, taking a telephone call from "a client on the West Coast" three hours after midnight, returning various phone calls after that, sounding surprisingly energetic, all things considered.

Jennings, Hawpe may be moved  —  The opening-day starter and right fielder could be packaged in a deal with the Cubs and Pirates.  —  Orlando, Fla. - Casual interest in Jason Jennings has graduated to concrete proposals with the Rockies considering a three-way trade with the Cubs …

Trade talk surrounds pitching wealth  —  McCarthy's options for '07 hang in balance of rumored deals  —  LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — One of the newest rumors making its way around the Swan and Dolphin Resort on Monday involved the movement of White Sox southpaw Mark Buehrle via trade to the Mets …

Byrnes has productive first day  —  D-backs seek pitching help at Winter Meetings  —  LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Disney World may be the happiest place on earth, but it certainly wasn't the busiest on Monday as baseball's Winter Meetings kicked off at the Swan and Dolphin Hotel.

He's Jacque of all trades  —  LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — As the Cubs search for more left-handed hitting, one of their few left-handed hitters — right fielder Jacque Jones — is being shopped by the club.  —  ''Jacque Jones to anywhere, from what I'm hearing,'' one general manager …

Brewers' Mench drawing some surprising interest on trade market  —  thaudricourt@journalsentinel.com  —  Lake Buena Vista, Fla. - Milwaukee Brewers fans who watched outfielder Kevin Mench play over the final two months of the 2006 season might be astonished that teams actually want to trade for him.

Moreno isn't ready to duck his responsibility  —  The baseball meetings are going on in Florida right now, which I figured was probably news to the Angels, so I put a call in to team owner Arte Moreno.  —  As you recall, the Angels were a huge disappointment last season and the last we heard …

Will's Mill  —  More From Orlando  —  The Manny Ramirez sweepstakes are heating up, with the talk now shifting from the Dodgers (whose offer of LaRoche and Broxton fell short) to the Angels, who are reluctant to offer Scot Shields plus one of their top prospects.

Winter meetings: Pirates trot after outfielder Nixon  —  Atlanta's hot-hitting LaRoche a possibility, too  —  By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  —  LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The Pirates, it appears, are hot for Trot.  —  On the first day of Major League Baseball's winter meetings …

Departing Reds staffer takes shots at Krivsky  —  Longtime scout Barton says Cincy GM wasn't listening to his advice.  —  LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — When Wayne Krivsky became general manager of the Cincinnati Reds in February, one of the main reasons was the support he received from two members …

Ace is in place?  Carpenter gets a three-year extension.  —  The market is strong for free agent hurlers Jason Schmidt |  Giants 2006: 11-9, 3.59 ERA, 180 Ks Miguel Batista |  LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — In search of a No. 2 starter, the Cardinals took care of their No. 1 Monday when they announced …