Source: Florida Marlins to offer Bobby Valentine four-year deal; meeting set for Friday  —  Former Texas Rangers and New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine has confirmed he will fly to Florida on Friday night to meet with Marlins executives, including owner Jeffrey Loria, and discuss the club's managerial job.

New York Mets not eager to trade Angel Pagan, view him as insurance policy for Carlos Beltran  —  The Seattle Mariners still had not made pitcher Cliff Lee available as of Thursday, and had given no indication they will in the near future, according to major league sources.

Dodgers should gamble on trading Kemp  —  Ken Rosenthal has been the senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com since Aug. 2005.  He appears weekly on MLB on FOX.  Follow him on Twitter.  —  The Dodgers are in a box.  —  Their starting pitching is not good enough for the team to win the NL West, much less advance in the postseason.

Jeter will have his cake — and eat it, too  —  The Captain turns 36 years young Saturday, with no real signs of slowing down … Starting Saturday, Derek Jeter will need to tweak his own company line.  Over the past 12 months he has met inquiries about his baseball mortality with this question of his own:

Close-knit Uptons to compete for first time  —  Parents of B.J., Justin cheer for both sons to do well in series  —  ST. PETERSBURG — The Upton brothers will compete against each other for the first time in any organized sport Friday night when the Rays host the D-backs at Tropicana Field.

ONCE AGAIN, LOWELL'S HIP THROWS A WRENCH  —  It was the hip all along.  —  Discomfort in Mike Lowell's surgically repaired right hip resulted in the corner infielder heading to the disabled list on Thursday.  The move represented the latest derailment by the joint to the four-time All-Star's 2010 season …

Castro on his way as Reddick optioned  —  To shore up their pitching staff after last night's slugfest, the Sox have recalled lefty Fabio Castro from Triple-A Pawtucket and optioned OF Josh Reddick back to the minors.  —  This from the release:

Pirates frustrated with sweep by sizzling Texas  —  Tempers flare as Rangers prevail, 6-5, on Guerrero's walkoff single  —  ARLINGTON , Texas — Never bet against a streak, as they say.  —  The Pirates had chance after chance after chance to bury Texas, but the Rangers gained their only lead …

Dusty Baker not inspiring faith as Reds go toe-to-toe with Cardinals … Coming off a sweep of the A's in Oakland, the Reds look more and more like serious challengers to the Cardinals in the NL Central.  While it was their pitching that got the job done in Oakland — three quality starts …

Pedroia's 3rd HR lifts Red Sox over Rockies in 10  —  DENVER—Dustin Pedroia was hitting the ball all over the place.  Most of all out of the yard.  —  Pedroia went 5 for 5 with three home runs, including a tiebreaking shot off Huston Street in the 10th inning, to lift the Boston Red Sox …

Santana Admitted Sex With Accuser  —  Cops: Star claimed act was consensual, portrayed woman as aggressor  —  As Florida police investigated a woman's claim that Johan Santana raped her last October on a golf course, the baseball star admitted to cops that he engaged in consensual sex with the woman …

The 12-Player Trade  —  Look, here at MLBTradeRumors, we treasure every transaction, from that second lefty who gets picked up on waivers to the free agent signing of that minor league slugger.  But it is undeniable that some trades get us more excited than others, and it is a shame that MLBTR …