In the span of just 72 hours last week, Andy Pettitte went from picking out his rocking chair to choosing a new locker at Yankee Stadium after the announcement that he'll be rejoining the club he cut his teeth with. If only world powers could come to terms that quick, the planet would be a lot more peaceful place (he said, in a seasonally-induced 'goodwill towards mankind, peace on earth, yadee, yadee' moment).

Speaking of quickly changing events, have you followed the wooing of Daisuke Matsuzaka (or rather, The Amazing Race II, starring Theo Epstein as a disgruntled, young businessman flying all over the country trying to first find and then close a deal with shifty-lawyer type Scott Boras, the only person on the planet that can give Theo what he needs)? Talk about a story morphing by the minute.

We cover these two events and bring you the Offseason Lowdown among the rest of the American League (yes, apparently there are other teams) in this week's column.

Baltimore

The Orioles said adios to utility man David Newhan, non-tendering him this week. His fate was sealed after a broken leg limited him to 131 at-bats last year, and he's never come close to repeating his fine 2004 season. Newhan's departure could open the door for Brandon Fahey to stick with the club next spring.

Also on the chopping block in Charm City was Todd Williams, a reliever who slumped to a 4.74 ERA last year. You would have thought with so many teams desperate for relief pitching that the O's could have gotten a low-level prospect for him. Williams could wind up in Tampa Bay.

After it failed to lure Luis Gonzalez into the fold, Baltimore signed outfielder Jay Payton to a two-year, $9.5-million contact. With a .296 mark against southpaws last year, he'll help a team that hit 26 points lower against lefties than righties, but Payton doesn't have anywhere near enough pop to be a corner outfielder. There's still a chance the O's will try to add another outfielder that could render Payton as the team's fourth flyhawk. Marcus Thames, Trot Nixon, Ryan Klesko and Shannon Stewart are all said to be players Baltimore is eyeing.

Boston

The big news of the week is that Daisuke Matsuzaka and the Bosox have reportedly come to terms on a deal expected to be announced this afternoon at a press conference. It's been a whirlwind week, given that as recently as Sunday morning it was announced that talks had broken down, and speculation was rampant that Scott Boras was trying to break the posting system and was probably responsible for Jimmy Hoffa's disappearance and JFK's assassination as well. Perhaps even Osama Bin Laden was staying in his basement.

Monday morning, the Bosox went to LA to begin face to face negotiations with Boras, who seemed shockingly unmotivated to come to an agreement on behalf of Matsuzaka. Monday night, Bosox GM Theo Epstein announced that he was prepared to make a "record" offer for the Japanese ace. By Tuesday night, however, the Red Sox left Boras' office with no deal in place and reports surfaced that there still had been no progress made in the talks.

Yesterday afternoon, news broke that Daisuke and Boras were flying back to Boston on Red Sox owner John Henry's jet, with negotiations continuing on the plane. Just a couple hours later, word came out that the two sides had agreed on a six-year, $52-million contract, with only a physical standing in the way before Daisuke would put his John Hancock on John Henry's contract.

Talk about literally flying by the seat of your pants. I don't know what kind of beverages they were serving on that flight, but whatever it was that loosened even Boras up, I wouldn't mind picking up a bottle of that. This had the potential of being a disastrous situation for Boston, Matsuzaka and baseball in general, but it looks like, contrary to early reports, the Red Sox were always serious about making a deal happen.

Let the gyroballs fly at Fenway!

The Bosox also filled their hole at shortstop by signing Julio Lugo to a four-year, $36-million deal with a vesting option for a fifth season. Hitting at the top of a potent Bosox lineup should translate into more runs (perhaps 115), but probably less steals (25 or less) for Lugo.

It looks like more of Manny being Manny in 2007 for the Sox. Can you really imagine him playing elsewhere at this point?

J.D. Drew's deal still hasn't been announced, but it's just a matter of some language in the contract. This hasn't been a simple process for anyone, and it seems to have left the Dodgers and Bosox as mortal enemies, which each threatening to charge the other with tampering. Wouldn't it be karmic if they met in the Series next season?

ChiSox

The Sox obviously believe Mike MacDougal's injury problems are behind him, having locked him up for three years at $6.45 million. The deal includes an option for 2009. MacDougal, 29, has only managed to pitch a full year once in the past three seasons, but he had a stellar 1.55 ERA in 29 innings last season.

Cleveland

The Tribe penned Joe Borowski to a one-year $4.25-million deal. He'll get the first crack at closing and could provide a nice veteran stopgap measure until one of the young Indians' relievers, such as Fernando Cabrera or Rafael Betancourt, are ready to take over the job. Borowski could earn up to $1.5 million in performance bonuses for games finished.

Cleveland was busy signing free agents last week, also adding outfielder David Dellucci. He's expected to handle left field against righties after cashing in for $11.5 million over three years. The injury-prone Dellucci will platoon with Jason Michaels.

The Indians like Mike Gonzalez, but they naturally laughed at the Pirates' asking price: Victor Martinez. Uh, yeah. Would you like one of my kidneys with that?

Detroit

The Tigers cut Alexis Gomez free, which saves Omar Infante, for now. Of course, Infante is on the trade market as Detroit already has Neifi Perez and Santiago Perez on board.

Brandon Inge has been locked up for four years at $24 million. With this deal, the first three seasons of free agency for Inge have been bought out. He's a steady glove at third and his power has developed nicely, but he strikes out too much and does not draw enough walks to justify this kind of investment. Inge has never had an 800 OPS over a full season and with his declining OBP, he'll be hard pressed to get there soon.

Does Jose Mesa have anything left to offer? Detroit thinks so, penning him to a one-year, $2.5-million deal. This will mark his first season back in the American League since 2000, and makes a crowded Tiger bullpen even harder to crack. Between Todd Jones, Joel Zumaya, Fernando Rodney, Jason Grilli, Wil Ledezma and Mesa, there's not much room for hopefuls looking to win a job like Zach Miner, Jordan Tata, Chad Durbin, Roman Colon and Edward Campusano.

Speaking of Zumaya, remember those wrist and forearm problems he was having at the end of the season? The team has decided they came from the reliever playing too much Playstation 2 Guitar Hero. The Tigers actually had to ask Zumaya to stop playing the game, and he did. Let that be a lesson for you kids: video games can cause bodily harm.

Detroit has yet to engage Jeremy Bonderman in any long-term contract talks. "I'm not really worried about that right now," Bonderman told the Detroit Free Press. "I'm just hanging out." He better not be hanging out playing video games with that Zumaya character.

Kansas City

David DeJesus will shift back to centerfield and bat leadoff for the Royals next season. When Joey Gathright arrived last year, the Royals slid DeJesus over to left field, but Gathright isn't expected to be a starter in 2007.

It doesn't look like they'll be able to land Miguel Batista, but Jeff Suppan remains an option for the Royals.

Alex Gordon is expected to be given every opportunity to win the third base job, and if he doesn't break spring with the gig, it would be a "stunning development," according to the Kansas City Star.

KC has its new closer after adding Octavio Dotel in a one-year, $5-million deal. We all know about his arm problems, but Dotel has a chance to be a very fine fantasy asset this season. He can earn as much as $2.5 million extra in incentives.

The Royals started their busy week by penning Gil Meche to a five-year, $55-million deal. This is a huge risk for a pitcher who, while he has tremendous potential and can bring the heat, has a history of shoulder issues. The biggest impact of this contract is the bargaining power it provides for the rest of the free agent starter class. Barry Zito must have broken into a fit of giddy laughter when news of this signing broke.

LA Angels

The Halos beefed up the bullpen with the signing of lefty Darren Oliver. Penned to a one-year, $1.75-million deal, Oliver will be asked to pitch in middle relief next year after enjoying a sub-4.00 ERA for just the second time. The 36-year-old revitalized his career with the Mets last season, but can he duplicate those efforts on the West Coast? It's doubtful.

Minnesota

The Twins, who were willing to offer him more of a role than Milwaukee would, has signed Jeff Cirillo for one year at $1.5 million. He's become a solid bench player, batting .319 with a .369 OBP and .414 slugging percentage last season. Cirillo is expected to back up third baseman Nick Punto and he could see some time at DH and first base. He has a chance to earn another $300,000 based on plate appearances.

The team is still trying to re-sign Rondell White. Reportedly, the Phils were interested, but White is expected back in Minny for 2007. Does that excite you? If so, can I please play in your league?

The Twins are interested in Joel Pineiro, just non-tendered by the Mariners.

NY Yankees

This Andy Pettitte situation really threw me for a loop last week. I had to rewrite my column about three times as things kept changing. Tuesday afternoon, news first broke that the Yankees were negotiating with Pettitte's agent, but he stressed that his client had yet to make up his mind he was even going to continue his career. By the following afternoon, word broke that Pettitte decided he would pitch in 2007 and perhaps beyond. By that evening, salary figures started to be reported. And come Friday afternoon, Pettitte heading back to his old team in the Bronx was being reported as a done deal. Technically, it's not a done deal, per se, as he won't be taking his physical until early next week, but Pettitte is as close to being fit for a new set of pinstripes as a freshly-graduated MBA.

With Pettitte in the fold, the Yanks can now work on divesting themselves of Carl Pavano. The Cards have reportedly asked to see his medical records (how many volumes do you think that's in?), so they may be thinking of taking on this Yankee nightmare. From New York's perspective, this is very much a case of "Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Carl. You wouldn't want to suffer an injury to your behind. Oh, wait a minute…didn't you already do that and wind up missing a whole season?"

The Yanks are looking at Doug Mientkiewicz, still one of the better fielding first basemen in the game.

They're also checking the medical records of Dustin Hermanson and could possibly offer him a deal.

Oakland

The A's have non-tendered once promising prospect Jerome Williams. Is there a pre-arranged deal in place to keep him around on a minor league contract? The former Giant, who turned 25 last week, might still make something of his career, but his chances are growing slimmer. Too bad his waistline isn't doing the same.

Oakland's current plan is to use Dan Johnson at first base next year, but if the A's add Cliff Floyd, Nick Swisher may shift back to first full-time, leaving Johnson as bench fodder. Things looked brighter for Johnson last month when Frank Thomas left the fold, but it's not clear, despite what they're saying, that the A's are willing to hand over 400 at-bats or more to Johnson.

The Mets are said to be interested in Dan Haren, but it's doubtful they would give the A's both Lastings Milledge and Aaron Heilman.

Seattle

The Mariners have acquired Jose Vidro for Chris Snelling and Emiliano Fruto. They're letting a promising bat go in Snelling and giving up a pitcher with potential in Fruto for a defensively unspectacular second baseman whose offensive game has been in free fall for four years. Oh, and Seattle will assume $12 million of the $16 million Vidro is due over the next two years. Jose Lopez is expected to stay at second, so Vidro will probably handle the everyday DH duties.

Joel Pineiro was non-tendered, but apparently Seattle is still interested in bringing him back. However, Pineiro thinks that based on the club's actions, it's time to move on. Boston and Kansas City are said to be interested in him, but whether that's as a starter or as a reliever remains to be seen. Pineiro's best chance to bounce back to being a valuable arm will be as a reliever, possibly as a set-up man.

Oakland has expressed interest in Jeremy Reed. Could Joe Blanton be used as bait? The Mariners are still desperate for starting pitching, so there could be a match there.

The Orioles were after Ben Broussard, but when they only offered Rodrigo Lopez instead of Jaret Wright, the Mariners took a pass. Do the Mariners know something about Wright that has eluded us all? Now that Vidro has been added to the fold, Broussard is all but out the door in Seattle.

Tampa Bay

While everyone has focused on the Bosox going to the wire with Matsuzaka, barely anyone has noticed that the Rays are cutting things even closer with Akinori Iwamura. The deadline is Friday, but the two sides are apparently closing in on a deal. One of the sticking points is how long he'll have to wait to become a free agent. Who could blame Iwamura for wanting to ensure he has a clear exit strategy before signing Tampa Bay?

Tampa Bay has non-tendered fourth outfielder Damon Hollins. He's got some pop, but can't get on base to save his life (.269 OBP last season). With Hollins set free, the Rays may be opening a spot for Elijah Dukes to spend the year in the majors.

The Braves are said to be interested in Rocco Baldelli, and are reportedly willing to part with Kyle Davies and prospects (Jarrod Saltalamacchia and/or Yunel Escobar) to make it happen. The Rays, however, may be more interested in Chuck James than Davies.

Texas

The Rangers managed to tender an offer to Brad Wilkerson before the deadline on Tuesday. He'll get plenty of action in left field and could man right as well, if Nelson Cruz isn't up to the task.

Texas' big move this week was signing Kenny Lofton to replace Gary Matthews Jr. in centerfield and at the top of the order. In outbidding the Cubs, the Rangers gave Lofton $6 million for one year. In return, the 39-year-old gives the Rangers some much needed speed, coming off another 30+ SB season in which he hit .301 and had a .360 OBP.

The club also re-signed Vicente Padilla to a three-year, $33.75-million deal. Padilla is still relatively young, but has had occasional arm problems.

Of course, it will be even bigger if the Rangers can land Barry Zito, and they do have a confirmed offer in for him. It's just not as high as the reported six-year, $102-million deal some suggested was on the table.

Both the Mets and Diamondbacks are said to be interested in Akinori Otsuka, but neither team has the starting pitching that the Rangers would want in return.

Toronto

Ted Rogers must have dug a little deeper and found a few extra million under his couch pillows. According to Yahoo!, the Jays have offered Vernon Wells a seven-year extension worth $126 million. Wow. That would be a higher per-year salary than either Carlos Beltran or Alfonso Soriano is currently making. Toronto is making a legitimate effort to sign Wells to an extension, but if it can't reach an agreement with him by the New Year, he'll be put back on the trade market. Among the teams that are said to be interested are the Mets and Dodgers.

The Jays signed their obligatory Canadian native, penning Matt Stairs to a minor league deal. Too bad it's been at least three years since Stairs was useful. He'll earn $850,000 next season if he's added to the roster. That should buy plenty of back bacon and beer.