ESPN's Buster Olney reports that the New York Yankees are looking at Raul Ibanez, Johnny Damon, and Hideki Matsui and that one "could be on the team within a week."  And according to a tweet by FoxSports' Ken Rosenthal, the Yankees are currently in "serious discussions" with Ibanez.

Matsui's workouts on Monday lasted about an hour and a half and included long distance throwing and sprints.  He said to reporters, "The only thing I have left to do is run at full speed and to do my [on field] workouts wearing cleats.  I should be ok [if I have to go to Spring Training right away]."

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FoxSports' Ken Rosenthal tweets the following update on Koji Uehara:

Sources: #Athletics among teams pursuing #Rangers' Uehara. #Orioles remain interested. #MLB

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Sponichi reports that Yu Darvish could still be eligible for the Rookie of the Year Award based on quotes from Newsdays' Ken Davidoff and the Seattle Times' Larry Stone.

Darvish fans in Japan can now also order his official uniform from Majestic Japan.

Via Nikkan Sports, the New York Daily News' Anthony Mccarron reports that Joe Girardi would like another left-handed bat and Hideki Matsui could be a candidate.  A snip:

Girardi acknowledged that the Yankees have considered several hitters, including free agents Johnny Damon, Raul Ibanez and Hideki Matsui as potential solutions. GM Brian Cashman has said several times this winter that the Yanks could use a surplus of starting pitchers – A.J. Burnett, Phil Hughes and Freddy Garcia will all vie for the No. 5 slot – as a trade chip for a hitter, too.

"Johnny's been a great player for a long time," Girardi said when a reporter brought up Damon, a Yankee from 2006-09. "There have been a bunch of names that have been talked about and they're all good players. Ibanez's name has been brought up and he's had a great career, Matsui's name has been brought up and he's had a great career.

"Obviously, we know what Johnny and Matty have meant to this organization over the years and how they've been successful in New York. I'm curious to see how it's all going to shake out."

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Junichi Tazawa worked out with Takashi Saito in Kawasaki on Friday.

And Bobby Valentine has been quoted as saying, "[Tazawa] could help bullpen from opening day."

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Former Yomiuri Giant and Nippon Ham Fighters, Wirfin Obispo (27), has signed a minor league deal with the Cincinnati Reds.

Hideki Matsui worked out for about two hours on Thursday.  During soft toss BP, he took 40 from the right and 160 swings from the left.  He also used his new 2012 model bat -- it has a grip that is about one millimeter thinner than before.

And Sponichi seems to think that the Baltimore Orioles will be strong suitors for Matsui.  They also mention other teams like the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Mets.

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Daisuke Matsuzaka did long throws at a distance of about 50 meters on Wednesday.  Matsuzaka tossed his first bullpen session in about eight months on January 30.  His next session will like take place on February 3.

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Sponichi is reporting that Hiroki Sanada will be getting a tryout in the US.  Not much else is known, other than that he will be leaving for US the on Saturday and will continue his workouts with Hisanori Takahashi for a few days before the tryout.

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Hideki Okajima returned from Australia (Gold Coast) on Thursday and told reporters that he will approach the season as if it were his very last.  Okajima has already tossed two 100+ pitch bullpen sessions.  He will head to the US after spending a few days in Japan.

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Sponichi notes the Texas Ragners' signing of Don Kalkstein, sports psychologist.

Hideki Matsui and Koksuke Fukudome make Jon Heyman's top 20 remaining free agents list.  Snips from the article:

7. Hideki Matsui, DH-OF. His .252 batting average from a year ago hurts him, but Oakland is a death trap for hitters. Wouldn't bet against this guy.

15. Kosuke Fukudome, OF. Speaking of being a disappointing Cub, Fukudome wasn't looked upon kindly as an overpaid North Sider. But as an outfield extra who plays defense and gets on base (.361 career OBP), he'd be a solid pickup.

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Matsui took 123 swings during soft toss BP on Wednesday.  He also started wearing batting gloves during BP for the first time this month.

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Tsuyoshi Wada will finish out his off-season workouts in Hawaii (he is scheduled to leave Japan later this week).

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Hisanori Takahashi is currently working out in Los Angeles.

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Ryota Igarashi tossed 52 pitches (mostly two-seamers and sliders) during his first bullpen session of the year.  He plans to toss five more sessions before the start of Spring Training.

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Tsuyoshi Nishioka is in the middle of divorce talks Naoko Tokuzawa.  Her inability to support Nishioka in the US and reports of an affair by Nishioka (which he has denied) are mentioned as reasons.  They are currently living apart from each other.

Nishioka is planning to head to the US on February 10.

A day after tossing his first bullpen session since May 2011, Daisuke Matsuzaka played catch at a distance of about 20 meters on Tuesday and told reporters his elbow did not feel especially tight and that there were no problems.  Matsuzaka is scheduled to toss another bullpen session on February 3.

Matuzaka also decided to get a new hairstyle to mix things up a bit -- his stylist apparently dropped by his hotel on January 22 and that is when he decided to get his first perm in about 10 years.

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Hideki Matsui worked outdoors on Tuesday for the first time in five days.  He finished out his practices by taking 102 swings during soft toss, a high for the current off-season.  Regarding any potential offers, Matsui said he still had not heard anything and that he was not considering a return to Japan.  When asked what he would do if he did not receive any offers from teams in the US, he replied, "I have not thought that far ahead."

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Sponichi notes that Munenori Kawasaki was assigned the number 61.

MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan reports that there is a "good chance" Koji Uehara will be traded.  A snip:

According to Major League sources, there is a “pretty good chance” that reliever Koji Uehara is going to get traded soon. The Rangers, who acquired him from the Orioles on July 30 for Tommy Hunter and Chris Davis, would likely get prospects in return.

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Uehara has become available since the signing of Yu Darvish because the Rangers have told Alexi Ogando there is a good chance that he could end up back in the bullpen.

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The Seattle Times' Larry Stone mentions that the Seattle Mariners will let Ichiro Suzuki play out his current contract.

"Right now, at the end of the year, we mutually agreed we'd table any discussions, move forward and play the season and see what happens,'' he said. "Anything could happen at any point in time, but right now, our biggest concern is to go into spring training and watch all of our players and let the process work itself out."

That, of course, leaves open the possibility that Ichiro could become a true free agent for the first time in his career. But that's getting ahead of ourselves. The more pressing matter, for now, is where he's going to hit in 2012.

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Sponichi is reporting that about ten teams were interested in Hiroki Kuroda and that the Arizona Diamondbacks may have given him the largest offer at US$13M a year.  In the end, it came down to the New York Yankees and Hiroshima Carp and according to someone involved, Kuroda spent the last week flip-flopping between the two teams about "once every to minutes."

Kuroda on the Yankees:

Not everyone has the opportunity to put on the pinstripe uniform.  They are a team with tradition and they are looking to win a World Series Championship.  And that team looked to me for help.  I choked up a little when I got the offer.  I felt that if I did not take this chance, I would come to regret it ten, twenty years down the line.

The no trade clause also apparently helped.  He also gets the same number he wore with the Los Angeles Dodgers (18).

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ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweets that the New York Mets are looking into a number of left-handed hitting OF, including Kosuke Fukudome.

It seems Sponichi has also taken that tweet and turned it into a possible interest in Hideki Matsui, even though his name was never mentioned.

MLB.com's Greg Johns reports that Eric Wedge is thinking about "non-leadoff options" for Ichiro Suzuki.  A snip:

Eric Wedge first brought up at the Winter Meetings in Dallas in early December the idea that Ichiro Suzuki might not be his leadoff hitter any longer, and the Mariners manager said Thursday he's now "further down the road in leaning that direction to have Ichi hit somewhere else."

Speaking at the Mariners pre-Spring Training media luncheon, Wedge expanded on his thoughts, saying Ichiro could bat second or third if he's not leading off. And he mentioned Dustin Ackley, Chone Figgins and perhaps a healthier Franklin Gutierrez as candidates to fill the leadoff role.

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The New York Yankees finalized their deal with Hiroki Kuroda.  He gets a one-year deal worth US$10M and can earn up to an additional US$1M in performance bonuses ($200,000 each for 160, 170, 180, 190, and 200 innings).

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When reporters asked Hideki Matsui to comment on the possibility of signing with a National League team, he replied, "I think I will ok.  Although I really do not know how things will go until I try."

On Thursday, Matsui took 116 swings, from both side of the plate, during soft toss BP.

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Koji Uehara posted an update on his blog about his workouts (long throws at about 90 meters on Wednesday and about five minutes of pitching, on flat ground, on Thursday) and his concerns about where he might be playing next year (he feels anxious).

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Daisuke Matsuzaka threw 21 pitches (all fastballs) on flat ground on Wednesday.

According to Sponichi and Nikkan Sports, Boston Red Sox rehab coordinator Chip Simpson told reporters that Daisuke Matsuzaka could toss a bullpen session some time next week.  Matsuzaka is able to play catch on flat ground at a max distance of about 50 meters with his partner squatting.  When he tosses a bullpen session will likely be determined after he begins mixing in off-speed pitches.

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Hideki Matsui has yet to receive an official offer.  Based on current team needs, Sponichi notes that if the New York Yankees do not sign Matsui, he will likely end up having to play in the National League.

When asked by reporters what he would do if offered a minor league contract, Matsui replied, "I will think about that when I need to cross the bridge.  Right now, I have not thought about it."

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TV Ratings for Yu Darvish's press conference: Sapporo TV - 11.6%; NHK - 10.4%; Hokkaido TV - 8.5%; all five channels combined - 89.5%.

Darvish also updated his blog with additional thoughts from his press conference.

Hideki Matsui took two days off (January 20, 21) from training due to poor weather.  He was back to working out again on Sunday.

"I did not set a schedule [for my workouts].  I do what I can at the time.  If it rains, I stay at home and sleep.  I just need to be more or less ready to play baseball in about a month when Spring Training begins," said Matsui.

On Monday, he worked out in the rain.

"The sun was out in the morning.  I was tricked.  But I am ok, no problems."

Matsui plans to continue his workouts in Japan until he can secure a work visa, which means he will not be heading to the US until he signs with a team.

Via Nikkan Sports, CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler reports (and tweets) that the Detroit Tigers are interested in Matsui.

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Via Nikkan Sports, The Associated Press has additional details on Norichika Aoki's contract:

• base US$2.25M with a max US$8,187,500 if the Milwaukee Brewers exercise his 2014 option AND he starts 140 games and plays 150 per season.
• he will make US$1M this year and US1.25M next year.  The Brewers hold a US$1.5M option for 2014 with a US$250,000 buyout.
• he can earned US$1,675,000 in performances bonuses this year and US$837,500 next year.  If his 2014 option is exercised, he could earn up to US$1,087,500 in performance bonuses.  Bonuses will be based on starts (100-140) and games (70-150).

Hideki Matsui spoke to reporters on Wednesday and said:

This is not something limited to just the New York Yankees, because it makes me happy anytime a team [says they are interested].  Although I am not really sure if they have contacted my agent. ... I would of course like to sign my Spring Training.  But there is still about a month to go.  I think it will fine.  I am not even worried."

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Via Nikkan Sports: NESN's Didier Morais provides the following update on Daisuke Matsuzaka:

As Valentine surveyed the area, he also found Daisuke Matsuzaka, who is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and is likely to miss the first half of the season. The two exchanged New Year's pleasantries -- in Japanese, of course -- but Valentine left encouraged by the visit.

"He's doing really well," Valentine said. "He had a good look in his eye."

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Nikkan Sports mentions that Norichika Aoki will hold a press conference in Japan on 1/20.  Sponichi adds that Aoki probably signed for about US$1.5M a year, or about half of what he made in 2011 (from 330M yen to 115.5M yen).  With incentives (based on the number of games he plays/starts), the two-year deal could be worth around US$5M (or 385M yen).

Aoki is the fifth Japanese player to join the Milwaukee Brewers' organization: Hideo Nomo (1999), Takahito Nomura (2002), Tomokazu Oka (2005-2006), and Takashi Saito (2011).

Aoki will begin working out in Okinawa next week.  And while the Brewers would like to introduce him at FanFest on 1/29, nothing has been finalized due to possible visa timing issues.