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.

Hideki Matsui added soft toss BP to his workouts on Wednesday.  On Thursday, he started taking fielding practice -- while standing near the third base bag, he took 42 grounders and "committed two errors".  During BP, he saw a total 93 pitches from both sides of the plate.  And when asked if was worried about his contract status, he replied, "I do not check the headlines.  I am not worried at this point."

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Ryota Igarashi is hoping that the two things he worked on this winter (polishing his two-seamer and slider while playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic and strengthening his upper body) help him make it to the Majors.

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Koji Uehara and Yoshinori Tateyama participated in a talk session with Daisuke Ohata (retired rugby player) in Tokyo on Thursday.  The three were in the same class when they attended Tokai Gyosei High School.

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The Nike SHA|DO line of baseball gear, used by Daisuke Matsuzaka, apparently went on sale Thursday.

Yahoo Sports' Tim Brown has the following update on Hiroki Kuroda:

While none of this is new or a surprise, I heard Monday morning that Kuroda was close to agreeing to a new contract and it wouldn't be with the Dodgers. The Seattle Mariners said it wasn't them, and the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, among others, answered similarly: "Not us."

Daily Sports is reporting that six teams + the Hiroshima Carp are interested in Kuroda.  They also mention that the Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Yankees offered deals worth around 1B yen a year, more three times the amount the Hiroshima Carp supposedly offered (300M yen a year).

Kuroda apparently wants to decide on where he will be play next season before the end of the year and will consider all offers that are on the table.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates announced on Tuesday that they invited Ryota Igarashi to Spring training.  A snip:

The Pittsburgh Pirates today signed right-handed pitcher Ryota Igarashi and first baseman Jeff Clement to minor league contracts, with invitations to Spring Training as non-roster players.

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Sponichi has posted the following comment from Norchika Aoki on the Milwaukee Brewers wanting to give him a look before negotiations:

I think negotiations will go a lot more smoothly if they have a chance to see me.  I do not think I will have too much trouble since I have been practicing.  I am currently at about 50-60%.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka made an appearance at an adidas press conference on Thursday and said that he would be willing to play the outfield (or any other position) if it meant more playing time, especially with the addition of Jamey Carroll.

"The fact that [Carroll] will be making about the same as me means the team probably wants him to play about as much as they want me to play.  The bottom line is whether or not I can win the starting job," said Nishioka.

He also said that he was feeling great physically.

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Sponichi is reporting that Ryota Igarashi's split contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates could end up being worth more than the two-year deal he signed with the New York Mets, assuming everything on the contract is maxed out.

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The Seattle Times' Larry Stone is reporting that the Seattle Mariners are expected to sign Munenori Kawasaki.  A snip:

But Kawasaki could be a useful player for the Mariners, most likely in a utility role. He and his wife are in Seattle this week, and sources say he will sign a minor-league contract with a spring-training invitation. The signing might not be announced until after the holidays.

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Hisashi Iwakuma left for Los Angeles on Thursday.  Before leaving he said to reporters, "Things are moving on [Yu Darvish] so teams will probably begin moving on other pitchers.  I want to be able to talk to my agent if/when contract talks move into the final stages and it will be easier to get updates if I am in the US."

Sponichi notes the Minnesota Twins and Oakland Athletics as teams with interest in Iwakuma.  Regarding this, Iwakuma said, "It would be nice if things were decided before the end of the year, but I will consider whatever offers are made.  It is also possible that other teams that were not interested will get involved as well.  I am a worried/nervous but also excited like on draft day."

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Via Nikkan Sports - Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports that Hiroyuki Nakajima could be signed and traded to another team.  A snip:

The Yankees could work a sign-and-trade involving Nakajima — an idea that the player’s U.S. agent, Greg Genske, has broached with the club, major-league sources say.

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Nakajima, 29, is open to all possibilities, sources said. While he wants to play every day, he also is intrigued by the idea of playing for the Yankees, even in a backup role.

According to Sanspo, Ryota Igarashi has signed a split contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates.  They also report that he turned down a similar offer from the Toronto Blue Jays because he apparently wanted to be closer to his NY home.

UPDATE @ 11:04am - Sponichi is reporting that the Pirates have a club option for a second year.

Nikkan Sports reports that the Toronto Blue Jays may have submitted a bid on Hiroyuki Nakajima.

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According to Nikkan Sports, Bob Melvin dined with Hideki Matsui in New York twice so far during the off-season -- first to a sushi restaurant and then to an Italian restaurant.  They also mention that the Oakland A's could be open to re-signing Matsui at the right price.

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The Hanshin Tigers are willing to wait until March for Ryota Igarashi to decide where he will play next year.

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Via Nikkan Sports - Eric Wedge is not sure if Ichiro Suzuki will continue to bat lead-off next season.  A snip from an MLB.com article by Greg Johns:

Wedge indicated on Tuesday in his meeting with the media at the Winter Meetings that Ichiro's role could indeed be changing after 11 seasons almost exclusively as the club's leadoff hitter.

"I'm still not sure where I'm going to hit him in the order, and I want him to understand that," Wedge said. "Because ultimately I'm going to do what is best for our club. I'm going to put out the best nine in the order I see fit to score as many runs as we can.

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"He told me last year in the middle of the season that he wants to do whatever is best for the ballclub and he wants me to do whatever I feel is best for the ballclub," Wedge said. "I take him at his word, and that's what I'm going to do. He's been tremendous -- he's been communicative with me, and I appreciate that. We're looking to build a winner and championship club, here and that's my entire focus."

Sanspo reports that Ryota Igarashi topped out at 158km/h while playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic.  They are also reporting that he still has not received any offers from MLB teams.

"Igarahi has returned to the US and is continuing his training," said someone close to the situation.  "I was surprised to hear that he hit 158km/h, but I have heard that he has made improvements. ... It does not appear as though he has received any offers from MLB teams so far."

Sanspo is reporting that the Hanshin Tigers may be getting ready to offer Ryota Igarashi a two-year deal worth around 300M yen.

Igarashi is currently playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic (11 G, 10.2 IP, 3 Sv, 11 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 0 HR, 4 BB, 14 SO).

The media learned on Friday that the Hanshin Tigers are preparing the number 53 for Ryota Igarashi.  They were originally planning to leave the number open for a younger position player with speed, since it used to be Norihiro Akahoshi's old number, but they decided to give Igarashi the option to select it because he used to wear the number when he played for the Yakult Swallows.

The Tigers realize that Igarashi still feels strongly about returning to the US next season, but they obviously have not given up completely.

Now that the Hanshin Tigers are certain Takashi Toritani will be returning to the team next season, they will turn their attention to improving the pitching staff.  Of the players currently out there, Ryota Igarashi is apparently at the top of their list.

Sanspo notes that the Tigers plan to send an official to the US within the next few days to check in on Igarashi.  Sanspo also says the only moves the team has left are trades with other teams or signing Japanese players returning to the NPB from the MLB.

Nikkan Sports adds that the Tigers have 68 players on their 70-man roster and will save one of their two remaining openings for Igarashi -- they know he still wants to play in the US and could end up keeping the spot open until around spring camp.