NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Early trade talk and free-agent buzz from the winter meetings:

•The Texas Rangers are quietly shopping third baseman Hank Blalock, who spent last season battling injuries. Even when healthy, Blalock's production has slipped significantly from his All-Star 2003 and 2004 seasons when he hit 61 home runs and drove in 200 runs.

The Rangers plan to approach the Dodgers regarding Blalock, who will make an affordable $5.95 million in 2008 with a club option in 2009 for $6.2 million. The Dodgers want to add a big bat at third base because they aren't convinced Nomar Garciaparra will return even to his 2006 form or that prospect Andy LaRoche can shake back pain and become a productive everyday player. However, they aren't convinced Blalock is the answer.

•Talks between the Dodgers and the Florida Marlins regarding power-hitting third baseman Miguel Cabrera have cooled because the Marlins want outfielder Matt Kemp, first baseman James Loney and left-handed pitcher and 2006 first-round draft pick Clayton Kershaw. Dodgers GM Ned Colletti, who won't arrive here until Monday afternoon, doesn't want to part with any of those players, let alone all three.

•The Minnesota Twins aren't taking kindly to the Monday evening deadline the New York Yankees imposed on them. The Yankees want the Twins to either accept or reject their offer of pitcher Phil Hughes, center fielder Melky Cabrera and a mid-level prospect for Johan Santana.

The Twins privately are downplaying the deadline, saying that if they go back to the Yankees later in the week, they believe the offer still will be there. The Yankees, for their part, want to move forward in discussions with other clubs, and are saying they can't do that until the Santana situation is resolved.

•Free-agent David Riske is all but signed with the Milwaukee Brewers, a baseball source said, further depleting the list of available relief pitchers. Riske would join Mariano Rivera, Francisco Cordero, Masahide Kobayashi, Scott Linebrink, Kerry Wood, Troy Percival, Yasuhiko Yabuta, Matt Herges and Mike Timlin as free-agent relievers who signed relatively early in the offseason.

Teams wanting bullpen help now must pick through a bargain bid that includes the injury-prone and inconsistent: Eric Gagne, Ron Mahay, Octavio Dotel, LaTroy Hawkins and Armando Benitez.

•The San Diego Padres didn't need to travel two time zones to address their first order of business. They have reached a preliminary agreement on a contract extension with Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy that will keep him in San Diego through 2012.

Peavy is due $6 million next year and $9 million in 2009 under his existing contract. The new deal would add three years at slightly more than $50 million. The Padres and Peavy's agent, Barry Axelrod, are hammering out incentives and a no-trade provision before calling it a deal.

Related: Winter meetings