Vladimir

Guerrero

Guerrero could be activated this week, maybe as soon as tonight.

He hit .371 (39-for-105) with 10 homers and 23 RBI and was one of the main reasons the Angels won the AL west. Guerrero remains one of the favorites to win the American League MVP award.

With teams changing their names for money, perhaps it’s only a matter of time until we get the Nippon Ham Pirates. If the goal here is to enlarge the team’s market, maybe they could just use the Calfornia Angels instead. Yeah, that’s probably too radical.

Guerrero spoke after an impressive BP session yesterday. ''It’s better, I’m fine,’' Guerrero said through an interpreter. ''I’ve had two days of taking swings, and it feels great. I knew I had two months [after the injury] to get ready, so I wasn’t concerned.’'

Assistant GM Tony Siegle said the pain in Guerrero’s back had spread to his upper legs for a time, but that problem was resolved. Guerrero is day-to-day, but not worth removing from your lineup unless things take a turn for the worse.

In order to have any chance of landing Guerrero, the Orioles almost certainly would have to outbid every other team, possibly by a fair margin. It doesn’t appear that the team is interested in taking that route. According to the Balitmore Sun, there’s a feeling within the organization that two players making $8 million apiece might improve the team’s chances more than one player making $16 million.

Even if the Tigers make competitive offers, it’s quite unlikely that they’ll land either Vlad or Tejada. It’s assumed that both would rather play for teams that might finish above .500. Still, it’s good publicity to at least go after them. The Tigers don’t plan to bid for the big-name pitchers or older free-agent hitters like Gary Sheffield and Ivan Rodriguez.

Guerrero has said he experienced tightness in the legs during workouts over the winter. It’s possible that he’s downplaying the significance of his problems, but it doesn’t appear that the Angels are concerned at all.

They’ll go higher once talks get serious, but right now, it appears that the Orioles still have just their original five-year, $65 million contract offer on the table to Vladi. Guerrero could remain unsigned through the middle of the month.

It’s believed that the Mets’ offer to Guerrero is worth $72 million over five years, assuming he reaches the necessary number of plate appearances to kick in the two vesting options. The Mets are guaranteeing him only around $30 million over three years. It looks like a two-team race right now, as the Dodgers and Marlins have failed to make a real push. If a surprise team is going to emerge (San Francisco? Detroit? Boston?), it will probably happen this weekend.