Nothing new on Vladimir Guerrero

I walked into the gym this afternoon and heard the question. It could have been anywhere. Grocery store, bank, dentist's waiting room. "Vlad?" It's been shortened to one word. "Vlad?" I still don't know whether the Orioles will sign him. I still don't know whether that $8 million offer from another team actually exists. I still don't know why he wouldn't accept it if it's true. The Orioles made their offer and aren't budging from it. They hope he accepts it. They won't come apart at the seams if he declines. They have a designated hitter who also happened to be voted Most Valuable Oriole last season, Luke Scott, but they'll move him to left field if Guerrero signs. "Vlad? Maybe. Maybe not. He hasn't decided. And if there isn't another team out there for him, the Orioles aren't going to sweeten the pot and bid against themselves. He's Vladimir Guerrero, not David Segui. Wish I had a better answer for you, but that's all I've got at this hour. Try me again at the dry cleaners. In case this one slipped past you, the Nationals signed former Orioles reliever Cla Meredith to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. Meredith posted a 3.77 ERA in 29 games for the Orioles in 2009, but he was shipped to Triple-A Norfolk last year after going 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA in 21 appearances. He did, however, earn his first career save on April 25 in Boston after 271 outings, the longest active streak in the majors. The Orioles optioned Meredith on May 28, designated him for assignment on June 22 and outrighted him on June 30 after he cleared waivers. You might remember that Meredith posted a 0.84 ERA in 12 exhibition games and made 11 straight scoreless appearances from April 13-May 11. Then it went downhill. Mereditih has found a job. The player traded for him in July 2009, infielder Oscar Salazar, was designated for assignment by the Padres this week. I'm not sure if this qualifies as baseball's circle of life, but we'll go with it.