Updates on Guerrero, Duchscherer and Beimel

After making another round of calls today, I can pass along the following nuggets on a few of your favorite free agents: The Orioles have, indeed, made an offer to Vladimir Guerrero this week, and it falls in the $3 million to $5 million range. They most certainly did not exceed $5 million. I'd say it's a lot closer to $3 million. Also, team officials don't expect a FanFest announcement similar to what transpired with Miguel Tejada last winter. In fact, while they understand that the Orioles are one of the few remaining options for Guerrero, it's still being viewed as 50-50 whether he signs. And he's in no hurry. The Orioles aren't going to tweak their proposal. This is it. They've exceeded their target budget number by several million and still want to add pitching, but they'll make an exception for Guerrero. The initial plan would call for Luke Scott to play left field if Guerrero is signed. The Orioles will watch pitcher Justin Duchscherer throw a bullpen session tomorrow in Arizona. They'll be represented by Chris Bourjos, their Arizona-based scout. Nothing out of the ordinary here. They've watched other free agents throw, and understand that you can only gauge so much from a side session. The Orioles are a finalist for left-handed reliever Joe Beimel, who is expected to make his decision much faster than Guerrero. The Red Sox also are believed to be in the running, and at least one other club. There are other minor league offers out there from the Orioles. Clay Rapada accepted one of them. They're hoping that Beimel does the same.