Swisher has eight consecutive seasons of 20 home runs or more. Image: William Perlman/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports

Swisher made headlines late in the regular season when it was reported that he would be seeking “Jayson Werth money” on the open market. It’s highly unlikely his price will get anywhere near those figures, especially with the Yankees and Red Sox out of the running, but Swisher could still land a nice pay day.

According to Yahoo’s Tim Brown, Swisher spoke directly with managers from two different clubs on Tuesday and his agent, Dan Lozano, met with as many as four different teams. Buster Olney added that Swisher’s representatives met with the Baltimore Orioles, but it’s unclear whether or not the O’s were one of the four clubs Brown referenced.

AL source: Orioles met today with the representatives for Nick Swisher.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 5, 2012

Swisher has drawn some level of interest from the Giants and could be of interest to teams like Philadelphia and Cleveland. The Seattle Mariners are considered by some to be the front runners for his services, as they appear to have the biggest need and willingness to spend money. I could also see Swisher making sense in Milwaukee or Cincinnati, but with either of those two teams, the market would almost have to fall apart and Swisher would need to be open to a shorter term deal.

Once the Josh Hamilton sweepstakes are settled, Swisher becomes the next biggest fish on the corner outfield market. He’ll make a nice consolation prize for some club, and he’ll likely still get a fairly sizable deal, probably in the four year range.

So why is Bourn one of the last remaining center fielders standing around when nearly all of the available seats have already been filled?

Bourn was supposed to be the best center fielder on the market, so why is he one of the last ones without a job? Image: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Phillies have been seeking a center fielder, but they came up a reported $20 million behind Atlanta in their bid for B.J. Upton. They also were outbid by San Francisco for Angel Pagan. The Nationals were looking for someone to patrol center, but they added Denard Span via trade with the Twins.

Meanwhile, Bourn continues to sit out there on the market. He’s an outstanding defender, a true lead-off man, and a threat to steal 40+ bases every season.

There do remain some teams that could certainly use his services, but none that seem to want to pay the kind of money that Bourn is looking to get. If Upton got better than $15 million per season, most figured that Bourn could command close to $20 million. At this point, he has to be wondering where that money is going to come from.

The traditional big spenders don’t seem to have room either in their budget or in their outfield for Bourn. The Yankees have scrolled back spending and Boston has Jacoby Ellsbury in place. The Dodgers have all three of their outfielders locked up long term. The Texas Rangers could be a possibility, but that only happens if they fail to re-sign Josh Hamilton and fail to swing a deal for Arizona’s Justin Upton. If Bourn is waiting to be the Rangers third option, he may be waiting a while.

The Mets need an outfielder, but there are questions about how much money the Wilpon family can commit to the payroll. You’d like to think that the teams that lose out on the Hamilton sweepstakes could view Bourn as the next best option, but they are so dissimilar as players that the market really isn’t the same.

Boras has played chicken with the market before and he usually wins. Sometimes it takes a stroke of luck, like last year when Victor Martinez tore up his knee in December, opening the door for Price Fielder’s giant contract in Detroit. Again though, Bourn isn’t the cleanup hitter how can mash 40 homers in a season like Fielder or Hamilton. He likely won’t be viewed as the same type of game changer, though he does have a great impact on the offense and defense.

The Cincinnati Reds are probably the best fit for Bourn, but that’s money they won’t spend. If the market falls apart and he has to settle for a one or two year deal, I could see the Reds being in play but more than likely when the season begins, Bourn will be elsewhere. The Mariners need offense of any kind and while they have an elite defensive center fielder already in Franklin Gutierrez, Bourn is a much better all around player and would fit well in the expansive outfield at SafeCo Park, even if the fences are coming in.

The one club that has the money and could use a guy like Bourn that no one is talking about is the Chicago Cubs. They like Brett Jackson a lot, but he’s still very young and has a lot of problems making contact at the plate. Chicago has already made a handful of shrewd moves that will bolster their rotation and allow this club to get significantly better. I’m certain that Jed Hoyer and Theo Epstein would love to build from within, but if a player like Bourn is available he’s the type of guy that can speed up the timeline toward contention.

Guthrie is looking for more oney than Brandon League. Image: Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

Guthrie’s struggles in Colorado were startling and may have been the biggest reason the Rockies scrapped a tradition starting rotation and began their crazy 75-pitch limit. After years as a steady, if unspectacular, performer in the AL East, Guthrie posted a WHIP over 1.6 and ERA of nearly 7.00 in 19 games (15 starts) for the Rockies before being shipped off to KC in a swap of underperforming starters.

While Sanchez continued to fizzle in Denver, Guthrie caught new life with the Royals and posted an ERA of just 3.14 over 14 starts. The formula was pretty simple: Guthrie’s hits allowed were down, walks were down, and strikeouts were up once he left the high altitude and were actually better than his career norms.

Can he parlay a half season’s worth of success into a deal that would pay him better than $11 million per year? He shouldn’t be able to, at least if there is any kind of sanity in baseball at all. There are probably a dozen free agent starters more attractive than Guthrie on the market this year, and the Rockies debacle can’t simply be ignored. Guthrie showed than he is capable of going bad and even with the Coors Field factor, that’s something that will stick with GMs across the league.

I can’t see him getting anything close to what he’s asking for, though I don’t begrudge him for aiming high. After all, the Dodgers are looking for starters and they’ve already shown that they’ll drastically overspend for pitching.