According to a baseball source, the Red Sox placed a posting bid for Japanese shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishioka in the mid-$2 million range. However, the Sox were outbid by the Twins, who won the right to negotiate with the 26-year-old switch-hitter with a bid that was described by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune as $5 million and that Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com suggested (via Twitter) was “about $5.3 million.

The Twins’ bid will entitle them to have exclusive negotiating rights to Nishioka for 30 days. If they reach a contract agreement with the Japanese star, they will pay the Chiba Lotte Marines the posting fee that they bid. If they fail to reach an agreement with him, the Twins will owe the Marines nothing.

Nishioka hit .346 with a .423 OBP, .905 OPS, 206 hits and 121 runs for Chiba Lotte in 2010.

The status of Adrian Beltre has been a hot topic at the GM Meetings. (AP)

Wednesday marked the second full day of the GM meetings in Orlando. For a look back at Day 1, click here.

In 2008, there was not a single transaction that occurred at the GM meetings. In that context, two years seems like quite a long time ago.

This year’s GM meetings feel less as if they are transpiring in the shadow of Disney as much as they are in the middle of a bazaar. There’s been plenty of activity, both real and stage-setting.

While Red Sox GM Theo Epstein told reporters that he did not anticipate that the club would do anything of note before leaving Orlando, three notable transactions took place to further shape the market for offseason deals:

–The Tigers signed free agent Joaquin Benoit, an outstanding performer for the Rays in a huge bounceback 2010 season, to a somewhat staggering three-year, $16.5 million contract. Benoit had a 1.34 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 60 innings while pitching on an incentive-laden deal for the Rays in 2010. Implications for the Red Sox: The Sox are no fans of multi-year deals for relievers, and while they were prepared to bite the bullet on a deal spanning multiple seasons for relief arms, this deal — for a middle reliever — will no doubt embolden pitchers like Scott Downs and Brian Fuentes to shoot very high. With three years now a baseline for the relief market (for a pitcher who is one year removed from missing an entire season), the Sox’ task of adding bullpen arms became more challenging, especially with the top 2010 performer no longer available.

–The Blue Jays acquired outfielder Rajai Davis from the Athletics in exchange for a pair of minor leaguers. Implications for the Red Sox: Limited, especially since the Blue Jays were not expected to be major players for the outfielders (such as Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth) whom the Sox are more likely targeting.

–The Chibe Lotte Marines of the NPB will make shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishioka available to Major League Baseball clubs via the posting process. Implications for the Red Sox: Assuming that the 26-year-old, who led the Pacific League with a .346 average, is acquired and signed by a major league team other than the Red Sox, it could take away a potential suitor should the Sox decide to try to move either Marco Scutaro or Jed Lowrie. Alternately, the Sox could make a bid for Nishioka, in which case the club could more freely market Scutaro or Lowrie (much as the A’s did by acquiring pitcher Hishasi Hiwakuma and then dealing starter Vin Mazzaro to the Royals as part of the deal for outfielder David DeJesus).

While those were the deals that actually got done, there was yet another wave of rumors and statements to help illuminate where the Red Sox stand in the offseason. Here, broken down by area, were the major developments from Wednesday.

OWNERSHIP, PAYROLL AND OVERALL OFFSEASON STRATEGY

–Red Sox chairman Tom Werner appeared on The Big Show and shed light on the Sox’ commitment to return to the postseason next year. (For a transcript of his remarks, click here.) He observed that the Sox had the second highest payroll in the majors last year, and that they anticipated “a robust payroll, probably as high as last year if not higher.” He also suggested that the team will move aggressively to improve its roster, and made clear that he and Sox ownership have no intentions of treating 2011 as a “bridge year.” Read the rest of this entry »