Carlos Delgado flew into town for a good cause.
The Texas Rangers, the Seattle Mariners and the Blue Jays also think Delgado is a cause worth investing in.
The Rangers are the latest to make Delgado an offer, the Jays first baseman said yesterday, on his seventh annual Special Olympics visit.
"We've had offers from Texas, Seattle and Toronto," Delgado said. "I imagine action will pick up after midnight (tonight)."
DRAFT PICK
Tonight is the deadline for the Jays to offer arbitration to Delgado. If the Jays offer Delgado arbitration, the team that signs him loses a draft pick.
If the Jays offer Delgado arbitration and he leaves, they get two draft picks. But if he accepts, can they afford him?
"I've waited this long to find out what Toronto will do," Delgado said.
"I can wait until midnight."
Delgado said his agent, David Sloane, has heard from 10 clubs.
Tony Bernazard, the new assistant general manager with the New York Mets, called Delgado, while GM Omar Minaya phoned Sloane.
"Tony and I have a good relationship from when he worked with the players' association," Delgado said. "Tony wanted to know whether I'd be interested in the Mets.
"I would switch leagues, I want an opportunity to win."
While the Seattle Mariners finished dead last in their division -- just like the Jays -- they are budgeting to build a contender -- unlike the Jays.
Former Jays officials Pat Gillick, Epy Guerrero and Bob Engle visited Delgado at his father's house on Nov. 20 in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Gillick, former GM of the Seattle Mariners, is a consultant for Seattle, while Engle scouts Latin America for the M's.
"It was like old times, we sat at the balcony at my father's house, it was like travelling back 16 years," Delgado said, referring to when Guerrero and Gillick signed him as a free agent.
The meeting lasted four hours, ending with the M's taking Delgado's mother and father, sister Tania and her husband, Edwin, for lunch.
"We had a lot of memories and laughs to share," Delgado said. "Gillick got his point across. He wasn't pushy, he wasn't like a used car salesman.
"Lunch was very laid back."
Delgado isn't ready to make a decision.
"I don't have a deadline, I'm going to be very patient and consider all offers," Delgado said. "I'm looking for the best situation for me."
Have teams asked about Delgado's silent protest to the war in Iraq and not standing on the top step of the dugout when God Bless America was played Sunday afternoons?
"Some teams asked about my position, but no one has said 'we're not interested,' " Delgado said.
Delgado is in town for the annual Special Olympics, which includes tomorrow's breakfast and a black-tie gala dinner at the Westin Harbour Castle.
In the past he has donated items for silent auctions and taped public-service announcements, leaving his sunny island for Toronto's winter. This year he has pledged $1 million of his life insurance to the Special Olympics.
FREE AGENCY
"I'd like to leave a legacy," Delgado said.
Delgado hit 32 homers and drove in 99 runs in 2004, despite missing a month because of a rib-cage injury.
The biggest surprise about free agency to date for Delgado?
"This is my first time through all this," Delgado said.
"There is interest and it is greatly appreciated, but the offer stage is when teams become serious."
