Carlos Marmol has discussed a Major League deal with three teams - MLB

Teams are expected to watch free agent reliever Carlos Marmol pitch for the Tigres del Licey in the Dominican Winter League playoffs, according to Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors. MLBTR reports that Marmol has discussed a Major League deal with three different teams, though it is unclear if any of those offers are still on the table. Marmol is expected to sign at some point this month.

While his ERA hasn’t been catastrophically bad, Marmol has struggled immensely with his control, particularly over the past two seasons. In 104.1 innings of work, Marmol has walked 85 batters, 82 intentionally. His 18 percent walk rate state the start of 2012 is the worst among 98 relievers who logged at least 100 innings. The next worst is Rex Brothers at 12.7 percent. If he can ever overcome his control problems, he can still be a useful reliever, but Marmol will be entering his ninth season in the Majors. Sometimes you just are who you are.

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Roger Clemens will be an analyst for ESPN when the defending World Series champion Houston Astros host the Chicago White Sox on opening day.

Clemens made four appearances on last year’s KayRod Cast with Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez. He will be stepping in on March 30 for David Cone, who will be doing the New York Yankees opener against the San Francisco Giants on YES Network.

“Roger has been sort of a friend of ours for the last year, so to speak, he’s in. He’s been engaged, knowledgeable and really present,” said ESPN Vice President of Production Phil Orlins. “You know, whatever past may be, he’s still tremendously engaged and he really brought that every time he was with us.”

Clemens was a seven-time Cy Young winner but his career after baseball has been tainted by allegations of performance-enhancing drug use. He is a Houston native and pitched for the Astros for three seasons.

Orlins said that with the rules changes and pitch clock, it is important to have a pitcher in the booth with Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez.

“We don’t feel like we have to have the dynamic of Eduardo with a pitcher, but we certainly think that works. Throw in the added factor of rule changes and it is better to have a batter-pitcher perspective,” Orlins said.

Orlins did not say if this would open the door for future opportunities for Clemens as an ESPN analyst.