Here are a few notes from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe:

• Bobby Valentine could be a good candidate for the Seattle Mariners gig. Cafardo adds that the White Sox bench coach Joey Cora or Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell could be high on the list for the Mariners. The Mariners won’t be alone in searching for a new manager. The Florida Marlins, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, and Pittsburgh Pirates could be looking for a new manager this off season too.
• Other manager candidates that could attract interest include Dave Martinez of the Tampa Bay Rays, Boston’s DeMarlo Hale, and the Yankees’ Tony Pena.

• If Joe Torre departs Los Angeles, Cafardo says, Don Mattingly seems like the favorite. The Dodgers could look at Tim Wallach, who has succeeded at Triple-A.
• If the Mets fire Jerry Manuel, Cafardo says New York could turn to Valentine, Torre, Wally Backman or Bob Melvin.
• According to a source close to Cafardo, there has been preliminary talks regarding an extension with catcher Victor Martinez. Cafardo says that Martinez may fall into the four-year, $60 million range, and the Sox may not believe he may be worth that. Martinez is a free-agent after the season.
• Cafardo says right-handed pitcher Jeremy Guthrie of the Baltimore Orioles is starting to figure things outs. An American League GM expressed regret at not going after Guthrie harder at the trading deadline. “It’s one of those situations where our evaluators were caught between well, he’s throwing the ball better, but will he keep it up?’’ said the GM. “After the deadline, he’s continued to throw the ball really well and I think he’s a pitcher who could have helped a lot of teams if you’d taken that leap.’’