Major league pitcher Matt Clement is drawing interest from at least nine teams, but hasn't yet been offered a contract by any of them.

Butler native Matt Clement remains a free agent, but "the dominoes are beginning to fall,"his agent, Barry Axelrod, said Wednesday night.

Axelrod said that nine major league teams have inquired about the 33-year-old right-hander's services, but no official offers are on the table.

"I would imagine things will start moving fairly soon, but you can't put a timetable on it,"he said.

Because of the shoulder surgery 15 months ago that caused Clement to miss the 2007 season, his situation is different from this time in 2004, when he signed a three-year contract worth nearly $25 million with the Boston Red Sox.

A healthy pitcher putting together consistent double-digit victory seasons then, Clement won 19 games in his three years with Boston, going 6-6 in 2006 before shoulder problems shut him down in that June.

"We're in a situation now where opportunity may win out over anything else,"Axelrod said. "Matt is looking for a situation where he can earn a spot in a team's starting rotation and prove himself again.

"Maybe that team can only offer him a minor-league contract right now, but that may work out better in the long run than a team offering him a major league contract for two years, but with a situation that may not get him on the mound as consistently."

Getting Clement back into free agency next offseason, coming off a successful 2008 season, "would increase bargaining power, definitely,"Axelrod said.

Of the 53 free agent starting pitchers this offseason, only 15 have signed contracts. Carlos Silva reached a preliminary agreement with Seattle while Kip Wells and Mark Redman signed one-year deals with Colorado on Wednesday.

Wells, a former Pirate, received $3.1 million from the Rockies despite finishing 7-17 with a 5.70 earned run average for St. Louis last season.

Clement is 87-86 with a 4.47 ERAin a career that spans 236 starts.

"Silva was one of the bigger names on the market and his signing will provide some movement,"Axelrod said of the free agent pitching logjam. "Anytime there's a guy like that who five or six teams are hoping to get, they're all going to wait to see if they get him before looking in any other direction."

Besides Clement, other notable free agent starting pitchers still available on the open market include Bartolo Colon, Josh Fogg, Freddy Garcia, Livan Hernandez, Jason Jennings, Jon Lieber, Eric Milton, Russ Ortiz and Jeff Weaver.

The Pirates and Cleveland Indians are among the nine teams who have inquired about Clement. Both are still in the hunt for his services.

'We've crossed no one off our list yet,"Axelrod said. "A big problem teams have right now is being able to find open roster spots to sign guys.

"The Rule V draft took place recently and teams are juggling rosters around. Something will open up. We're just looking for the right opportunity."

Clement could not be reached for comment Wednesday.