Top News:
Peter Gammons / ESPN:
Lure of Yankees draws Pettitte in; Red Sox have issues — Of course it helps to have the Yankees' revenues to take on Bobby Abreu's $15 million salary when the Phillies want him out of town and pay Andy Pettitte $16 million off a 14-13, 4.20 ERA season. — Though Yankee Stadium …
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ESPN:
Dealings would need 'abrupt change' to beat deadline — After all the hoopla surrounding the $51.1 million bid the Red Sox posted to talk to Daisuke Matsuzaka, it appears a contract may not materialize. — Negotiations between the team and the Japanese star pitcher have nearly broken down, the Boston Herald reported Sunday.
Evan Brunell / Fire Brand of the American League:ERIC GAGNE TO GIANTS?
Discussion:
MLB Trade Rumors
Murray Chass / New York Times:
Week in Review: Few Trades but Feverish Spending — Commissioner Bud Selig might regret hailing this as "the golden age of baseball." He has said it so often that he has convinced his constituents, the clubs. He has done such a good job of convincing them that they have started a gold rush …
Discussion:
The Feeding the Monster Blog
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NY Daily News:
Winter of 'roids — Juice abusers end up being big winners at this year's meetings — One can only imagine the sick feeling that overcame Bud Selig as he monitored the winter meetings in Disney World, where old-fashioned trades were eschewed by clubs in favor of spending silly money on mediocre pitching.
Discussion:
Chicks Dig The Pitchers' Duel
Thayer Evans / New York Times:
Family Supports Pettitte's Return to Yankees — After the veteran left-hander Andy Pettitte and the Houston Astros reached the World Series in 2005, he figured he would pitch only one more year because he did not expect his arm to hold up. — When Pettitte, 34, became a free agent …
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Ken Davidoff / Newsday:Bosox seem like good landing spot, but their full rotation …
Discussion:
Dallas Star-Telegram
Jerry Crasnick / ESPN:
Mesa reaches deal to pitch for Tigers in 19th season … Veteran reliever Jose Mesa has reached preliminary agreement on a one-year contract with the Detroit Tigers that will pay him about $2.5 million, two baseball sources said Sunday. — The deal will be completed when Mesa passes a physical exam this week, the sources said.
Enrique Rojas / ESPN:
Fehr: Vote for players based on what they did on field … SANTIAGO, Dominican Republic — Donald Fehr doesn't want to tell journalists how to do their jobs, but he hopes that the shadow of alleged steroid use doesn't affect the chances of some to reach the baseball Hall of Fame.
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Alan Schwarz / New York Times:
Fearing Inflation at the Same Time as Fueling It — Two winters ago, after the Dodgers signed the oft-injured outfielder J. D. Drew to a five-year contract worth $55 million, the Los Angeles news media roasted the club's general manager, Paul DePodesta, alongside his order of magic beans.
NY Daily News:
Mets barring Jose from winter ball — STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS — The Mets shut the door on any chance of Jose Reyes playing winter ball yesterday when GM Omar Minaya told a Dominican TV station that the shortstop was too vital to the Mets to risk his health.
Discussion:
Tribe Report
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Rocky Mountain News:
Krieger: From Monfort's perspective, it's time for Rockies to shine — Charlie Monfort has absorbed a few shots since taking over from Jerry McMorris as principal owner of the Rockies. — He mentions Duane Bobick. I mention the late Jerry Quarry. — "Don't compare me to Quarry," he pleads.
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Hot Stove: Gonzalez cool through trade storm — By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — It is easy to imagine how Mike Gonzalez might have taken it all quite personally. — The Pirates spent the better part of the week trying to trade him to Atlanta for slugger Adam LaRoche …
Terry Pluto / Akron Beacon Journal:
View from Pluto — Data on Derek — TALKIN' DEREK ANDERSON — • I looked up some stuff on Browns quarterback Derek Anderson, who did a decent job in the 27-7 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has been a major achiever in high school — first in the history Oregon 3A sports …
JSOnline:
Brewers continue to field questions about 2007 squad — As the Milwaukee Brewers slowly unveil their seemingly convoluted and somewhat risky plan to field a team for the 2007 season, two questions are asked most often by skeptical, anxious fans: — 1. If you have a shortstop who hit 35 home runs …
Marc Topkin / St. Petersburg Times:
Even barrel bottom has Rays priced out … The biggest thing that came out of four days of marathon talks and minimal action at the winter meetings may have been this: — It's going to be hard for the Devil Rays to get better. — Signing any free agents, even lower-tier veterans, is going to be more difficult than they hoped.
Discussion:
DRays Bay
Ken Rosenthal / Fox Sports:
Rangers, Lofton close to deal — The Rangers, moving to fill their center-field void, are close to signing free-agent center fielder Kenny Lofton, FOXSports.com has learned. — The deal, expected to be for one year, would give the Rangers a replacement for Gary Matthews Jr. …
Kevin Baxter / Miami Herald:
Expanding their reach statewide — The Devil Rays are trying to grab a larger share of the Florida market, with plans for moving a series against the Rangers to Orlando. — kbaxter@MiamiHerald.com — LAKE BUENA VISTA - Florida ultimately might prove big enough to support more than one major-league franchise.
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
Bob Elliott / torontosun.com:
Bell fires back at Ricciardi — Not impressed with comments about Meche — Remember when the Blue Jays and the Kansas City Royals were hated rivals in 1985? — They may be reaching that level again. — After the Royals landed free-agent Gil Meche to a five-year, $55 million deal …
