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. …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.