Top News:
Dan Shaughnessy / Boston Globe:
Some friendly suggestions for Matsuzaka — An open letter to Daisuke Matsuzaka: — Dear, Dice-K (OK if we call you Dice-K? Or would you rather D-Mat or Dice Man?), — Welcome to Boston. Thought you might like to know a little about your new workplace.
RELATED:
Gordon Edes / Boston Globe:
Matsuzaka, Red Sox agree to terms — Results of ace's physical awaited to make 6-year, $52m deal official — Doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital will have the final word, but assuming Daisuke Matsuzaka passes his physical, the best young pitcher in Japan will be pitching for the Red Sox next season.
Discussion:
Surviving Grady
David Picker / New York Times:
Blood, Sweat and Type O: Japan's Weird Science — In the end, the Red Sox apparently decided to spend more than $100 million to get the Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka in a Boston uniform for the next six seasons, a daring financial outlay for an athlete who has never thrown a pitch …
Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:
This Year, No Anna Benson (Among Others) — A year ago, the Mets' holiday children's party at Shea Stadium was turned upside down by Anna Benson, who wore a revealing crimson dress in her role as Mrs. Claus. — Mrs. Benson has since relocated to Baltimore, where her husband, Kris …
RELATED:
Michael Morrissey / New York Post:
WRIGHT ON BOARD FOR PITCH TO ZITO — If Barry Zito is interested in taking Manhattan, then David Wright is interested in taking him around it. — Yesterday afternoon, Wright enthusiastically suggested that he would be a tour guide for Zito to woo the top-notch free agent.
Deadspin:
Our Interview With John Rocker — Two days before Thanksgiving, at Local 138, one of our favorite watering holes in New York City, we sat down with, of all people, famed immigration expert John Rocker, and talked for about an hour. Really. We did this. See? Sometimes we interview people.
RELATED:
Jeff Pearlman / ESPN:
The light beyond Rocker — For seven years, I have done my best to take the high road. — When, after my initial profile of John Rocker appeared in the Dec. 23, 1999, issue of Sports Illustrated, there were literally hundreds of interview requests from print, radio and TV. I turned them down.
USA Today:
Braves pass on Giles; Jones may be next — The Atlanta Braves, who discovered this fall what it's like to be sitting home in October, also are feeling the pain of trying to hang with the big boys in the free-agent marketplace. — The Braves, saying Tuesday they didn't have the finances …
RELATED:
Tom Krasovic / San Diego Union-Tribune:
Club makes contract offer to second baseman Giles — General Manager Kevin Towers said he made a contractual offer yesterday to second baseman Marcus Giles, the former Braves regular who became a free agent on Tuesday night. The proposal is believed to be worth $3 million to $4 million.
Discussion:
Gaslamp Ball, MetsBlog.com, MLB Trade Rumors, It's Outta Here!, 6-4-2 and Ben Maller's Sports …
Geoff Baker / Seattle Times:
M's deal for Nationals' Vidro — It was only by playing every day that new Mariners designated hitter Jose Vidro figured he could get his bat scorching again the way folks remembered it. — Trouble is, the grind of daily action at second base had landed the career .301 hitter …
Discussion:
U.S.S. Mariner, MLB.com, Washington Post, MLB Trade Rumors, District of Baseball and William F. Yurasko
RELATED:
NY Daily News:
Bombers mull pitch for Pineiro — The Yankees already have Andy Pettitte in the fold, they likely have Kei Igawa on the way and they still have Roger Clemens in their sights whenever he decides about next year. — But a person familiar with the Yankees' thinking said the team …
Discussion:
Off the Facade
RELATED:
Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Wainwright appears more likely to be penciled into the rotation — Tony La Russa came to St. Louis brandishing what he argues is an impromptu legal document that binds the biggest name left on the free agent market to the Cardinals' unfinished pitching rotation. — It works only if "signed" is used loosely.
Discussion:
Roto Authority Fantasy …, Cardinal Commentary, The 26th Man, Viva El Birdos and Ben Maller's Sports …
Dean Chiungos / MLB.com:
MLB.com hands out TYIB Awards — More than six million fans voted to choose 11 winners — The fans have spoken, the votes have been tallied and no recounts will be necessary. — The winners for the fifth annual This Year in Baseball Awards were announced live on MLB.com Thursday, headlined by a host of new and familiar names.
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com
Mike Downey / Chicago Tribune:
High time for Dawson — Ex Cub's Hall credentials superior to McGwire's — I told a pollster from The Associated Press that, yes, I will be voting for Mark McGwire for baseball's Hall of Fame. — Circumstantial evidence is not proof, I maintained on a radio talk show. Show me a smoking gun.
Discussion:
GROTA
Marc Topkin / St. Petersburg Times:
Rays, Iwamura confident as deal nears completion … ST. PETERSBURG - Owner Stuart Sternberg isn't sending a private plane like the Red Sox did for Daisuke Matsuzaka, but the Devil Rays appear close to landing their own promising Japanese import, infielder Akinori Iwamura.
Denver Post:
O'Dowd: More deals on horizon — The dealing might not be done. — A day after the Rockies shipped staff ace Jason Jennings to Houston in exchange for three players, general manager Dan O'Dowd said other moves could be in the works. — "We're not done yet," O'Dowd said Wednesday.
Bob Duffy / Boston Globe:
Lugo hopes to hit it big — He finds Fenway a welcome sight — Secret agents have aroused more attention than Julio Lugo's arrival in Boston did. — But that didn't make him any less welcome to the Red Sox, who introduced the shortstop they've coveted for years to a thoroughly distracted media yesterday at Fenway Park.
Discussion:
Over the Monster
