Top News:
Scott Merkin / MLB.com:
Sox bring catcher Hall aboard — Free agent comes to terms on two-year deal with club option — CHICAGO — At the conclusion of Saturday afternoon's conference call to announce the acquisition of left-handed reliever Andrew Sisco from Kansas City, Ken Williams hinted at another White Sox transaction soon to come.
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MLB.com:
White Sox and Toby Hall agree to terms on two-year contract with club option for 2009 — CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox and free-agent catcher Toby Hall have agreed to terms on a two-year, $3.65-million contract with a club option for 2009. Under terms of the deal, Hall will receive base salaries …
ESPN:
Report: Drew to get second opinion Monday — Are the Red Sox having second thoughts on signing J.D. Drew? They at least want a second opinion on the outfielder's physical exam results, The Boston Globe reported Sunday. — Drew is scheduled to have a second opinion Monday on a shoulder issue …
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Nick Cafardo / Extra Bases:
Second opinion on Drew — J.D. Drew was scheduled to receive a second opinion Monday on a shoulder issue the Red Sox have concerns about, according to a major league source familiar with Drew's condition. — The red flag went up after the Sox right-fielder underwent a physical in Boston …
Discussion:
MLB Trade Rumors
Gordon Edes / Boston Globe:
Wooing of pitcher was wowing — Sox had bases covered while chasing, landing Matsuzaka — The wooing of Daisuke Matsuzaka began with a small dinner party on a Saturday night at Tom Werner's house, a Cape Cod-style home overlooking the green at hole No. 5 at the famed Riviera Country Club …
Discussion:
Can't Stop The Bleeding
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Yahoo! Sports:
Sportsticker Baseball Notebook — When you examine the numerous stories of Daisuke Matsuzaka signing with the Boston Red Sox, just remember one thing - the devil always is in the details. — As an example, the last paragraph of the team's press release announcing the signing of Matsuzaka to a six-year contract read as follows:
Sam Mellinger / Kansas City Star:
Some think Japanese bidding system for players should be explored here in U.S. — His cultural impact has been compared to that of the Beatles. — There's even a name for it (MatsuzakaMania), and he already has a catchy nickname (Dice-K). — Daisuke Matsuzaka's fastball reaches the mid-90s …
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Hot Stove: Pirates turning to Japanese — By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — The Pirates' ongoing pursuit of Masumi Kuwata probably deserves something more than a tiny-type footnote in franchise lore, even if it ends up fruitless. — Sure, he is a 38-year-old starter whose most recent respectable season came in 2002.
George King / New York Post:
JOHNSON, YANKS DENY TRADE TALK — Despite the buzz leaking out of the desert, Randy Johnson hasn't asked the Yankees to deal him closer to his Arizona home. — "He hasn't called me officially and asked me to trade him, no," GM Brian Cashman said yesterday when asked if the Big Unit requested the Yankees move him.
Discussion:
WasWatching.com
Troy E. Renck / Denver Post:
High stakes for holidays — Baseball's big-money game starts the offseason merry-go-round spinning wildly — Like Santa's belt, baseball lost elasticity this winter. Teams viewed free agents much as Mr. T does gold chains or Paris Hilton does shame. There is no such thing as too much.
Discussion:
Purple Row
Bill Center / San Diego Union-Tribune:
Brocail coming back against all odds — Doug Brocail is returning to the Padres next season - once he completes a physical examination. — And given Brocail's 2006 season, that will be a significant milestone for the 39-year-old right-handed relief pitcher. — Brocail had two angioplastys last spring.
Discussion:
NY Mets Blog
NY Daily News:
Theo's solo gig ends — The Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 and there was no hotter executive in all of sports than Theo Epstein. He was the boy wonder of Boston, the baseball prodigy who got most of the credit for the Red Sox winning it all for the first time since 1918.
Discussion:
BBTF's Baseball Primer …
Todd Zolecki / Philly.com:
Baseball stats guru sees good in Phillies, even Burrell — It seems everybody who has read Michael Lewis' Moneyball, the tale of how general manager Billy Beane turned the low-paying Oakland A's into a winning team, became a baseball expert because they understood the importance of on-base percentage.
Associated Press:
Yanks, Pirates in talks concerning OF Cabrera, P Gonzalez — CBS SportsLine.com wire reports — NEW YORK — The Yankees are discussing trading young outfielder Melky Cabrera in a deal that would bring Pittsburgh reliever Mike Gonzalez to New York. — The Yankees have talked …
