Pirates touch base with Huff  —  Free agent had 21 home runs last season  —  By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  —  The Pirates have made contact with Aubrey Huff, the most prominent left-handed power hitter remaining in free agency, and are one of a handful of teams considered to be in the running for his services.

Rivera breaks left leg in winter league game  —  An offense in need of additional power lost a big chunk of its existing pop — and possibly for a significant amount of time — when Angels designated hitter/outfielder Juan Rivera suffered a broken left tibia in a winter league game in Venezuela on Friday.

It's Too Early for the Yankees to Celebrate Their Tax Bill  —  At $26 million, it's a bargain, and next year, the tax the Yankees will have to pay on their payroll will be even less.  Life is beautiful.  —  Where else could a tax bill for $26 million induce everybody in the office to exchange high-fives?

John feels he's Hall of Fame material  —  Despite consistency and longevity, lefty on outside looking in  —  At some point, having more wins than anyone not in the National Baseball Hall of Fame loses its distinction and becomes just a festering frustration.  —  Tommy John, winner of 288 games, reached that point a long time ago.

Washington vows quick turnaround  —  Once again, the Texas Rangers are looking for pitching.  They want starter Barry Zito, arguably the best of the offseason's free agent class.  —  They have wined Zito.  They have dined him.  They have offered him an undisclosed contract.

AMAZIN'S HIKE TICKET PRICES  —  The Mets are raising the price of their box seats closest to the field by up to $12 next season and are increasing the best tickets available for individual games by as much as $7.  —  The Metro Club Gold seats, the ones nearest the dugouts, will range from $108-$72 …

Nationals Owners To Dig Even Deeper  —  Lerners Plan to Spend Millions More On Improvements to D.C. Ballpark  —  The owners of the Washington Nationals plan to spend at least $30 million to improve the city-financed ballpark under construction on the Southeast waterfront, according to Mark Lerner, son of principal owner Ted Lerner.

Hernandez signs with Red Sox  —  Right-hander will compete for bullpen spot this spring  —  BOSTON — In a move to deepen the Major League-ready pitching in the upper levels of the organization, the Red Sox on Friday announced the signing of former Royals right-hander Runelvys Hernandez to a contract with Triple-A Pawtucket.

Rockies ink Bellorin to minor-league deal  —  The Rockies lost out on free agent Rod Barajas, but welcomed another catcher into their mitts Friday.  —  In an attempt to build organizational depth, Colorado signed former Dodgers farmhand Edwin Bellorin to a minor-league contract.

O'Dowd: Helton rumors not true  —  Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd on Friday denied a story in the Los Angeles Times that quoted major league sources saying the Rockies have renewed talks with the Los Angeles Angels about a Todd Helton trade, a deal that was discussed briefly at the annual winter meetings.

So long, farewell  —  Well, another calendar year has come and (almost) gone, and with it several of our sports heroes.  —  We're not talking about death here — that's too depressing around the holidays.  No, we're talking about retirement — players and coaches who have called it a career …