Top News:
Tyler Kepner / New York Times:
Yankees Crave Young Pitchers, but Have One Eye on Clemens — The Yankees hope to have at least one 44-year-old starting pitcher later this year. If they can trade Randy Johnson to the Arizona Diamondbacks, they will have more money available to sign Roger Clemens.
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Andrew Marchand / New York Post:
MONEY DELAYS UNIT TRADE — Randy Johnson has returned home from his vacation, and now he must figure out if he is going to stay in Arizona for the rest of the year. — With New Year's Day now past, Johnson is expected to become more involved in the decision-making process that most likely will make him an ex-Yankee soon.
Peter Abraham / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
Status of the Johnson trade — Now that Randy Johnson has returned from a family vacation in Hawaii, his seemingly inevitable trade to Arizona should pick up steam. — The Diamondbacks have requested a 72-hour window to negotiate with Johnson and that could be granted today according to several people close to the situation.
Associated Press:
Physical last step before Foulke joins Indians — CLEVELAND — Free agent reliever Keith Foulke arrived Tuesday to take his physical for the Cleveland Indians, the final step before the club can complete a one-year deal with the right-hander. — Foulke and his agent, Dan Horwits …
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Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com:
Indians sign infielders Rivas, Ginter — Minor League contracts include invitation to Spring Training — CLEVELAND — Looking for a little more depth in their middle infield, the Indians signed Luis Rivas and Keith Ginter to Minor League deals on Tuesday with invites to Spring Training camp.
Associated Press:
From A to Zito — Bonuses, perks of new Giants ace's contract revealed — SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pitcher Barry Zito will make a base salary of $10 million from the San Francisco Giants in 2007, then receive raises of $4 million in each of the next two seasons.
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
Yahoo! Sports:
Searching for truth — Seven months before he broke Roger Maris' home run record and seven years before Congress would pursue a similar line of questioning with him, I asked Mark McGwire if he used steroids. We sat in the living room of his well-appointed Orange County, Calif., home.
AwfulAnnouncing:
Brent Musburger Calls Out Blogs and USC Girls Go Commando — Mentioned this briefly yesterday, but with time winding down in Michigan's loss to USC Brent Musburger asked a question to bloggers.... (I'm paraphrasing here) … Bob Davies is the voice of reason?
Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com:
Tribe tries to improve core in '07 — Cleveland's full rotation and heart of lineup return this season — CLEVELAND — The calendar just officially turned to 2007, but for the Indians, that transition actually happened long ago. — It began in the middle of the '06 season …
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com
Jan Hubbard / Dallas Star-Telegram:
Rangers feel they can make their pitch — In a sense, signing Barry Zito would have been like winning the lottery for the Rangers, although in the player-friendly economics of baseball, winning the lottery is a costly experience for teams. — Adding Zito to the Rangers' rotation …
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Corey Brock / MLB.com:
Mariners rebuild for a better 2007 — Seattle adds two arms and two bats to roster in busy offseason — SEATTLE — There's always a chance the Mariners will add a player or two before the start of Spring Training but, at this point, it appears the roster is all but set for 2007.
Ian Browne / MLB.com:
Expect more in 2007 from Red Sox — Boston will try to erase from memory last year's bitter ending — An active winter by Boston has left a most rabid Red Sox fan base eager for spring and summer. That's a nice change of pace after the bitter way that last season — bogged down by injuries and disappointing performances — ended.
Mark Sheldon / MLB.com:
Reds seek better results in 2007 — Cincinnati prepares to compete in big-spending NL Central — CINCINNATI — The honeymoon period is over for the new Reds regime. — Led by chief executive officer Bob Castellini and his ownership group, the club spread plenty of goodwill through …
Discussion:
Cincinnati Reds Blog
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Pirates bringing back utilityman Hernandez — By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — The Pirates will bring back utilityman Jose Hernandez for a third tour of duty. — Hernandez, 36, and the team have agreed to terms on a one-year, minor-league contract for which he would receive $900,000 at the major-league level.
Troy E. Renck / Denver Post:
Pitch to acquire Lawrence could pay off soon — No one has seen free agent Brian Lawrence throw more this offseason than the Rockies. This week, they could learn whether their pitch to land the veteran right-hander is successful. — Page Odle, Lawrence's agent, expects to speak with the Rockies today or Wednesday.
Deadspin:
Good Morning: Put the Lotion in the Baskett — Hello again. So, sorry for the depressing update yesterday. New Year's Day is an official "holiday" for Deadspin, but I felt like the Darrent Williams thing shoud've been something that was posted about to facilitate discussion …
Ed Eagle / MLB.com:
Bucs' rotation will be key in '07 — Pirates place hopes in Duke, Snell, Maholm and Gorzelanny — PITTSBURGH — Which Pittsburgh Pirates team will show up in 2007? — Will it be the underachieving club that limped into the All-Star break in 2006 as the worst team in baseball?
Discussion:
Where have you gone …
Carol Slezak / Chicago Sun Times:
Sox become Beane counters — Deals for cheap, young pitchers reminiscent of small-market A's — I've come to expect surprises from Ken Williams, who seems to get a kick out of making unexpected deals. But Williams has outdone himself this offseason. When did the White Sox general manager turn into Billy Beane?
Discussion:
Athletics Nation
