Gagne to sign with Brewers  —  A little more than a week after losing closer Francisco Cordero to a four-year contract with the Cincinnati Reds, the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday morning were near a contract agreement with veteran reliever Eric Gagne, according to an industry source.

A's, Padres not out of Bonds running  —  LIKE THIS STORY?  —  No lie, I had this conversation with Barry Bonds' agent, Jeff Borris, toward the end of the winter meetings.  —  Borris: "San Diego still interested in (Geoff) Jenkins?  —  Me: "Yeah, I think so."  —  Borris: "Check out Barry's numbers next to Jenkins'."

Brian Cashman halts Yankee spending spree, commits to young guns  —  The winter meetings in Nashville were mostly a big nothing, the Yankees coming home with Jonathan Albaladejo and the Mets with Steven Register - both a far cry from Johan Santana - and the general consensus among rival execs …

Union-Busting at the Hall of Fame  —  THE National Baseball Hall of Fame, itself based on the historical error that baseball was invented in Cooperstown, N.Y., has just let one go right through its legs.  On Monday, a committee of 12 baseball executives, newspaper reporters and former executives …

Giants can't afford to give up quality starters  —  (12-07) 19:00 PST — There's no way out for the Giants.  They literally can't win, whether or not they trade Tim Lincecum for Alex Rios.  I'm all for a big-time gamble, especially for someone as desperate as general manager Brian Sabean, but this one just doesn't make sense.

Save This Franchise: No Band-Aid big enough for these Giants  —  Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants.  With the no-longer-satanic Rays transforming their outfielder glut into pitching goodness and the other clodhopper franchises (Rangers, Orioles, Pirates) simply refraining …

Matsui to Stay  —  Apologies to my good friends at BP, but I thought I'd cut and paste Hideki Matsui's numbers here to make a few points about the current rumors.  If you'll notice below, Matsui's career batting line is .295/.371/.485 and in 2007, a year that was supposedly a disappointment, he put up basically those same numbers.

Maddon already shaping '08 club  —  ST. PETERSBURG - They've added a closer, a frontline shortstop and a No. 3 starter, but the Rays have more work to do.  —  In addition to a left-handed hitting outfielder to at least platoon in rightfield, they need a third baseman (for a couple months anyway …

Buzz: Santana Wants to Be On the Mets  —  ...having talked with a variety of people over the last few days, ranging from those who are connected to the team to people connected to player reps to those who work in media and for teams who are following the negotiations, from what i can gather …

Yankees showing interest in Japanese reliever  —  The Yankees, searching for affordable bullpen help, met with the representative for Japanese free agent Kazuo Fukumori during the winter meetings in Nashville.  —  Alan Nero, Fukumori's agent, told Newsday he met with Yankees assistant general manager Jean Afterman on Wednesday.