Cubs may be raising stakes for Fukudome  —  Offer thought to be close to $50 million  —  The Padres are facing determined competition from the Cubs for Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome.  Growing indications yesterday had the Cubs willing to guarantee Fukudome close to $50 million.

MATSUI MAY 'WAIVE' BYE  —  The Yankees haven't asked Hideki Matsui to waive his no-trade clause and accept a deal to San Francisco, but there were strong indications last night he wouldn't stand in the way of a deal if presented to him.  —  When the Giants asked the Blue Jays …

Ellsbury seems key in any deal with Red Sox  —  There's still no imminent trade involving Twins ace Johan Santana, but Boston's young center fielder keeps coming up in discussions.  —  The Twins continued exploring potential trade options for Johan Santana on Monday, picking up where they left off at last week's winter meetings.

Mariners have best three-year offer on table for Hiroki Kuroda  —  Reports out of the winter meetings in Nashville that the Mariners had offered a four-year contract to Japanese starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda were incorrect.  —  A well-placed source in the Mariners organization said Monday night …

Read: MetsBlog Interview with Omar Minaya  —  Mets GM Omar Minaya and LHP Oliver Perez were guests during last night's Mets Hot Stove Report on SNY.  —  To watch a clip of Minaya's appearance, click here.  —  ...i was able to run down to the studio and ask him a few questions …

Red Sox owners buy the Avalanche  —  Deal lets them put their stamp on a minor league team  —  Less than a year after they invested in stock-car racing, the owners of the Red Sox have struck closer to home, becoming one of the few Major League Baseball operations to pursue a minor league franchise.

Timo Perez re-signs with Tigers; Brandon Inge trade talks  —  Outfielder Timo Perez has elected to remain with the Tigers, by signing a one-year major-league contract worth a maximum of $525,000.  —  The deal is similar in structure to those signed by Detroit infielder Ramon Santiago …

Brewers ink Gagne to one-year deal  —  Three-time All-Star joins revamped Milwaukee bullpen  —  When the Milwaukee Brewers lost closer Francisco Cordero to free agency, then reliever Scott Linebrink, the bullpen was in disarray.  Not anymore.  —  The Brewers found a new closer …

Searching for Mr. Clutch  —  I'm sure many of you read the recent (SI calls it "provocative") piece by Bill James on Sports Illustrated.com titled "Mr. Clutch: Big Papi, Chipper, Pujols come through when it counts".  I was reminded of the piece when I found my copy of the 2008 Hardball Times …

Pirates likely to keep Grabow, Marte  —  GM to stay mostly in-house to address bullpen openings  —  Now that the Pirates have traded Salomon Torres, they are left with only three experienced, reliable relievers: Matt Capps, John Grabow and Damaso Marte.  The latter two are left-handed, and Marte generally is a one-out specialist.

Responding to Zimbalist  —  Today, Maury Brown has posted Andrew Zimbalist's review essay of The Baseball Economist along with Vince Gennaro's Diamond Dollars.  This essay is to be featured in the next issue of the Journal of Economic Literature.  —  I am open to criticism …

Fans tab Papelbon TYIB's top closer  —  Reliever a hit on, off the field for World Series champions  —  BOSTON — He river-danced with giddiness following each clinching victory — not to mention the World Series parade.  But the Red Sox took far more joy in watching Jonathan Papelbon's moves on the mound.

One tired Okajima  —  The following is a transcript of the second of a two-part, pre-recorded interview between Hideki Okajima and Terumi Yoshida of Bunka Hoso AM1134kHz in Tokyo.  It aired Tuesday morning in Japan, and was translated by Globe graphic designer Daigo Fujiwara.