Mariners inch closer to Bedard deal  —  Jones trade appears close to completion  —  The Mariners appear to be getting their man, if a tad late.  —  Mariners outfielder Adam Jones traveled to Baltimore on Sunday, a source said, presumably to undergo a physical examination that originally was scheduled for Jan. 29.

YES won't inject steroids into reports  —  Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network suits have already cast aspersions on George Mitchell's report on steroids in baseball.  —  After watching YES' “Hot Stove” feature on Phil Hughes, it appears, according to YES, certain allegations made about Roger Clemens don't really exist.

Padres get Greene for two years, offered longer  —  The Padres will never have to sit across an arbitration table from Khalil Greene.  —  The shortstop gave up the rights to two possible years of arbitration yesterday by agreeing to a two-year, $11 million guaranteed contract with the Padres.

MLB INSIDER: Free-falling times for free-agent list  —  An attorney actually concerned about conflict of interest!  —  Mets threat  —  With Johan Santana aboard, are the Mets the National League's best team?  Perhaps.  But you could make a strong case for Arizona.

Cox gives Sox lessons from an old school  —  Coach will hammer on fundamental concepts from his ‘Billy Ball’ roots  —  Before Ozzie Ball, there was Billy Ball.  —  And Jeff Cox, who contributed to Oakland's 1980 resurgence under volatile manager Billy Martin, hopes to help Ozzie Guillen's White Sox master …

Bringing hope to the hopeless  —  Dayn Perry is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com and author of the new book, “Winners: How Good Baseball Teams Become Great Ones” (Available now at Amazon.com).  —  Mostly, each baseball season is about the contenders.

Licey Remains Undefeated  —  SANTIAGO, D.R.-It took 11 innings, but Licey finally eked out a 2-1 win against Mexico to remain undefeated in the Caribbean Series and set up an even more meaningful matchup when they square off against Aguilas Monday night.  —  After lefthander Adrian Ramirez …

Greatest.  Super Bowl Catch.  Ever.  —  Eli Manning may be unstoppable but David Tyree is a magician!  —  I love the hurt in Joe Buck's voice as he says this one is caught.  Imagine Gus Johnson on that call for a second.  —  Eli to Plax....

Picking up the tab  —  Signing Brewers' young stars will be costly  —  Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin spent much of the off-season turning down trade offers for the young players around whom he has built a contending club.  —  Now, it's time to decide which of those players …

WILDEST DREAMS CAN COME TRUE  —  SACKS, PICKS, TDS, A TITLE - AND AN ICE CREAM SUNDAE  —  Gibril grew up in the Bay area and remembers watching Deion Sanders on Media Day.  —  “I just told myself that's what I wanted to do.”  —  His dream game?  —  “Having all the confetti coming down …

Salcedo Rumors  —  SANTIAGO, D.R.-There are rumors swirling around the Dominican Republic, as well as the Internet, that the Indians have signed 16-year-old shortstop Edward Salcedo, but as of today he is still a free agent.  —  Salcedo's agent, Scott Boras, is in negotiations with Cleveland …

By the Numbers: 19 Deals with Salary Arbitration Players  —  A Detailed Analysis of 19 Major League Baseball Player Contracts that Avoid Salary Arbitration  —  On January 16th of this year, 110 players filed for salary arbitration.  Two days later, that list was whittled down to 48 players …

Compromise, creativity sealed deal  —  Santana passes physical; Minaya discusses negotiations  —  NEW YORK — Motivation is where and in whatever form you find it.  At some point just before 5 p.m. ET Friday, Omar Minaya seemingly found some in the fear of failure.