Top News:
John Hickey / Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
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.
RELATED:
Larry Stone / The Seattle Times:
M's will pay big price if Bedard deal is a go — If the Mariners' trade with the Orioles doesn't work out, maybe they should call the Sonics. — The trio of young pitchers they're talking to Baltimore about as part of the Erik Bedard package — 6-foot-9 Kam Mickolio …
New York Times:
Clemens's Lawyers Not Worried About What Pettitte Will Say — WASHINGTON — Roger Clemens arrives here for his own Super Tuesday this week, a showdown with his former trainer in closed-door testimony to Congressional lawyers. — Clemens is scheduled to give a transcribed interview Tuesday …
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NY Daily News:
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.
Phil Rogers / Chicago Tribune:
Yes, you can have too much pitching — Many contenders for few vacancies on Cubs, Brewers staffs — Pitching depth is unlikely to decide a race between the Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers. Both of the NL Central front-runners will head to spring training with more arms than they will need.
Discussion:
GoatRiders of the Apocalypse
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JSOnline:
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 …
Discussion:
Al's Ramblings
Newsday:
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.
Bill Center / San Diego Union-Tribune:
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.
Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Hot Stove: Free-agent misses illustrate rigid approach to valuation — The Pirates' new management is setting a price and sticking to it. — Team president Frank Coonelly, the man overseeing baseball operations, and general manager Neal Huntington, the man conducting them …
Mark Gonzales / Chicago Tribune:
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 …
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Chris Kline / Baseball America Prospects Blog:
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 …
Discussion:
Associated Press
Dayn Perry / Fox Sports:
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.
Steve Serby / New York Post:
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 …
Discussion:
matttracy.com
Chris Kline / Baseball America Prospects Blog:
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 …
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
Maury Brown / The Biz of Baseball:
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 …
