Giant of a Steal  —  Brian Sabean needs to do something silly soon.  Like, trade Jonathan Sanchez for Jorge Cantu or Tim Lincecum for Alexis Rios silly, otherwise, the Giants are having an amusingly solid off-season.  It started by adding Josh Phelps, next signing Jeremy Affeldt …

Reds sign Willie Taveras  —  The Cincinnati Reds filled their leadoff hole by signing free agent outfielder Willy Taveras to a two-year deal.  —  Taveras, who turned 27 on Christmas Day, hit only .251 with a .308 on base average with the Colorado Rockies, but stole 68 bases in 75 tries.

Yankees may go with Phil Hughes if Andy Pettitte balks  —  Before the Yankees signed Mark Teixeira, they told Andy Pettitte's camp that the pitcher's chances of rejoining the Bombers would be in jeopardy if they signed another big free agent.  Now that the Yanks have landed their new first baseman …

A's target Abreu, Angels' Anderson  —  (12-26) 21:01 PST — Jason Giambi is the A's next free-agent target, but there are others on Oakland's list, too.  —  The Chronicle has learned that the team has had preliminary conversations about free-agent outfielders Bobby Abreu and Garret Anderson …

New York Yankees Top 20 Prospects for 2009  —  He was NOT the next Bobby Bonds. . .  New York Yankees Top 20 Prospects for 2009.  —  All grades are EXTREMELY PRELIMINARY and subject to change.  Don't get too worried about exact rankings at this point, especially once you get out of the top 10.

No offer (yet?) for Ben Sheets  —  Rangers general manager Jon Daniels was on The Ticket with Norm Hitzges on Friday and said that the club has not made an offer to Ben Sheets.  He didn't indicate when or if the Rangers would do so, but said he's in communication with Sheets' agent.

Red Sox consider Plan B  —  So Mark Teixeira got his wish, a new home by Christmas.  The Red Sox?  Well, they're not out $170 million.  —  That might be all that can be said about the developments of recent days, in which the Sox lost out to the Yankees for the first baseman they had been pining …

Olney's Latest: Lowe, Castillo, Hudson  —  By Ben Nicholson-Smith [December 27 at 10:35am CST]  —  Buster Olney focuses his new column on reluctant-to-spend teams and how they've changed the market.  He turns up some interesting rumors...  - The Rays and A's are in a “bidding war” …

2008 Free Agent Bargains and Busts (Hitters)  —  By Tim Dierkes [December 27 at 12:39am CST]  —  Using Wins Above Replacement data from FanGraphs and contract info from Cot's Baseball Contracts, I have determined the biggest free agent bargains and busts of the 2008 season (position players only).