Halladay break  —  Team not in rush to deal for Toronto ace  —  The Red Sox [team stats] clearly would like to pull off a trade for Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay, but a team source said that a report yesterday overstated the team's urgency in completing any deal.

Now retiring from the Yankees: Number 99  —  ‘Voice of Yankee Stadium’ done after more than 50 years  —  Bob Sheppard served more than 50 seasons as the “Voice of Yankee Stadium,” his clear, concise and correct style proudly providing the soundtracks of summer for Yankees players from Joe DiMaggio to Derek Jeter.

Hot Stove to keep cooking on Thanksgiving  —  GMs have history of making big moves on Turkey Day  —  It's the perfect baseball stealth move.  —  When late November rolls around and the Thanksgiving turkey and trimmings create a blissful, tryptophan-induced haze that seems to last a whole four-day weekend …

Phils sign four to Minor League deals  —  Wise tops quartet of players with Spring Training invites  —  PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies have agreed to terms on Minor League contracts with four players, according to a source.  The players will have invitations to Spring Training:

McCutchen earns Topps rookie honors  —  Bucs center fielder recognized for remarkable first year  —  For his superb first year in the Major Leagues, Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen was named as part of the 2009 Topps All-Rookie All-Star team on Wednesday.

For baseball and community, thanks  —  Great games, great charity go hand in hand in 2009  —  Thanks to the 73,367,659 fans who attended Major League Baseball games in 2009.  —  Thanks to the ballplayers who keep us coming back for every pitch and every year.

Scouting Notebook: Manny Machado  —  Seen:  — USA Baseball's Tournament of Stars (Cary, N.C.), June 22-29, 2009 (in attendance)  — East Coast Professional Showcase (Lakeland, Fla.), August 1-4, 2009 (in attendance)  — Team USA 18U Trials (Cary, N.C.), September 14, 2009 (film)

Two more names to think about  —  Purely my personal thoughts on a pair of risk/reward pitchers:  — Would Justin Duchscherer make some sense for the Brewers?  The former A's All-Star was with now-Brewers manager Ken Macha in Oakland, and Macha said in September that he liked the righty.

Castro joins team as backup  —  Veteran utility infielder Juan Castro agreed to terms on Tuesday to be the Phillies' new Eric Bruntlett.  Agent Oscar Suarez thinks the Phillies are getting a whole lot more than an upgrade for their bench.  —  “This guy is a heck of a leader,” …