Top News:
Phil Rogers / Chicago Tribune:
Commissioner plans to step down after 2012 — Bud Selig, 75, wants time for other projects — On Baseball — When Bruce Springsteen played the Bradley Center in Milwaukee earlier this month, he led into his encore with “No Surrender,” sending its haunting refrain of “no retreat, no surrender” echoing around the arena.
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Mike Axisa / MLB Rumors:
Bud Selig Plans To Step Down After 2012 — Sources have indicated to Phil Rogers of The Chicago Tribune that commissioner Bud Selig plans to step down after the 2012 season, when his contract is up. The current CBA expires after the 2011 season, so negotiating the next pact will likely be Selig's last act as baseball's commissioner.
MLB:
Report: Bud Selig to step down as commissioner in 2012, resists efforts to extend deal again — Bud Selig has declined an overture from a group of baseball owners asking him to stay on after his contract ends in 2012, the Chicago Tribune reported, citing unnamed sources.
ESPN:
Running with Bob Sheppard — Bob Sheppard, the longtime public address announcer for the Yankees, is stepping away from the microphone for good. — I hope he enjoys whatever he decides to do, and while I'd guess that it would involve reading — the man has devoured books in his lifetime …
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Anthony McCarron / NY Daily News:
Report: Toronto Blue Jays' Roy Halladay would waive no-trade clause for deal to New York Yankees — THREE DAYS after the Daily News wrote that the Red Sox were “putting on a full-court press” to trade for Roy Halladay, a report out of Canada says the Toronto ace has told the Blue Jays …
slam.canoe.ca:
Halladay headed to the Bronx? — Will Roy Halladay leave Toronto via the same route as ex-Blue Jays aces David Cone and Roger Clemens? — Headed for the Bronx and the New York Yankees? — It has always been a possibility. Now that chance has been upgraded.
Geoff Baker / The Seattle Times:
Marco Scutaro confirms Mariners have approached him — Just got off the blower with our Venezuelan contact, reporter Augusto Cardenas from Diario Panorama in Venezuela. He spoke to Marco Scutaro down there and the 34-year-old veteran infielder, who posted a .789 OPS with Toronto last season …
Discussion:
Full Count, Hot Stove Blog, Circling The Bases, Lone Star Ball, NESN.com, The iYankees Blog and MLB Rumors
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MLBastian / Major League Bastian:
Scutaro prefers Red Sox, Dodgers — In a series of Twitter updates, Augusto Cárdenas of Diario Panorama, a newspaper based in Venezuela, provides some highlights of a story he did on Marco Scutaro's situation. — Scutaro informed Cardenas that his preferred landing spots this offseason …
Evan Grant / Texas Rangers:Saturday afternoon rumor control: Texas Rangers have no interest …
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
Gordon Edes / ESPN:
There's one problem with the Red Sox trading Mike Lowell — Teams have other safer, cheaper options at third base — The supposition that the Red Sox will trade third baseman Mike Lowell, even if it means picking up a large chunk of the $12 million due him in 2010, ignores one fundamental aspect of the free-agent market this winter:
Discussion:
U.S.S. Mariner
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New York Post:
Son of former Yankee has shot to follow father's footsteps to the big leagues — When Ron Davis' major league career came to an end at age 32, he thought it was the worst thing that could have happened to him. — Turns out, it was the best move, because he walked away from baseball and into his life.
Tom Singer / MLB.com:
2010 Hall of Fame ballot an eclectic mix — Dawson, Blyleven joined by newcomers Alomar, McGriff — Andre Dawson will be on the alert, like a ... well, like a Hawk. It will be another flight of the Dutchman, and the first takeoff for such illustrious recent icons as Roberto Alomar, Robin Ventura and Barry Larkin.
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Shelby Grad / L.A. NOW:
Veteran Times sportswriter Mike Penner dead — Mike Penner, the veteran Los Angeles Times sportswriter who made international headlines in 2007 when he announced he was transsexual and began working under the byline “Christine Daniels,” has died. — Colleagues said today that Penner …
Ken Belson / New York Times:
At a Yankees Shop, Buzz; At a Mets Store, a Hush — It was a tale of two Black Fridays for New York's baseball teams. — The Yankees Clubhouse on 42nd Street, still basking in the glow of the team's 27th World Series championship, was flooded with customers elbowing through racks of commemorative T-shirts, hats and jackets.
