Red Sox, Scutaro agree to two-year deal  —  Veteran shortstop has physical scheduled for Friday  —  BOSTON — The Red Sox have come to terms on a two-year deal with free-agent shortstop Marco Scutaro, MLB.com has learned through a source close to the situation.

Mets sign Chris Coste, Henry Blanco  —  Chris Coste is burning bridges with Mets fans before he's even crossed them.  —  The ex-Phillies catcher/first baseman signed with the Mets yesterday, just three days after expressing disdain for his new team in an interview with a Philadelphia sports Web site.

David Wright one of Mets' mysteries  —  David Wright showing frustration during one game at Citi Field last season.  The wishful thinkers in the Mets organization are ready to call 2009 an aberration, but the question is why.  Wright is playing in a new ballpark he obviously hates …

Brewers want to keep Counsell  —  By Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel  —  I spoke with Brewers general manager Doug Melvin last night in advance of the annual winter meetings next week in Indianapolis.  He said his focus remains on acquiring starting pitching help but said he also plans …

Top five plotlines of MLB winter meetings … Every other week of every other year, the big names in beautiful downtown Indianapolis are Peyton Manning, Larry Bird and Helio Castroneves.  —  But not next week.  —  Next week, we can pretty much guarantee that the name uttered …

Cubs trade Fox, Miles to Oakland  —  The Chicago Cubs traded Aaron Miles and Jake Fox to the Oakland A's for right-handed pitcher Jeff Gray and minor-leaguers Ronny Morla and Matt Spencer, according to ESPNChicago.com reporter Bruce Levine.  —  The Cubs will absorb $1 million of the $2.7 million owed to Miles.

Breaking down market moves and chatter  —  Let's pick through some recent developments in the market...  Item A) The Phillies know Placido Polanco from his days with the team earlier this decade, and they already know that he will fit into their culture of tough professionals.

Brewers sign catcher Zaun  —  The Brewers didn't wait for the start of next week's Winter Meetings to make their first Major League free agent signing.  —  The team on Friday inked switch-hitting catcher Gregg Zaun to a one-year deal with a club option for 2011 in a move that signaled the end of Jason Kendall's tenure in Milwaukee.

Brennaman named ‘new’ TV broadcaster  —  Son of HOF voice handling primary play-by-play duties  —  CINCINNATI — The new Reds television play-by-play person isn't really new at all.  In fact, he will be immediately familiar and recognizable to fans.  —  That's because the club announced …

When is a fly ball a line drive?  —  Let's talk about parallax.  —  Simply put, parallax is a phenomenon in which the apparent position of an object can change based upon the location of the observer.  Let's consider a very modest change in location—moving from the driver's seat to the passenger's seat of a car.

New York Mets' seating chart, pricing too much to decipher  —  The Mets' individual ticket sales matrix for 2010 is available, even though you can't purchase single-game seats until late winter.  The good news is that prices have been cut by about 10%, on average.

Los Angeles Dodgers Top 10 Prospects  —  Los Angeles Dodgers … The Dodgers' back-to-back National League West titles in 2008 and 2009 were in many ways a tribute to their scouting and player-development departments, even if the spotlight always seemed to shine on the antics of Manny Ramirez and the sage wisdom of manager Joe Torre.

Thumbs up, thumbs down  —  With a very respectful nod of the head to Siskel & Ebert (& Roeper), I thought this might be a good time to run through some of the baseball news, views and rumors with a thumbs up/thumbs down rating system (these are only my opinions, of course, unless you disagree, in which case they're Chad's):

Fire official says Molina's car was on fire  —  The Edgewater Volunteer Fire Department dispatched three fire trucks to a car fire inside the Edgewater Mariner parking lot on River Road Nov. 5.  The first fire engine to arrive on the scene, the EW-2, was able to hit the hydrant just past the burning vehicle …

Two costly?  —  The Cardinals' Plan B for this winter is increasingly starting to sound like Plan A.  —  Concerned about the long-term impact of retaining free agent left fielder Matt Holliday while also signing first baseman and three-time NL Most Valuable Player Albert Pujols to an extension …

Possible return of Nady among recent inquiries  —  Villone, Crosby also added to Pirates' free-agent checklist  —  An X-Man sequel?  —  The Pirates have made initial inquiries on free-agent outfielder Xavier Nady, as well as reliever Ron Villone and shortstop Bobby Crosby …

The Yankees Are Eating Our Blog Name  —  Yup, I just received a cease and desist.  Unbelievable.  Here is the money quote: … Blog name ideas?

NEXT No. 4: Stephen Strasburg  —  Strasburg is handling the pressure, thanks to a little help from a friend  —  NEXT 2010 content: No. 1 Kevin Durant |  No. 2 Chris Johnson |  No. 3 John Wall |  No. 4 Stephen Strasburg |  No. 5 Melanie Oudin |  No. 6-10 |  No. 11-15 |  No. 16-20