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.

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

Mariners On Verge Of Signing Chone Figgins?  —  2:50pm: Heyman now tweets that the Ms are “very close to getting Figgins.”  In a subsequent tweet he suggests the deal will be for about $35MM.  —  2:26pm: SI's Jon Heyman has a more open-ended take on Figgins, via Twitter …

The 10 worst baseball contracts of the 2000s  —  Baseball knows how to do the disastrous contract better than any other sport.  There is an overflowing graveyard of doozies, terrain teeming with wasted dollars and disappointments.  And nothing empowered the inborn idiocy of bad baseball executives quite …

Rangers claim Inglett off waivers  —  Addition gives Texas more options in the infield  —  ARLINGTON — The Rangers have added another candidate for the utility infielder role by claiming infielder Joe Inglett off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays.  —  Inglett joins Esteban German …

Cubs trade Fox, Miles for A's Gray  —  Righty reliever comes to Chicago with two prospects  —  CHICAGO — Aaron Miles will get a fresh start, Jake Fox may finally get a chance to play more regularly and the Cubs added a power arm to the bullpen in a deal Thursday with the Oakland Athletics.

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 …

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 …

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.

A Better Mousetrap on an Envelope?  —  As news of the arbitration offers (or lack thereof) trickled out on Tuesday, I found myself growing increasingly disappointed with the number of teams failing to make offers to their players.  Of the 21 Type-A free agents who could be offered arbitration, 11 were not.