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.

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.

NY Yankees head into winter meetings with plans to lower budget … NEW YORK — The Yankees wrapped up their organizational meetings on Friday afternoon, allowing general manager Brian Cashman to focus his attention on filling his team's holes heading into baseball's winter meetings.

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.

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 …

Yankees Cutting Payroll, Bidding On Halladay?  —  A tweet from ESPN's Buster Olney: … According to Cot's Baseball Contracts, the Yankees began the 2009 season at about $201MM.  My own rough estimate has the Yankees at about $170MM committed if Chad Gaudin, Sergio Mitre, and Chien-Ming Wang are non-tendered.

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.

Mariners On Verge Of Signing Chone Figgins  —  3:48pm: ESPN's Jayson Stark agrees that the Mariners are close to a deal with Figgins, but says financial terms are still being negotiated and the Angels “aren't completely out of the running.”  Meanwhile Shannon Drayer of ESPN Seattle says the deal is …

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 …

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 …

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 …