Top News:
Ben Goessling / The washington times Blogs:
Nats will select Kroenke first in Rule 5 — The Nationals will take Yankees reliever Zach Kroenke first overall in the Rule 5 draft on Thursday and offer him back to New York as the player to be named later in the trade that sent Brian Bruney to Washington, according to a source familiar with discussions.
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Jonathan Mayo / MLB.com:
Rule 5 could uncover hidden gems — Teams hope to land underrated talent in Thursday's Draft — INDIANAPOLIS — There were 21 players taken in the Major League phase of last year's Rule 5 Draft. Of those, six saw time in the big leagues during the 2009 season.
New York Post:
Yanks to pick Hoffman first in Rule 5 draft — Barring a last-second trade, the Yankees plan to take outfielder Jamie Hoffman from the Dodgers as the first pick in this morning's Rule 5 Draft, the Post has learned. — The Yankees obtained the pick earlier this week from the Nationals in exchange for Brian Bruney.
Will Hill / TSN.ca:FOR THE THRILL OF IT: JAYS ADD ZINICOLA IN RULE 5 DRAFT
Discussion:
Bluebird Banter
John Manuel / Baseball America:Outfielders Hoffmann, Raynor Top Rule 5 Draft
Discussion:
Talking Chop
Matthew Cerrone / MetsBlog.com:Mets select Monasterios in Rule 5 Draft
Discussion:
Mets Merized Online
Fox Sports:
Sources: BoSox ready to send Lowell to Texas — The Rangers and Red Sox reached preliminary agreement late Wednesday night on a trade that will send Mike Lowell to Texas for catcher/first baseman Max Ramirez, major league sources told FOXSports.com.
Discussion:
Clubhouse Insider, Boston Globe, Surviving Grady, The Bottom Line, Red Sox Monster, Full Count, The Fowl Balls, SOX & Dawgs, Lone Star Ball and NESN.com
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Ian Browne / MLB.com:
Boston, Texas close to deal on Lowell — Move would allow Sox to pursue free agent Beltre at third — INDIANAPOLIS — While the Red Sox are still in left-field limbo, they appear to be on the verge of making a change at third base. — The Red Sox and Rangers — according to FoxSports.com …
Discussion:
YFSF
Alex Speier / Full Count:Source: Five-Year Offer Could Close a Deal With Bay
Discussion:
Circling The Bases
Matthew Pouliot / Circling The Bases:
Source: Harden to join Rangers on one-year, $7.5 million deal — Update 2: Craig has confirmed that the deal is with the Rangers. One year, $7.5 million with the option for 2011. — Update: Craig's source is hearing one-year, $7.5 million with an $11.5 million option for 2011. Possibly with the Mariners.
Discussion:
FanGraphs Baseball, U.S.S. Mariner, NESN.com, Yahoo! Sports, My Pinstripes, MLB Daily Dish and Texas Rangers
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Toronto Sun:
Angels make a play for Halladay — INDIANAPOLIS - Alex Anthopoulos has spoke all week about having multiple balls in the air. — Now there is an offer on the table for Blue Jays right-hander Roy Halladay at the winter meetings. — The Angels took the lead amongst interested teams in the hunt for Halladay by offering:
Discussion:
MLB, MLB.com, Bluebird Banter, Circling The Bases, The Zo Zone, MetsBlog.com, MLB Rumors, 6-4-2, New York Post, Los Angeles Times and Denver Post
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Mark Feinsand / NY Daily News:
Anaheim Angels, Philadelphia Phillies join New York Yankees in Roy Halladay trade talks — Now that Andy Pettitte is back in the fold, will Brian Cashman go for the kill and trade for Roy Halladay? — If he does, he's in for serious competition from some familiar faces as it appeared Wednesday night …
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
Dave Cameron / FanGraphs Baseball:
The Worst Signing Of The Winter — I'm one of those people who doesn't really enjoy Saturday Night Live sketches, because to me, the joke is made in the first 15 seconds and then just repeated over and over for the next several minutes. You drive a Dodge Stratus and you think that makes you important - okay.
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Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Astros To Sign Brandon Lyon — 10:48pm: Rosenthal says the Astros agreed to sign Lyon for $15MM over three years. That's too much of a commitment in my opinion, but congrats to Lyon and his agent, Barry Meister. The Tigers get a supplementary rounder (not from the Astros) in next year's draft.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports, MyFox Houston, The Crawfish Boxes, Detroit Tigers blog, TigerBlog and Bless You Boys
Toronto Sun:
Blue Jays sign speedy outfielder Joey Gathright — INDIANAPOLIS — General Manager Alex Anthopoulos will return to 1 Blue Jays way with more than an Indy 500 T-shirt bought at the airport. — The Blue Jays signed free-agent outfielder Joey Gathright yesterday.
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Ken Davidoff / Newsday:
Ken Davidoff's baseball insider — Yankees, Mets, trade rumors and more MLB musings … Head home today, weather permitting. It has been an extremely productive week for the Yankees, obviously, and not so much for the Mets. — Found out an interesting nugget about the Mets …
Discussion:
MLB Rumors, Amazin' Avenue, MetsBlog.com, Mets Merized Online, Circling The Bases, The 'Ropolitans and Mets Fever
Fox Sports:
LIVE: Follow Day 3 of winter meetings — It's Day 3 of the winter meetings. Who's going where? Follow along as our team of Ken Rosenthal, Jon Paul Morosi and Tracy Ringolsby break the latest news from Indy. Note: all times ET. — Wednesday's latest news and notes
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Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:Rich Harden To Sign With Rangers
Discussion:
Bluebird Banter, Amazin' Avenue, Postcards from Elysian Fields, 3:10 To Joba and The iYankees Blog
Troy Renck / All Things Rockies:
Rockies will attempt to reach resolution with Torrealba today; Updates on Contreras, Giambi; Astros sign Majewski — INDIANAPOLIS — The Rockies will meet with Yorvit Torrealba's agent today in hopes of reaching a resolution on a two-year contract. The team also remains interested in bringing …
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
RELATED:
John Shea / San Francisco Chronicle:
Bonds' agent concedes slugger's playing days are over — Barry Bonds' agent finally acknowledged Wednesday that the home run king is done playing baseball. — “It's two years since he played his last game, and if there was any chance he'd be back in a major-league uniform …
