Top News:
Mark Feinsand / NY Daily News:
Nick Johnson's one-year deal with New York Yankees likely spells end for Johnny Damon with Bombers — Shortly after introducing Curtis Granderson as the newest Yankee, Hal Steinbrenner said his team wasn't finished with its offseason moves. — Apparently, he wasn't kidding.
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George A. King III / New York Post:
Yankees move closer to DH deal with Johnson — The Yankees and Nick Johnson are moving toward a one-year deal for the left-handed hitter to be the club's DH, and it could be announced Friday morning. — Asked today by The Post if there was deal to be announced, Brian Cashman said, “Not at this moment.”
Discussion:
Baseball & The Boogie Down, The Yankee Universe, Beyond the Box Score, Jorge Says No!, Boston Globe, U.S.S. Mariner, DRaysBay, Bronx Baseball Daily, Lone Star Ball, NESN.com, River Avenue Blues, The LoHud Yankees Blog, The iYankees Blog, Respect Jeter's Gangster, Yankeeist and YanksBlog.com
Mark Feinsand / Blogging The Bombers:
Say goodbye to Johnny, say hello to Nick — Johnny Damon's run in pinstripes has come to an end. — The Yankees are inching toward an agreement with Nick Johnson on a one-year, $5.5 million deal to become the team's new DH, which would mark the end of any chance for Damon to return for fifth season in pinstripes.
Josh Thomson / The LoHud Yankees Blog:Steinbrenner: Yankees, Damon have a “difference of opinion of what the pay is”
Discussion:
River Avenue Blues, Yankeeist, NY Daily News, Bronx Baseball Daily, lenNY's Yankees and Sliding Into Home
Brian Costa / New Jersey Online:Curtis Granderson will wear No. 14; Alex Rodriguez will not need …
Discussion:
WasWatching.com
Larry Stone / Seattle Times:
Shocker: Mariners trade Carlos Silva for Milton Bradley — The Seattle Mariners have found a way to get rid of one of their last lingering problems. The club today traded Carlos Silva, who still has two years remaining on the four-year, $48 million contract given him by former general manager Bill Bavasi …
RELATED:
Sports Illustrated:
Seattle close to getting Cubs' Bradley … The Mariners and Cubs are on the verge of a deal that would send outfielder Milton Bradley to Seattle in exchange for pitcher Carlos Silva, sources confirm. — While the Cubs have talked to as many as four teams regarding Bradley …
Discussion:
Circling The Bases, Lookout Landing, Bleed Cubbie Blue, U.S.S. Mariner, Respect Jeter's Gangster and 6-4-2
ESPN:
Chicago Cubs trade Milton Bradley to Seattle Mariners for Carlos Silva — The Mariners and Chicago Cubs have announced a trade sending right-handed pitcher Carlos Silva to Seattle for outfielder Milton Bradley. — Bradley — The Cubs were said to be looking for some relief either in cash …
Discussion:
Angels blog
Sports Illustrated:
Mets might have to battle ‘mystery’ team in Bay derby, plus more notes … Jason Bay reportedly has a mystery team bidding on him. But beyond the Mets, who remain keenly interested and in touch with his agent Joe Urbon, nearly all of Bay's market is remains mystery at this point.
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John Harper / NY Daily News:
Jason Bay stalls for more than four years from New York Mets — The Jason Bay negotiations continued Thursday, with no obvious end in sight. — The Mets continue to hold to their position that they don't need to significantly improve their offer of four years for approximately $65 million …
Chuck Richter / Angelswin.com:
Angels interested in Javier Vazquez — According to a reliable source, the Angels are talking to the Braves about starting pitcher Javier Vazquez. The Braves, however, would prefer to deal Derek Lowe (and his $45M contract). The names of the players in a potential deal are not known …
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Joe McDonald / Providence Journal:
Lowell-to-Texas deal hits snag over possible thumb injury — Now that Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein has locked down a starting pitcher and an outfielder in John Lackey and Mike Cameron, the GM's next order of business is Mike Lowell. — The Sox and the Rangers are in the midst …
Max Marchi / Hardball Times:
Catching Sabathia: Jorge's vs Jose's way — Today we are going to compare C.C. Sabathia's pitching patterns when he is caught by Jorge Posada with those when he is caught by Jose Molina. — I know, I know. It's A.J. Burnett who wasn't in the same page with Jorge, prompting manager Joe Girardi …
Tim Ott / MLB.com:
Season's best claim TYIB Awards — Stars Mauer, Greinke, Jeter among fan favorites for 2009 — We set up the ballots, and once again, the fans spoke loud and clear in naming this past season's best hitters, pitchers, performances and moments in the 2009 MLB.com This Year in Baseball Awards.
Anthony DiComo / MLB.com:
Rivera named top Pro Athlete of '09 — NEW YORK — Adding to his cabinet of accolades, Mariano Rivera on Thursday took home the Sporting News' 2009 Pro Athlete of the Year Award. — Rivera, who turned 40 after the season, saved 44 games with a 1.76 ERA while winning the fifth World Series title …
Discussion:
River Avenue Blues
RELATED:
Ken Bradley / Sporting News:2009 Sporting News Pro Athlete of the Year: Mariano Rivera, Yankees closer
Discussion:
USATODAY.com Sports News
Will Lingo / Baseball America:
Baltimore Orioles Top 10 Prospects — Baltimore Orioles … The 2000s were a decade to forget for the Orioles. But they finally can see enough legitimate big leaguers in place or on the horizon to believe there's hope for the future. — Since Baltimore won the American League East …
Matthew Pouliot / Circling The Bases:
Stubborn Francoeur has a ways to go — Matthew Cerrone has a fine interview with sabermetric whipping boy Jeff Francoeur over on Metsblog.com, where you can watch the video or read the text. I'll just post the first question and response, since it was the one most interesting to me:
Discussion:
Mack's Mets
RELATED:
Matthew Cerrone / MetsBlog.com:Interview: Me and Francoeur, on Stats, Leadership & Fans
Discussion:
BBTF's Baseball Primer …
