Nats to sign Jason Marquis  —  MASNsports.com has learned that the Nationals will sign starting pitcher Jason Marquis.  Stay tuned for more on this breaking story.

Yankees After Starting Pitcher  —  TUESDAY, 8:08am: Olney reports (via Twitter) that the Yanks have inquired on Pirates pitchers Ross Ohlendorf, Paul Maholm and Zach Duke before.  Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that the Yankees aren't trading for Duke or Mahlom (though he doesn't mention Ohlendorf).

Blue Jays To Acquire Brandon Morrow  —  The Blue Jays and Mariners reached a tentative agreement on a swap that will send Brandon Morrow to the Blue Jays for Brandon League and a prospect, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Presumably it'd take a solid prospect to balance out the deal.

Montero ready to move one step closer  —  Last year's stint in Double-A was cut short by a finger injury, but the Yankees believe Jesus Montero is ready to open next season in Triple-A.  —  Vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman said this afternoon that the Yankees plan …

Nothing to it  —  Cubs source refutes report about talking to Yanks about Zambrano  —  A New York Post article regarding the Chicago Cubs talking to the New York Yankees about sending Carlos Zambrano to New York for a center fielder is premature.  —  First and foremost …

New York Yankees charged with $25 million luxury tax penalty for 2009  —  NEW YORK — Winning came with a hefty price for the New York Yankees.  —  The World Series champions were hit with a luxury tax of nearly $25.69 million Monday, the penalty for once again crossing the payroll threshold …

Damon takes to the ring to host ‘Raw’  —  Outfielder participates in skits, approves featured matches  —  It's almost Christmas, and Johnny Damon doesn't know where he'll be playing next year.  He can almost be certain that it won't be with the Yankees, the team he spent the last four seasons with …

Lowell clarifies thumb situation  —  Speaking by phone from Orlando, Mike Lowell clarified the history of the thumb injury that ultimately led to the cancellation of the trade that would have sent him and $9 million to Texas for minor league catcher/infielder Max Ramirez.

Indians acquire pitchers Talbot, Rivera  —  Tribe completes trade that sent catcher Shoppach to Rays  —  CLEVELAND — The player to be named from the trade that sent catcher Kelly Shoppach to the Rays has a name, and it's Mitch Talbot.  —  The Indians announced Monday that they have selected …

Tossing around the pitching market  —  Baseball allows itself one week off a year, the time between Christmas and New Year's when husbands and wives reintroduce themselves to spouses and children, and so the days leading up to this self-imposed vacation tend to be hectic.

What do stats tell us?  —  Statistics basically tell us what happened.  If a pitcher gives up 20 earned runs in 50 innings, his ERA is 3.60.  Given a league average of around 4.40 for starters, a 3.60 ERA means that the pitcher did a good job when he was on the mound—in terms of results.

Caray to call games for Fox Sports Net  —  Chip Caray received an early Christmas present on Monday morning, when Fox Sports Net hired him to serve as their play-by-play announcer for all the Braves games televised by Fox Sports South and SportSouth.  —  This was the role previously held by Jon …

Mets edgy as Bengie & Bay stall  —  Radio silence from Jason Bay and Bengie Molina continued for the Mets over the weekend, leading some within the club to wonder if either player is truly interested in coming to Queens.  —  The Mets remained at a negotiating standstill with Bay and Molina …