Top News:
John Tomase / Clubhouse Insider:
Beltre turned down more money to play for Sox — The Red Sox have always liked Adrian Beltre. For much of free agency, they just didn't like his price. — But that changed when Beltre decided one year in Boston was worth more in the long run than three or four somewhere else.
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Chad Jennings / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
Shelley Duncan signs with the Indians — Look out Cleveland. The storm is coming through. And it's running right up on you. — Turns out, The Band had it right all along. — Shelley Duncan has signed with the Cleveland Indians. Their depth chart lists two young players …
Peter Abraham / Boston Globe:
Red Sox agree to deal with Beltre — The Red Sox have agreed on a deal with third baseman Adrian Beltre, a source told the Globe. The deal is for one year with Beltre holding an option for the second year. — Peter Gammons is reporting that Beltre would be paid $9 million in 2010.
Gordon Edes / ESPN:
Red Sox face competition for Beltre — The Boston Red Sox have made an offer to free-agent third baseman Adrian Beltre, according to a major league source, but are facing competition from other teams, a list that could include the Orioles, Athletics and Angels.
Rob Bradford / WEEI:
IT WASN'T EASY, BUT THE RED SOX FINALLY GOT THEIR MAN — NEW YORK - The Red Sox and Adrian Beltre had come close before. — Following the 2004 season, the Sox had hoped to trade Manny Ramirez with the idea of freeing up money with an eye towards signing Beltre, a free agent who was coming off a 48-home run season with the Dodgers.
Discussion:
Sabernomics
Rhett Bollinger / MLB.com:
Indians agree to deal with Duncan — Ex-Yanks outfielder was MVP of International League in '09 — The Indians agreed to a deal with former Yankees outfielder Shelley Duncan, The Journal News reported on Monday. — The terms of the contract were not disclosed but it's believed to be a Minor League deal, according to the report.
Discussion:
Circling The Bases
Gordon Edes / ESPN:
Beltre's price was right for Red Sox — Third baseman comes at a steep discount — Catch the ball and pitch. The next thing you know, the Boston Red Sox will rediscover the sacrifice bunt, as soon as the number crunchers demonstrate it is no longer an “inefficiency.”
Discussion:
Fenway West
Howard Megdal / MLB Rumors:Red Sox, Mets Discussing Castillo-For-Lowell?
Discussion:
Amazin' Avenue, Circling The Bases, Over the Monster, The Real Dirty Mets Blog and Boston Globe
Joe Strauss / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
La Russa says deal or no deal this week — Amid growing signs that the Cardinals and free-agent left fielder Matt Holliday were on the brink of a franchise-record contract to keep the former batting champion in St. Louis, manager Tony La Russa acknowledged Monday that any deal should be finalized sometime this week.
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Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com:
Mets to unveil Bay on Tuesday — Outfielder passes physical; conference to be held at 11 a.m. — At about noon ET on Monday, the Mets officially secured one of their biggest reasons for optimism heading into next season. — The Mets announced a Tuesday news conference at 11 a.m. to unveil Jason Bay …
Discussion:
New York Magazine
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Jason Reid / Redskins Insider:
Bugel decision may affect timing of announcement — The scheduling of the Redskins' anticipated introduction of Mike Shanahan as their next coach could be affected by potential plans to honor offensive line coach Joe Bugel, who is expected to retire, league sources said.
Discussion:
D.C. Sports Bog, William World News, DC Pro Sports Report, NBC Sports, Mr. Irrelevant and The Big Lead
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Sports Illustrated:
Class act, great numbers, but Edgar Martinez is no Hall of Famer … Baseball's 2010 Hall of Fame class will be announced on Wednesday, and I'm betting that Edgar Martinez comes up short in his first year of eligibility for Cooperstown. — Edgar presents voters with a unique choice …
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MLB.com:
Broadcaster Rory Markas passes away — ANAHEIM, CA: Angels Baseball Tuesday announced that veteran broadcaster Rory Markas passed away yesterday at his home in Palmdale, CA. No other details are available, and funeral service information is pending. — Markas, 54, spent eight seasons calling play …
Discussion:
6-4-2
Jerry Crasnick / ESPN:
Source: Shoppach, Rays agree to deal — Catcher Kelly Shoppach has agreed to a guaranteed two-year contract with the Tampa Bay Rays worth about $5.5 million, a baseball source told ESPN.com. — The contract takes Shoppach through his final two years of salary arbitration, and includes a club option for his first year of free agency.
Thomas Harding / MLB.com:
Rockies ink one-year deal with Olivo — Club option for 2011 included for former Royals backstop — DENVER — The Rockies replaced a sparkplug with a sparkplug on Monday. — Unable to bridge a gap in negotiations with catcher Yorvit Torrealba, Colorado reached an agreement with Miguel Olivo …
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Maury Brown / The Biz of Baseball:
ESPN To Launch 3D Television Network — ESPN will launch ESPN 3D - the industry's first 3D television network - it was announced today by George Bodenheimer, Co-chairman, Disney Media Networks, and President, ESPN and ABC Sports. ESPN 3D will showcase a minimum of 85 live sporting events during …
John Shipley / TwinCities.com:
Winter reports on pitcher Francisco Liriano have Twins manager Ron Gardenhire excited — If healthy, lefthander could earn a spot in starting rotation — Ron Gardenhire said Monday he's excited about having veteran Carl Pavano back in the rotation, but his eyes really lit up when discussing …
Discussion:
Circling The Bases
