RHP Joel Pineiro agrees to $16M contract with Angels  —  Free-agent right-hander Joel Pineiro agreed Wednesday to a $16 million, two-year contract with the Angels, sources told ESPN's Buster Olney.  —  Pineiro is due to take a physical Thursday.  —  Pineiro, 31, pitched a career-high 214 innings …

Source: Cubs in negotiations with Calero  —  Jon Paul Morosi is a national MLB writer for FOXSports.com.  He previously covered baseball for the Detroit Free Press and Seattle Post-Intelligencer.  He began his journalism career at the Bay City Times in his native Michigan.

Brewers bring back Davis  —  Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said way back in October that he wanted to add two established starting pitchers this winter.  On Wednesday, he landed the second of two.  —  With Randy Wolf already in tow, the Brewers agreed to terms with left-hander Doug Davis …

Pirates, Dotel agree to year, option  —  The Pirates and free-agent reliever Octavio Dotel agreed to terms on a one-year contract plus a club option for 2011, a source directly involved in the talks told the Post-Gazette tonight.  —  The agreement is pending a physical scheduled for tomorrow …

Rockies sign Payton, Lo Duca  —  Veterans to seek returns to Majors at Spring Training  —  DENVER — Outfielder Jay Payton posted a career-high batting average during his 1 1/2-year stint with the Rockies.  He'll try to revisit those days in 2010.  —  The Rockies signed Payton …

Q&A w/ Former MLB Pitcher Jim Bouton  —  Last month, former Major League pitcher Jim Bouton was gracious enough to take 30 minutes of his time to speak with me in a phone interview for an article about the transformation and evolution of the media that was published today on the LA-based Neon Tommy web site.

Seeds let your lawn grow like Fenway's  —  Boston Red Sox [team stats] fans will soon have everything they need - short of a dedicated groundskeeping crew - to grow grass exactly like the perfect turf at Fenway Park [map].  —  The Scotts Co. yesterday unveiled a grass-seed product that …

Prospectus Q and A: Jack Zduriencik by David Laurila  —  Jack Zduriencik … David Laurila: Is it fun being a big-league general manager?  —  Jack Zduriencik: Well, I don't know if I look at it quite like that, but I enjoy my job.  I've always enjoyed my jobs, so I've been fortunate in that respect.

Atlanta Braves Top 11  —  Four-Star Prospects  —  Three-Star Prospects  —  Two-Star Prospects  —  Four More:  —  12. J.J. Hoover, RHP: An over-slot 10th-round pick from 2008, Hoover showed excellent control and an impressive sinker/slider mix in his full-season debut.

Griffin: Spaceman gives thumbs up to Hawk in Hall  —  It was time once again, as it is every January, to check in with the Spaceman for some balanced baseball wisdom.  There has been some surprising rancour and statistical controversy the past two Hall-of-Fame elections over the legitimacy of both Jim Rice …

Jays acquire Valdez from Giants  —  Righty to compete for bullpen role during Spring Training  —  TORONTO — The Blue Jays added another arm to the mix for a bullpen role on Wednesday, swinging a trade with the Giants to acquire right-hander Merkin Valdez in exchange for cash considerations.

Relievers in the rough  —  What makes a good reliever?  It's a complicated question, and if you're putting together a bullpen, it may not even be the right question to ask.  —  Most relievers didn't start that way.  At some point, perhaps in college, the minors, or even midway through …

A NEVER-ENDING DEBATE  —  There is nothing in sports that creates the controversy and the debate provoked by voting for the Hall of Fame.  More than a week after the results of the latest voting were announced, I was still getting e-mail about the results.  Everyone is an expert, fans and bloggers alike.