Top News:
Keith Law / ESPN:
Ranking the top prospects (Nos. 1-25) … Welcome to the third annual ESPN.com ranking of the top 100 prospects in baseball. The No. 1 prospect for 2008, Evan Longoria, ended up winning the American League Rookie of the Year Award, and last year's No. 1 prospect, Matt Wieters …
RELATED:
Jonathan Mayo / MLB.com:
Breaking down the Top 50 Prospects — Pitchers, premium position players make grade in 2010 — MLB.com's Top 50 Prospect list is now public for all to see. Let the opinions fly. Should the game's top prospect be Braves outfielder Jason Heyward or Nationals fireballer Stephen Strasburg?
Bryan Hoch / MLB.com:
Yanks' Montero slugging, turning heads — Bat earns 20-fyear-old catcher coveted spot on prospect list — NEW YORK — Each loud drive off Jesus Montero's bat moves him a little closer to Yankee Stadium, and the Yankees can't help but wonder what the future will hold for the slugging catcher.
Discussion:
Pinstripe Alley
Joel Sherman / NY Post: Hardball:
Rays have interest in Damon — A darkhorse has emerged in pursuit of Johnny Damon, and it is an AL East rival of the Yankees. — The Tampa Bay Rays have been in regular contact with Scott Boras about adding Damon to be their primary DH, The Post has learned.
Discussion:
The LoHud Yankees Blog, Rays Index, Jorge Says No!, DRaysBay, TYU, The iYankees Blog and Bottom9 Baseball
RELATED:
Fox Sports:
Yankees, Damon would've been a solid fit — Ken Rosenthal has been the senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com since Aug. 2005. He appears weekly on MLB on FOX. — Talk about a dumb divorce. — The Yankees need Johnny Damon. Damon needs the Yankees. But so much for happily ever after.
NY Daily News:
In letting Johnny Damon go and signing Randy Winn, Brian Cashman's ego might have gotten best of him — First and foremost, it's obvious that Johnny Damon screwed up a good thing here by allowing Scott Boras to antagonize the Yankee front office with his contract demands …
Joel Sherman / NY Post: Hardball:3UP: Cone, Mets Rotation and Damon
Discussion:
Fack Youk, BronxBanterBlog.com, Bottom9 Baseball, Amazin' Avenue, The iYankees Blog and MetsBlog.com
Mike Puma / New York Post:
Tatis talk closing door on Delgado — PORT ST. LUCIE — Who's on first? — The answer to that question for the Mets is Daniel Murphy, but another name might soon be added to the mix. — According to an industry source, general manager Omar Minaya is deep into negotiations with Fernando Tatis …
Discussion:
Circling The Bases
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Dan Connolly / Baltimore Sun:
Orioles, reliever Hendrickson agree to terms — Left-hander returns for one-year, $1.2 million deal — The Orioles shored up their bullpen and likely put the final touch on their 40-man roster before they head to spring training by agreeing to terms Wednesday with reliever Mark Hendrickson.
Ken Gurnick / MLB.com:
Dodgers sign Perez, Koronka to Minors deals — Pair along with Lindblom, Mitchell invited to Spring Training — LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers have signed outfielder Timo Perez and left-handed starting pitcher John Koronka to Minor League contracts with Major League Spring Training invites …
Adam Rubin / Surfing The Mets:
Smoltz could borrow Pedro's script — John Smoltz could choose not pitching over pitching for the Mets ... at least for now. But Smoltz isn't retiring yet. — An insider tells the Daily News he believes the 42-year-old Smoltz could follow the route Pedro Martinez went last season — wait and sign mid-season.
David Waldstein / New York Times:
The Mets Play Hard to Get, This Time With Smoltz — PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — John Smoltz, who turns 43 in May and would like to extend his Hall of Fame career, has received 2010 contract offers from several teams, his agent, Lonnie Cooper, said Wednesday. The Mets, however, are not among those clubs …
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Brewers To Sign Jim Edmonds — The Brewers have agreed to sign Jim Edmonds to a minor league deal that will pay the outfielder less than $1MM if he makes the team. Edmonds will come to Spring Training with a chance to make the club as an extra outfielder.
Jon Weisman / Dodger Thoughts:
Dodger Thoughts moves to ESPN.com/LA next week — On Monday, it will have been 365 days since Baseball Toaster closed and Dodger Thoughts moved to the Los Angeles Times. The past year has been an interesting one — in some ways fun and rewarding, in other ways extremely humbling.
Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
Yankees To Hire Kevin Towers — The Yankees will announce the hiring of former Padres GM Kevin Towers before spring, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. ESPN's Buster Olney had been predicting this since October. — Towers planned to meet with the Yankees, Mets, Mariners …
