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 …

Yankees give last $2M to versatile veteran OF  —  Once the Yankees determined Johnny Damon was unlikely to return as their left fielder, club officials considered a group of free agents they believed would accept the $2 million allocated for their fourth-outfielder role.

Mets close to re-signing Tatis  —  Omar Minaya is deep into negotiations with Fernando Tatis for a return engagement, and could have a deal complete within a matter of days, according to a baseball source.  —  That development would seem to eliminate the possibility of Carlos Delgado returning …

Yankees picked to finish third, miss playoffs  —  PECOTA — or “Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm” for those of you who don't like clever acronyms — is the statistical projection system owned and operated by the good people at Baseball Prospectus.

Brewers To Sign Jim Edmonds  —  The Brewers have agreed to sign Jim Edmonds to a minor league deal that will pay the outfielder $850K if he makes the team and up to $1.65MM more in incentives.  Edmonds will come to Spring Training with a chance to make the club as an extra outfielder.

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 …

Chien-Ming Wang considering signing before spring training  —  Chien-Ming Wang is reconsidering his plan not to return from shoulder surgery until a couple of months into the season, the former Yankee's agent told ESPN.com Thursday.  —  Wang  —  Alan Nero said that “four or five teams” …

Rockies make aggressive move for Cabrera  —  The Rockies don't want just a utilityman.  They want a player who has experience, who can play multiple positions.  They believe that player could be Orlando Cabrera.  After focusing on Melvin Mora, the Rockies have shifted toward Cabrera …

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.

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 …

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.