Top News:
Joel Sherman / New York Post:
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.
RELATED:
NY Daily News:In letting Johnny Damon go and signing Randy Winn, Brian Cashman's …
Discussion:
Pinstripe Alley
Joel Sherman / NY Post: Hardball:Rays have interest in Damon
Discussion:
Jorge Says No!, Rays Index, The LoHud Yankees Blog, MLB.com, DRaysBay, The iYankees Blog, New York Post and Bottom9 Baseball
Fox Sports:Yankees, Damon would've been a solid fit
Discussion:
NY Post: Hardball, No, You're a Towel, River Avenue Blues, It's About The Money and DRaysBay
Mike Puma / NY Post:
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 …
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Mets close to deal with Tatis; Delgado likely done — Fernando Tatis is close to a deal with the New York Mets, which would likely close the door on Carlos Delgado returning to the team. — Delgado's inability to play first base in Puerto Rican winter ball hurt him.
Discussion:
New Jersey Online
Matthew Cerrone / MetsBlog.com:Buzz: Mets re-sign Fernando Tatis
Discussion:
The Musings and Prophecies …
Adam Rubin / NY Daily News:Sources: Fernando Tatis re-signs with New York Mets, returns for third season
David Brown / Yahoo! Sports:
PECOTA projections say Yanks will miss playoffs this season — Happy PECOTA day which, as one Stewie noted on Twitter today, is like “Christmas, Mardi Gras and Groundhog Day all rolled into one for baseball nerds.” — Yes, Apple's iPad and SOTU were so yesterday.
RELATED:
Craig Calcaterra / Circling The Bases:
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.
Clay Davenport / Unfiltered:
2010 PECOTA is here! — UPDATE 5:53PM Pac: Fantasy subs are now available. Of course, Premium subs are even more available-they last a whole year! — UPDATE 2:48PM Pac: 2009 comments have been removed from all depth charts. Comment away on the 2010 versions. — Phase One of the 2010 PECOTAs are here!
Discussion:
Amazin' Avenue
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:
Jayson Stark / MLB:
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” …
Discussion:
The LoHud Yankees Blog, River Avenue Blues, MetsBlog.com, NESN.com and Seven Train to Shea Mets Blog
Ian Browne / MLB.com:
Red Sox tickets go on sale Saturday — Purchase limited to eight per person due to high demand — BOSTON — The Red Sox, who have the longest sellout streak in Major League history, will put single-game tickets for most 2010 home games on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. ET.
Discussion:
Red Sox Monster
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 $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.
Baseball Prospectus:
Depth Charts — Welcome! All Depth Charts are available to Baseball Prospectus Premium and Fantasy subscribers. If you aren't a subscriber, the Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies depth charts are free for your perusal. — How To Use The Depth Charts
Discussion:
Royals Authority
Duk / Yahoo! Sports:
Teammate thinks Mike Bacsik grooved the pitch for Bonds' 756th — It's a question that has long been asked around baseball circles: Did Mike Bacsik — 756th home run so that he could one day be the answer to a trivia question and maybe attain some sort of fame?
Donnie Collins / Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees Blog:
Yanks officially add Taiwanese infielder — Buckle your seat belts: The Yankees have signed Fu-Lin Kuo. — Honestly, I don't know if this was widely reported or not. I do know that I had heard about it at some point in the past (at least, I think I did), but it showed up on the latest list …
R.J. Anderson / FanGraphs Baseball:
Durham or Kansas City? — I like tormenting Matt Klaasen, and as such, I'm going to expand on a question I asked him earlier: is the Durham Bulls' lineup better than the Kansas City Royals' lineup? — If the season started tomorrow, Kansas City would have something that resembles this:
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 …
