Bedard on the path of returning to Seattle  —  Now that the Mariners have avoided salary arbitration with first baseman Casey Kotchman, signing him to a one year, $3.5 million contract on Wednesday, the next order of business might be — surprise, surprise — re-signing left-hander Erik Bedard.

Verlander convinces Tigers of his worth  —  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.

MEET THE MESS  —  The word is multitasking.  It is such a relatively new word that it doesn't appear in my dictionary, the third edition (1992) of the American Heritage Dictionary.  A nice lady at Houghton Mifflin, the publisher, told me multitasking first appeared in the fourth edition published in 2000.

Billboards tout the 61 in '61 clubbed by Maris, “Fargo's golden boy”  —  A North Dakota billboard company has erected a pair of signs in Fargo honoring local hero Roger Maris, whose record 61 home runs in 1961 have long been clouded with an asterisk.  —  Take that, Mark McGwire.

FEWER PITCHERS  —  Joel Sherman seems to think that Phil Hughes gets the starting job of the Yankees in 2010.  I'm not sure from the article how much is wishful thinking and how much is from conversations with the Yankees front office.  Sherman does say one really interesting thing however:

Winning offer: An open letter to Pirates owner Bob Nutting  —  Major league sports is a brutal business.  What with aggressive player agents, deep-pocketed competitors and more venues vying for the public's entertainment dollar, it is not a pursuit for the faint of heart.

Giants on Thin Ice with Lincecum  —  There's no need to freak out — pun semi-intended — in light of recent comments from Tim Lincecum's agent, Rick Thurman, who suggested to the San Jose Mercury News that the Giants are low-balling his client.  —  No need to read much into the virtual …

Cubs, Marmol agree on one-year deal  —  The Chicago Cubs and agents for Carlos Marmol have agreed on a one-year contact worth $2.125 million for the 2010 season.  —  The amount agreed upon is the midway point between the arbitration figures the two sides had filed.

Buzz: Mets still interested in Rod Barajas  —  C Rod Barajas is still available on the free-agent market.  —  Barajas hit just .226 last season, but with 19 HR and 71 RBI, in 125 games for the Blue Jays, while hitting .267 against left-handed pitching.

The Best and Worst GMs of the '90s  —  Now, before we get to the rankings, let's run down some issues that seem to have gotten lost in translation since this system was first introduced in August:  — How is this not just dollars/win?  There are two major adjustments factored in here that make it …

Hitters by Zones  —  Few in MLB can beat a well-located pitch down and away.  I wanted to look up those who could, so I broke the plate area down into nine zones, scaling the vertical component of the pitch for the batter's height.  For this analysis, I decided to restrict my sample to only 2009 pitches at which the batter swung.

College Baseball's Best Of The Decade  —  To celebrate the recently completed decade, we put together an All-2000s team to honor the best of the best.  Like our annual All-America teams, this team recognizes four starting pitchers, three outfielders, one two-way or “utility” player and one player at every other position.

Twins in position of strength with Hudson, Washburn  —  The Twins are in a good position, as free agents Orlando Hudson and Jarrod Washburn finalize their decisions on where they want to spend 2010.  —  The Twins don't need either player.  Sure, Hudson would be a natural fit in the No. 2 spot …

The best shape ever  —  Here's a guarantee: Several times within the next month, you will consume a news story — not even counting this blog post — asserting that a particular baseball player is Reporting to Spring Training in the Best Shape of His Life.  Chances are, you will read several …