Charlie Samuels' Relationships with K-Rod, Piazza, Francoeur  —  According to the Daily News, an investigation conducted against Mets' equipment manager Charlie Samuels revealed he took a $50,000 tip from former Met Jeff Francoeur before he left via trade to the Texas Rangers.

Post-career deal would solve Yankees-Jeter contract issue  —  Tweet  —  Hal Steinbrenner talks publicly about as often as Marcel Marceau.  Casey Close is a more garrulous fellow, but when it comes to offering specifics about one of his client's contract negotiations …

Mets and Takahashi Part Ways  —  Hisanori Takahashi's time with the Mets is over after one successful season, and he will seek another team in free agency beginning Saturday.  —  The Mets and Takahashi's agent, Arn Tellem, were expected to announce later Friday that they could not come …

Jesus Montero will get chance to win starting catching job, Jorge Posada will slide in as Yankees DH  —  Back in July, the Yankees were willing to deal Jesus Montero for Cliff Lee.  When the 2011 season starts, Montero could be catching Lee in the Bronx.  —  The consensus among …

Anthopoulos gets creative  —  This post was brought to you by the letter “B”...  ... as in “Type B.”  —  On Thursday night, Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos swung a pretty creative trade.  For an hour and a half, catcher Miguel Olivo was a member of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Harvin returns to practice, squabbles with Childress over effort  —  Percy Harvin got into a heated argument with Brad Childress.  —  Percy Harvin returned to Vikings practice Friday, but things did not go smoothly.  —  The wide receiver, who sat out Wednesday and Thursday …

German, Mathis, McCarthy outrighted off the roster  —  Esteban German, pitcher Doug Mathis and pitcher Brandon McCarthy have all been out-righted off the 40-man roster.  All are taking their free agency.  Also pitcher Scott Feldman has undergone right knee surgery and will be limited at the beginning of Spring Training.

Exiled Isiah is itching for an encore  —  How often does he think about running the Knicks?  ‘Every single day of the week’  —  ESPNNewYork.com  —  MIAMI — Isiah Thomas thought he would be dead by age 20, so at 49 he offers no apologies for betting on himself.

Bidding For Iwakuma Closes, Mariners The Favorite?  —  NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman passes along a report saying that the bidding has closed for Japanese righty Hisashi Iwakuma (via Twitter), and a report from Sports Hochi (article in Japanese) indicates that the Mariners appear to be the favorite to land him.

Sparky Anderson: Did you know?  —  Here are some little-known facts and stories about the life and times of Reds great Sparky Anderson:  —  Origin Of The Nickname  —  In 1953, George Lee Anderson began his minor league career in Class C ball at Santa Barbara, Calif. …

Mariners hire Ted Simmons to advise  —  Ted Simmons, who followed an illustrious 21-year playing career with front office, scouting and coaching jobs, has been hired by the Seattle Mariners to be a senior advisor to general manager Jack Zduriencik.  —  Simmons, 61, spent the last three seasons …