Gambling probe reveals Charlie Samuels' relationship to Francisco Rodriguez, Jeff Francoeur, others  —  Charlie Samuels, the Mets clubhouse manager ensnared in an investigation into mobbed-up gambling, has been a trusted confidant and friend to scores of Mets players over the years …

Derek Jeter, Cliff Lee near free agency  —  NEW YORK — When the clock strikes midnight late Saturday night, Derek Jeter will turn into a free agent.  —  Barring a last minute agreement, the 36-year-old Jeter will enter fee agency for the first time in his career and will be able to negotiate with any of the major league teams.

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.

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 …

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 …

SF Giants give Pablo Sandoval ‘tough love’ message  —  (11-05) 15:49 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants plan to use a carrot-and-stick approach with Pablo Sandoval's conditioning this winter.  If he does not eat enough carrots, they might stick him in Fresno to start the 2011 season.

How Changes to MLB's Luxury Tax Could Influence Player Contracts, Now  —  Already, MLB's Hot Stove season is under way.  As players and clubs work through options within player contracts, the next wave of free agent signings or contract extensions will be getting underway in earnest.

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.

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.

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 …

Magglio's return to Detroit far from certain  —  DETROIT — The Tigers have interest in Magglio Ordonez, and Ordonez has interest in staying with the Tigers.  Starting Sunday, baseball's 2010 free-agent market opens up for other clubs to express their interest in Ordonez and the Tigers to pursue other options.

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.