Report: Yankees call Cliff Lee's agent  —  NEW YORK — The Yankees called Cliff Lee's agent Sunday on the first day of the free-agent negotiating period to say they will be back in touch with an offer for the top pitcher on the market, a baseball official familiar with the conversation told The Associated Press.

Yankees touch base with Cliff Lee, face competition from Brewers, Rangers, Cubs, Phillies and Angels  —  The Cliff Lee Sweepstakes is officially underway and not surprisingly, the Yanks haven't wasted any time to get in.  —  Now that baseball's most attractive free agent is allowed …

2011 Top 50 Free Agents  —  It's time for the fifth annual MLB Trade Rumors Top 50 Free Agents list!  The entire list of available free agents can be found here.  —  A note before we begin - this is a complicated puzzle, and I'll be satisfied if I'm correct on a quarter of these guesses.

Source: Red Sox eye Jayson Werth  —  BOSTON — The Red Sox, as expected, have contacted agent Scott Boras regarding their interest in free-agent outfielder Jayson Werth, according to a baseball source.  —  There was no word yet on whether the team was pursuing outfielder Carl Crawford, although that would appear to be a no-brainer.

A's win exclusive rights to negotiate with Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma  —  There's no official word yet on which team submitted the winning bid for exclusive negotiating rights with Japanese right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma, but his agent Don Nomura tweeted the following a short time ago: