Top News:
Jeff Fletcher / BBWAA.com:
2010 Managers of the Year — Gardenhire Wins AL Award, — Black Wins in NL — Despite the loss to injury of closer Joe Nathan for the whole season and slugging first baseman Justin Morneau for half the schedule, Gardenhire directed the Minnesota Twins to a 94-68 record and won …
Discussion:
NBCSports.com, blogs.chron.com, The Zo Zone, Gaslamp Ball, Purple Row, Full Count and Phillies Nation
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Ron Gardenhire, Bud Black honored — NEW YORK — San Diego's Bud Black has barely beaten out Cincinnati's Dusty Baker as the NL Manager of the Year, while Minnesota's Ron Gardenhire has won the AL award. — Black topped Baker by one point in results released Wednesday by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Discussion:
baseballmusings.com, MLB.com and ESPN
Kelly Thesier / MLB.com:
Twins' Gardenhire voted AL's top manager — Twins manager Ron Gardenhire has been a perennial contender for the American League Manager of the Year honor since he took the helm of the club in 2002. And now, he's finally the winner of that prestigious award.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports, Lone Star Ball and The Joy of Sox
David Pinto / baseballmusings.com:
Counting Down to Managers — The BBWAA countdown clock is set …
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports and Boston Globe
Bob Nightengale / USA Today:
Red Sox still talking Justin Upton; Yankees fall short
Discussion:
Full Count and Bronx Baseball Daily
New York Post:
Yankees prepared to brush Jeter back — Tweet — ORLANDO, Fla. — In a meeting in Tampa last week, Yankees officials did the requisite lap of respect with Derek Jeter. They honored his place in organization history, his meaning to the fan base and his legacy on and off the field.
Discussion:
ESPN, BronxBanterBlog.com, New Jersey Online, Bronx Baseball Daily, Mike Silva's … and Bottom9 Baseball
RELATED:
Joel Sherman / New York Post:
Rangers visit Lee, but Yankees are favorites — Tweet — ORLANDO, Fla. — The Rangers sent their top executives to meet Cliff Lee on Monday in an attempt to retain the free-agent lefty, but the strong feeling among executives canvassed is that Lee will end up a Yankee.
Discussion:
Bronx Baseball Daily, River Avenue Blues, lenNY's Yankees, TYU and It's About The Money
Troy E. Renck / Denver Post:
Rockies inquiring about Justin Upton — ORLANDO — The Rockies have broadened their scope in attempt to land a right-handed bat and starting pitcher, inquiring about Arizona outfielder Justin Upton and White Sox right-hander Gavin Floyd, according to multiple major league sources.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
RELATED:
Fox Sports:
Diamondbacks could be big players — FOX Sports — The Diamondbacks lost 97 games last season with Justin Upton in right field and Stephen Drew at shortstop. — They might not be worse if they traded one, or even both. In fact, they might be better — at least long-term — if they received the right players in return.
Discussion:
Philliesflow.com and The Daily Fungo
Troy E. Renck / Denver Post:
Rockies want to keep De La Rosa, as long as it's for less than four years
Discussion:
MLB Rumors, MLB.com, MLB.com Hot Stove blog, Fanhouse MLB Blog and All Things Rockies
Nick Collias / MLB Rumors:
Athletics Open Bidding On Beltre At Five Years? — 2:48pm: SI.com's Jon Heyman hears that Beltre's camp is using Torii Hunter's five year, $90MM contract as a comparable for their expectations (Twitter link). — 2:01pm: Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes tweets that Oakland offered Beltre five years …
Discussion:
NESN.com, Athletics Nation and Fenway West
RELATED:
Aaron Gleeman / NBCSports.com:
Report: A's offer Adrian Beltre a five-year, $64 million deal
Discussion:
Bottom9 Baseball
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Sox will draw line on Beltre, Martinez
Discussion:
NESN.com, Over the Monster, Full Count, HardballTalk, Athletics Nation, SOX & Dawgs and MLB Rumors
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Epstein denies any ‘line’ on Beltre; A's reportedly make offer
Discussion:
SOX & Dawgs and Full Count
Gordon Edes / ESPN:
Sox OK with Saltalamacchia as No. 1
Discussion:
Boston Globe, Red Sox Monster and NESN.com
Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
Blue Jays On Verge Of Acquiring Rajai Davis — The Blue Jays are on the verge of acquiring outfielder Rajai Davis from the Athletics, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Minor league reliever Trystan Magnuson is one of the players heading to Oakland in the deal, MLBTR has learned.
Discussion:
Baseball America, Yahoo! Sports, Bluebird Banter, Drunk Jays Fans, Al's Ramblings and Batter's Box Interactive …
RELATED:
Aaron Gleeman / NBCSports.com:
Blue Jays acquire Rajai Davis from A's for Trystan Magnuson
Discussion:
MLB Rumors and Lone Star Ball
Murray Chass / Murray Chass On Baseball:
THE DARK SIDE TO OVERTAKE CY YOUNG AWARD
Discussion:
Beyond the Box Score
Mark Bowman / MLB.com:
Braves ecstatic to have Uggla join them — McCann, Gonzalez effusive in praise for new second baseman — ATLANTA — Brian McCann certainly didn't feel the need to temper the excitement he felt when he learned that the Braves had acquired second baseman Dan Uggla from the Marlins on Tuesday.
Discussion:
Bottom9 Baseball
RELATED:
Matthew Cerrone / MetsBlog.com:
Quick Q&A: Why didn't the Mets trade for Dan Uggla?
Discussion:
NBCSports.com and baseballmusings.com
Jon Paul Morosi / Fox Sports:
Tigers, right-hander Joaquin Benoit nearing deal — The Detroit Tigers are nearing a multi-year agreement with right-hander Joaquin Benoit, major-league sources told FOXSports.com. — The deal could be for as long as three years, sources say. — Benoit, 33, is one of the more intriguing arms in a deep class of relief pitchers.
Kevin Baxter / Los Angeles Times:
Dodgers ponder decision on Russell Martin — Club has until Dec. 2 to offer the catcher a contract or allow him to become a free agent. — Reporting from Orlando, Fla. — Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti has a lot of decisions to make over the next couple of weeks …
Discussion:
HardballTalk and MLB Rumors
RELATED:
Joe Christensen / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Twins might look to Japan to add speed to their middle infield
Discussion:
Twinkie Town, Mariners blog and MLB Rumors
Jayson Stark / ESPN:
Numbers tell surprising free-agent story — Sure, Lee, Rivera and Soriano are recongizable, but don't forget these other arms … You don't need Rumblings and Grumblings to tell you that Cliff Lee, Mariano Rivera and Rafael Soriano are the three most ballyhooed free-agent arms that money can buy this winter.
Discussion:
GoatRiders of the Apocalypse, MLB Rumors and SignOnSanDiego.com
Adam Kilgore / Nationals Journal:
Bryce Harper likely to start 2011 in Class A Hagerstown — First overall pick Bryce Harper, currently tearing up the Arizona Fall League, a league packed with the most promising prospects in baseball, will begin the season in Class A Hagerstown, General Mike Rizzo said last night.
Discussion:
Federal Baseball and DC Pro Sports Report
Adam Kilgore / Nationals Journal:
Josh Willingham unlikely to receive extension — The Nationals have three options this offseason with left fielder Josh Willingham, who is entering his final year of arbitration and will be a free agent following the 2011 season. They could sign him to a multi-year contract extension …
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
Matthew Cerrone / MetsBlog.com:
Photo: Alderson, DePodesta and Ricciardi at GM Meetings — murdertron3000 — Wondering if I am the only one with the theme from Reservoir Dogs going through their head now. — C Dubb — Holy crap, you beat me to it!
