Yanks hire coach Larry Rothschild  —  In a surprise announcement, the New York Yankees hired Larry Rothschild, the Chicago Cubs pitching coach for the past nine seasons, to succeed Dave Eiland as pitching coach.  —  “Larry brings a wealth of invaluable experience to our team and to our pitching staff …

Yankees To Offer Jeter $45MM For Three Years  —  The Yankees are about to offer Derek Jeter a three-year deal worth $45MM, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter).  Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported yesterday that the Yankees would likely make such an offer to their captain.

Tampa Bay Rays' David Price is AL Cy Young runnerup behind Seattle Mariners' Felix Hernandez  —  ORLANDO — The idea of voting the award for the American League's best pitcher to Seattle's Felix Hernandez, who won only 13 games, is difficult for some people to understand.

Inbox: Who will man middle infield spots?  —  Beat reporter Corey Brock answers Padres fans' questions  —  What are the Padres' plans for the middle infield?  Up-the-middle defense is paramount if you're building your team on pitching and defense.  Any chance the Padres make a deal …

Yankees release Jonathan Albaladejo  —  The Yankees have released reliever Jonathan Albaladejo so that he can sign a contract to play in Japan.  —  Last season, the Yankees made it pretty clear that they didn't see a spot for Albaladejo in the big leagues.

Cardinals adjust 40-man roster  —  Ottavino, Stavinoha removed; prospects Cruz, King added  —  ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals revealed adjustments to their 40-man roster as well as their Minor League coaching staffs in a pair of announcements on Friday afternoon.

Amaro: Ibanez is a subject Werth talking about  —  LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Walking by a gaggle of reporters on his way out of the posh Waldorf Astoria here at Disney World, Ruben Amaro Jr. held up his hand and formed a circle with his finger and thumb.  —  The message?  No news to report.

Drayton McLane Enlists New York Banking Firm to Sell Houston Astros  —  UPDATE: McLane has called a 2:30pm CT press conference at Minute Maid Park to discuss the sale.  —  Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane has passively trying to sell club for more than two years, but has now reportedly retained …

Madden: Derek learns about Yankee Moneyball … BEST OF NYDN.COM

Rangers sign Barret Loux  —  The Rangers have signed Barret Loux, a pitcher who was the Diamondbacks No. 1 draft pick but then declared a free agent after they couldn't come to an agreement.  —  Well, they reached an agreement but then Loux failed his physical.  He has both shoulder and elbow issues that are of a concern.

Rangers losing their edge in Lee sweepstakes  —  Tweet  —  ORLANDO, Fla. — In the two-plus weeks since the World Series ended, you can already feel some of the momentum seeping away from the Rangers' confidence when it comes to keeping Cliff Lee.  —  Suddenly, like the rest of the sport …

One end zone for offense at Wrigley  —  Only one end zone will be used for offense Saturday at Wrigley Field for the Illinois-Northwestern game because of safety concerns, the Big Ten announced Friday.  —  The east end zone is just feet away from the right-field wall, and although there is padding …

2010 DIRVA_PLUS pitching runs  —  Last year I introduced DIRVA_PLUS, a pitching metric specifically designed to look at the actual past performance of pitchers.  Unlike pitching metrics that are designed to measure a pitcher's true talent to be used in projecting future performance …