Top News:
Michael Silverman / Boston Herald:
Red Sox gunning for top outfield target — + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email — By all accounts, the Red Sox [team stats] are working hard behind the scenes to sign one of the two elite free agent outfielders, Carl Crawford or Jayson Werth.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports, Boston Globe, USA Today, HardballTalk, SBNation.com, Rays Index, MLB Rumors, NESN.com and Fanhouse MLB Blog
RELATED:
Gordon Edes / ESPN:
Source: Red Sox, Carl Crawford meet — BOSTON — The Red Sox have accelerated their efforts to lure Carl Crawford to Boston, meeting with the free-agent outfielder in Houston recently, a league source confirmed Wednesday. The meeting was originally reported by Yahoo! Sports.
George A. King III / New York Post:
Rangers set to push Yankees with 5-year bid for Lee — Tweet — Armed with the belief the Yankees are willing to pay Cliff Lee $23 million a year, the Rangers are on the verge of making an official offer to retain the left-handed free-agent hurler. — According to a person with knowledge …
Discussion:
HardballTalk, River Avenue Blues, Fanhouse MLB Blog and MLB Rumors
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Wallace Matthews / ESPN:
Source: New York Yankees think Cliff Lee wants offers next week … Brian Cashman may be preparing to jump off a building this weekend, but the New York Yankees are not about to dive off a cliff over a report that the Texas Rangers are about to offer Cliff Lee a contract.
Discussion:
Bronx Baseball Daily, The LoHud Yankees Blog, Postcards from Elysian Fields and MLB Rumors
Richard Durrett / ESPN:
Nolan Ryan, GM met with Cliff Lee
Nolan Ryan, GM met with Cliff Lee
Discussion:
SBNation.com and Lone Star Ball
Adam McCalvy / MLB.com:
Brewers face non-tender date decisions — MILWAUKEE — The list of Brewers free agents could grow by at least a name or two before 10:59 p.m. CT on Thursday. Just who ends up looking for alternate employment remains to be seen. — The Brewers will decide the fate of eight of their players …
Discussion:
Al's Ramblings
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Adam McCalvy / MLB.com:
Crew GM wants to accelerate talks with Weeks — MILWAUKEE — The Brewers would love to lock up second baseman Rickie Weeks with a multiyear contract extension, but they're having trouble getting those talks started, general manager Doug Melvin said this week.
Discussion:
HardballTalk
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
D'Backs To Sign Wily Mo Pena — The Diamondbacks will sign Wily Mo Pena to a minor league deal with an invitation to major league Spring Training, MLBTR has learned. The outfielder drew interest from multiple major league teams, including the Tigers, White Sox and Orioles.
Discussion:
HardballTalk and Blog Red Machine
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Alex Speier / Full Count:
Wily Mo Pena signs minor league deal with Arizona Diamondbacks
Wily Mo Pena signs minor league deal with Arizona Diamondbacks
Discussion:
AZ Snakepit
Frank Gore / Yahoo! Sports:
Memo to Selig: Leave the playoffs alone — Almost all of the power brokers at Major League Baseball, an entity that could use a visit to the ophthalmologist for its short-sightedness, burst with pleasure at the idea of expanding the game's postseason. Publicly, they tout the excitement …
Discussion:
Federal Baseball, baseballmusings.com and Sabernomics
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Craig Calcaterra / NBCSports.com:
The real reason for expanded playoffs
The real reason for expanded playoffs
Discussion:
BBTF's Baseball Primer …
Pete Carroll Show / MyNorthwest.com:
Ask Pete Carroll a question... Join us... Facebook — Twitter — Brock Huard — Brock Huard played football for his father, Mike, at Puyallup High School before moving on to the University of Washington. There Brock erased older brother Damon's name on several season and career passing records.
Discussion:
Mariners blog, MLB Rumors, Lookout Landing, Mets Merized Online, MetsBlog.com and U.S.S. Mariner
Associated Press:
Yankees P Aceves Breaks Collar Bone in Bike Mishap — NEW YORK (AP) — New York Yankees relief pitcher Alfredo Aceves is expected to miss the start of spring training after breaking his left collar bone in a bicycle accident in Mexico. — The Yankees say Aceves had surgery Tuesday in New York.
Discussion:
baseballmusings.com
RELATED:
Aaron Gleeman / NBCSports.com:
Arbitration offers turned down by 25 out of 27 free agents — For all the speculation about which Type A and Type B free agents would and wouldn't accept arbitration offers just two of the 27 eligible players said yes: Frank Francisco of the Rangers and Jason Frasor of the Blue Jays.
Discussion:
FanGraphs Baseball
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Tom Singer / MLB.com:
All but two eligible FA's decline arbitration offers
All but two eligible FA's decline arbitration offers
Discussion:
sox1fan.com and NESN.com
Maury Brown / The Biz of Baseball:
From Pujols to Jeter to Clemens to Freak: Salary Arbitration Records
From Pujols to Jeter to Clemens to Freak: Salary Arbitration Records
Discussion:
Bless You Boys
NY Daily News:
Derek Jeter's agent meets with Yankees GM Brian Cashman, Hal Steinbrenner Tuesday in Tampa: source — Derek Jeter's agent, Yankees GM Brian Cashman (below) and owner Hal Steinbrenner convene Tuesday, according to a source. Another source says there is ‘nothing imminent’ regarding a deal.
RELATED:
Susan Slusser / SFGate:
Updated Dunn information - no meeting took place — UPDATE: The A's and Adam Dunn did not meet yesterday, I am now told - my original source, usually reliable, led me to believe that such a meeting took place in Houston, but, it seems, there were only discussions about meeting there and they did not happen.
Discussion:
Nationals Journal, Federal Baseball, HardballTalk, SBNation.com, MLB Rumors, MLB.com and Fanhouse MLB Blog
Aaron Fitt / Baseball America:
Scouting reports for the Top 10 Prospects (How to subscribe) — Shortly after Jon Daniels became the youngest general manager in baseball history following the 2005 season, the Rangers fully committed to building a winner through their farm system. They restocked the organization through trades …
Discussion:
Texas Rangers
Richard Durrett / ESPN:
Rangers have some interest in Mark Prior — The Rangers signed Mark Prior to a minor-league deal just before the end of the 2010 season and he pitched just one inning at Triple-A Oklahoma City (he gave up no runs on two hits with a walk and two strikeouts).
Discussion:
MLB Rumors, Fanhouse MLB Blog and Chicago Breaking Sports
Steve Gilbert / MLB.com:
D-backs set for first Spring Training in Phoenix — Club opens Salt River Fields schedule vs. co-tenant Rockies — PHOENIX — After 13 seasons of training in Tucson, the Arizona Diamondbacks will kick off their first Spring Training in the Phoenix area on Feb. 25, when they take on the …
Discussion:
Bleed Cubbie Blue and AZ Snakepit
Paul Sullivan / Chicago Breaking Sports:
Theriot tweaks Cubs after trade to Cardinals — When he was sent to the Dodgers last July in the Ted Lilly trade, Ryan Theriot admitted he had hoped to remain a Cub for life. — “I didn't want to go,” Theriot said that day in Denver. “Obviously, being with an organization from draft day to the major leagues is something special.
Discussion:
Fanhouse MLB Blog
