Top News:
Marc Topkin / St. Petersburg Times:
Tampa Bay Rays excited for Carl Crawford, but disappointed he'll end up in Boston — LAKE BUENA VISTA — For a day they knew was coming and an outcome that had been oft-speculated, the Rays still took the news a bit like a high-and-tight fastball that Carl Crawford wasn't just leaving, but going to the rival Red Sox.
Discussion:
baseballmusings.com
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Peter Abraham / Boston Globe:
Sox sign up Crawford for $142m
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MLB Rumors, sox1fan.com, mlbbuzz, New York Post, The Soxaholix, Boston Dirt Dogs, NESN.com, The Nationals Enquirer, The House That Dewey Built and YFSF
Nick Collias / MLB Rumors:
Gonzalez: No Agreement In Place With Red Sox
Discussion:
NESN.com and FenwayNationWorld
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Tilting the balance of power
Discussion:
Baseball Prospectus and It's About The Money
Dave Cameron / FanGraphs Baseball:
Boston Signs Carl Crawford
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ESPN, The Joy of Sox, Purple Row, Red Sox Beacon, Batter's Box Interactive …, Getting Blanked, USA Today and Baseball Analysts
ESPN:
Sources: Yanks offer Cliff Lee 7 years … The New York Yankees on Thursday have gone to a seventh year on their offer to Cliff Lee, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney and ESPNNewYork.com's Andrew Marchand. — Sources told ESPNNewYork.com and ESPN.com that the original offer to Lee was for six years and $140 million.
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Yahoo! Sports, New York Times, Halos Heaven, Bronx Baseball Daily, Bats, Kranepool Society and HardballTalk
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Fox Sports:
Sources: Rangers to meet with Lee today — FOX Sports — LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. — The Texas Rangers aren't conceding yet on Cliff Lee. — Rangers officials are traveling to meet with Lee in Arkansas today, and their intent is to increase their contract offer beyond five years, major-league sources told FOXSports.com.
Discussion:
The LoHud Yankees Blog and Texas Rangers
Jerry Crasnick / MLB:
Not our job: Cliff Lee rep won't give Texas Rangers number — LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The last time the Texas Rangers saw agent Darek Braunecker, they asked him precisely what it's going to take to bring the pitcher Cliff Lee back to Arlington in 2011. — After giving the matter careful …
Discussion:
HardballTalk, Sliding Into Home and ESPN
Ken Davidoff / Newsday:
Derek Jeter's contract: A breakdown
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The LoHud Yankees Blog, Bronx Baseball Daily, BronxBanterBlog.com, MLB Rumors and HardballTalk
MLB.com:
2010 Rule 5 Draft results … The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB …
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Ducksnorts and NESN.com
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Jonathan Mayo / MLB.com:
Clubs seek diamond in rough in Rule 5 Draft — LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — In a perfect world, teams would take the relatively low risk of making a selection in Thursday's Rule 5 Draft and uncover a Johan Santana, Josh Hamilton, Joakim Soria or Dan Uggla. — But while the Rule 5 Draft …
Kevin Goldstein / Baseball Prospectus:
Rule Five Wrap-Up — Just some quick notes from this morning's rule five draft. I'll have more detailed reports on many of these players in a Ten Pack on Monday with my prediction of the selections most likely to stick. — Pirates: Josh Rodriguez, UT (from Cleveland) …
John Manuel / Baseball America:
Rodriguez Leads Off Active Rule 5
Discussion:
MetsMinorLeagueBlog.com, Tedquarters and The LoHud Yankees Blog
Dave van Dyck / Chicago Tribune:
After signing Konerko, Sox turn to relievers — With both Jenks and Putz headed elsewhere, they need to shore up bullpen — ORLANDO, Fla. — With Paul Konerko joining A.J. Pierzynski and Adam Dunn on the payroll, the White Sox figure to be close to a club record checkbook-busting $130 million next season.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
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New York Post:
Jeter to break routine, work with Yankees coach in offseason — Tweet — LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Derek Jeter does not admit failure easily in public. It is not part of his uber-confident persona. — But the Yankees captain is making a concession this offseason that intimates how intolerable he found his .270 season.
Discussion:
Bronx Baseball Daily and River Avenue Blues
Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
Twins Would Consider Trading Slowey — The Twins would consider trading Kevin Slowey - especially if they re-sign Carl Pavano - reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Sherman says the Twins have actually received inquiries on ace Francisco Liriano from the Yankees and others, but a team official can't imagine moving the lefty.
Kelly Thesier / MLB.com:
Twins opt for speed, deal Hardy for O's hurlers — Casilla, Nishioka likely double-play combo; Harris also traded — LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The Twins have said throughout the offseason that one of their goals has been to add speed to their lineup, and the one area where they felt they could do that was in the middle infield.
Discussion:
AaronGleeman.com, Twins Insider, Nick's Twins Blog, Britt's Bird Watch and MLB.com Hot Stove blog
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Associated Press:
Report: Royals to sign Melky Cabrera — LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that outfielder Melky Cabrera has reached a preliminary agreement on a $1.25 million, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals.
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MLB
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Jon Paul Morosi / Fox Sports:
Royals getting in on the winter fun
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TYU, Yahoo! Sports, MLB Rumors, Royals Review, BronxBanterBlog.com and River Avenue Blues
Bill Shaikin / Los Angeles Times:
Steve Garvey as would-be suitor for Dodgers — The former All-Star says he has an investment group that wants the team, but Frank McCourt responds that he would turn away all potential buyers. — Steve Garvey, one of the most popular players in Dodgers history, said Wednesday he has assembled …
Discussion:
Gaslamp Ball and VIN SCULLY IS MY HOMEBOY
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Byron Kerr:
Strasburg's goal: “Best shape of my life” — Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is rehabilitating on schedule from Tommy John surgery in early September. Strasburg is in good spirits and says he is one or two months away from baseball activities. — “They have a plan in place that is normal …
Zachary Levine / Houston Chronicle:
Astros pick up three pitchers — Former Rice star lands with club by way of Rule 5 draft — LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The Astros turned the No. 5 spot in the 2011 rotation into a free-for-all, agreeing to terms with pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith, according to a person with knowledge of the deal …
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Full Count
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Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
Astros Reach Agreement With Ryan Rowland-Smith
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The Crawfish Boxes
David Laurila / Baseball Prospectus:
Piecoro on Upton: D-Backs Dilemma — Justin Upton was still a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks as the Winter Meetings came to a close earlier today, which isn't too much of a surprise. But a few short weeks ago, the odds of the talented yet enigmatic outfielder changing teams in Orlando were anything but a long shot.
Discussion:
AZ Snakepit
Dylan Hernandez / Los Angeles Times:
Small victories rather than big wins for Dodgers at winter meetings — General Manager Ned Colletti is generally pleased with the outcome of the meetings, which includes one-year deals with Vicente Padilla, Tony Gwynn Jr. and Dioner Navarro. — Starting pitcher Vicente Padilla has been re-signed …
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports, True Blue LA and Los Angeles Times
Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
Mariners Reach Agreement With Miguel Olivo — The Mariners won't be going young at catcher anytime soon. Today they reached an agreement with backstop Miguel Olivo on a two-year, $7MM deal, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times notes, “Adam Moore's stock with this team appears to have taken a hit.”
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The Seattle Times, Lookout Landing, U.S.S. Mariner, Mariners blog and Yahoo! Sports
