Top News:
Jerry Crasnick / MLB:
Sources: New York Yankees, Texas Rangers unlikely Zack Greinke fits — The stakes are high as the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers wait for free agent Cliff Lee to decide where he'll be pitching in 2011 and beyond. The winner of the Lee sweepstakes will have an ace left-hander to plug in at the top of its rotation.
Discussion:
HardballTalk, Pinstripe Alley, JSOnline, MLB Daily Dish and ESPN
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Sports Illustrated:
Royals keep eye on Lee talks while mulling Greinke's fate … Royals general manager Dayton Moore is sitting and watching the Cliff Lee negotiations, and the price for Moore's own Zack Greinke has to be rising with each new bid for Lee, the best October pitcher in the game and the top free-agent still available.
Discussion:
HardballTalk and Texas Rangers
Anthony DiComo / MLB.com:
Wilson, Oberkfell among new Mets coaches — NEW YORK — Sandy Alderson has his manager. Now, Terry Collins has his staff. — The Mets officially announced their 2011 coaching staff Monday, naming Dave Hudgens their new hitting coach, Ken Oberkfell bench coach, Mookie Wilson first-base coach and Jon Debus bullpen coach.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports
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MLB.com:
Mets Announce 2011 Coaching Staff — The New York Mets today announced that they have finalized their 2011 Major League coaching staff by naming Ken Oberkfell bench coach, Mookie Wilson first base coach, Dave Hudgens hitting coach and Jon Debus bullpen coach.
Discussion:
OnTheBlack.com
Randy Medina / The Apple:
Several Mets Show Up Months Early For Spring Training After …
Several Mets Show Up Months Early For Spring Training After …
Discussion:
New York Mets Fan Blog, Mets Fever and Kranepool Society
Rob Bradford / Full Count:
Sources: Mariano Rivera initiated contact with Red Sox — According to multiple major league sources, Mariano Rivera's representatives were the ones to initiate contact with the Red Sox in an attempt to get the team interested in the closer. While the Red Sox would ultimately make a two-year offer …
Joe Eskenazi / The Snitch:
Will Hideki Matsui Bring Porn Collection to Oakland? — The imminent possibility of the Oakland A's signing Hideki “Godzilla” Matsui could certainly fill some holes in the Athletics' lineup. — We'll refrain from recycling the above phrase to make the obvious pun regarding Matsui's other claim to fame: his extensive porn collection.
Discussion:
Can't Stop The Bleeding
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Susan Slusser / SFGate:
Matsui signing could come Monday, press conference Tuesday
Matsui signing could come Monday, press conference Tuesday
Discussion:
MLB Daily Dish
Mike Axisa / MLB Rumors:
Athletics, Hideki Matsui Could Be Close To Agreement
Athletics, Hideki Matsui Could Be Close To Agreement
Discussion:
San Francisco Chronicle, HardballTalk, NESN.com and Fanhouse MLB Blog
Fox Sports:
Gauging the value of Garza vs. Greinke — Matt Garza is a sexy trade option for other teams this offseason. — Ken Rosenthal has been the senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com since Aug. 2005. He appears weekly on MLB on FOX. Follow him on Twitter.
Discussion:
JSOnline, HardballTalk, MLB Rumors, Mets Merized Online, Rays Index, Memories Of Kevin Malone and The Big Lead
Bill Ladson / MLB.com:
Nationals are out of Lee sweepstakes — WASHINGTON — The Nationals are out of the Cliff Lee sweepstakes, a baseball source told MLB.com on Sunday night. No reason was given as to why the left-hander passed on Washington. — Published reports have indicated that Lee will decide on his baseball home sometime this week.
Discussion:
Nationals Inquisition, Federal Baseball, MetsBlog.com and NESN.com
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Bill Ladson / MLB.com:
Nationals targeting Lee for first base
Nationals targeting Lee for first base
Discussion:
HardballTalk, The Nationals Enquirer and MLB Rumors
La Velle E. Neal III / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Looking ahead to the next phase for the Twins
Looking ahead to the next phase for the Twins
Discussion:
MLB Rumors and JSOnline
Associated Press:
MLB's Average Salary Finishes Over $3 Million — NEW YORK (AP) — The average salary in Major League Baseball finished over $3 million for the first time. — The 912 players in the big leagues before rosters expanded in September averaged $3,014,572, the Major League Baseball Players Association said Monday.
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Craig Calcaterra / HardballTalk:
The Rangers are going after Adrian Beltre. Have they lost out on Cliff Lee? — Karl Ravech — via a tweet from Buster Olney — reports that the Texas Rangers are “moving aggressively” on Adrian Beltre. Which suggests that they think they're not going to get Cliff Lee, as there is no way Texas can sign both of them.
Discussion:
MLB Daily Dish, baseballmusings.com, Texas Rangers and Lone Star Ball
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Richard Durrett / ESPN:
Texas Rangers sign Matt Treanor — The Texas Rangers announced Monday that they have re-signed free agent catcher Matt Treanor to a one-year contract worth $850,000 for 2011. — “We appreciated the qualities that Matt brought to our club in 2010, both on the field and the presence he had in our clubhouse …
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports and MLB Daily Dish
Matt Forman / Baseball America:
Scouting reports for the Top 10 Prospects (How to subscribe) — For a team that has lost more games than any other in major league history, the Phillies are in heady territory. Though they fell short of their third straight National League pennant in 2010, it would be hard to argue that this isn't the best era in franchise history.
Discussion:
Phillies Nation and The Good Phight
Buster Olney / ESPN:
Discussion:
ESPN, DRaysBay, Mike Silva's …, NY Daily News, Projo Sox Blog and HardballTalk
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