Top News:
Trsullivan / Postcards from Elysian Fields:
Cliff Lee is going to Philadelphia Phillies — The Rangers were told Monday night that Lee is going to the Phillies, It is a done deal — YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! (RC)^2 (Ar See Squared) Roy-Roy-Cole-Cliff. The Phantastic Phour! YESSSSS!!!!!!
Discussion:
BronxBanterBlog.com, HardballTalk, New York Post, Bronx Baseball Daily, The LoHud Yankees Blog, Full Count, The Good Phight, FanGraphs Baseball, Mets Merized Online, baseballmusings.com, Pinstripe Alley, lenNY's Yankees, Sliding Into Home, Phillies Nation, NESN.com, Lookout Landing, The700Level.com, MetsBlog.com and The Zo Zone
RELATED:
Fox Sports:
Phillies still bidding for prize ace — 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. — The Yankees and Rangers are not alone. — The Phillies are still bidding for free-agent left-hander Cliff Lee …
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Phillies Agree To Sign Cliff Lee — The wait is over. In a surprising development that leaves two top American League teams empty-handed, Cliff Lee has agreed to sign a five-year, $120MM deal with the Phillies. The contract also includes a reachable vesting option for a sixth year.
Discussion:
HardballTalk, Red Sox Monster, Amazin' Avenue, Al's Ramblings, Halos Heaven, The iYankees Blog and DRaysBay
T.R. Sullivan / MLB.com:
Phillies swoop in and bring back Lee — ARLINGTON — Free-agent pitcher Cliff Lee is headed back to Philadelphia. — The Rangers worked as hard as they could to re-sign Lee, but their pursuit came to an end on Monday when he informed the club that he was signing with the Phillies.
Discussion:
Dallas Morning News, Babes Love Baseball, Fanhouse MLB Blog, Nationals Baseball, Lone Star Ball and USA Today
Jerry Crasnick / ESPN.com:
Sources: Cliff Lee to return to Phillies — Pitcher Cliff Lee reached an agreement on a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies late Monday night, a Texas Rangers team source told ESPNDallas.com's Richard Durrett. — Lee personally notified the Rangers that they were out of the running …
Discussion:
USA Today, The LoHud Yankees Blog, ESPN, Subway Squawkers, It's About The Money, Bats, ESPN, NESN.com and Athletics Nation
Tyler Kepner / New York Times:
Phillies Come Out of Nowhere in Winning Bid for Lee — Nobody wants to be unemployed around the holidays, but Clifton Phifer Lee of Little Rock, Ark., did not seem to mind. The Yankees, the Texas Rangers and, now, the Philadelphia Phillies were eagerly awaiting Lee's decision on where to continue …
Matt Forman / Baseball America:
Scouting reports for the Top 10 Prospects (How to subscribe)
Discussion:
Phillies Nation and The Good Phight
Marc Carig / New Jersey Online:
Yankees waiting after making first offer to Cliff Lee
Discussion:
MLB Rumors and Bronx Baseball Daily
Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
Cliff Lee Rumors: Monday
Discussion:
BronxBanterBlog.com, New York Post and Bugs & Cranks
Craig Calcaterra / HardballTalk:
The Rangers are going after Adrian Beltre. Have they lost out on Cliff Lee?
Discussion:
MLB Daily Dish, baseballmusings.com, Lone Star Ball and Texas Rangers
Christian Red / NY Daily News:
Cliff Lee contract watch: Pitcher won't decide between Yankees …
Discussion:
Boston Globe, Let's Go Tribe! and It's About The Money
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:
Bronx Baseball Daily, HardballTalk, Pinstripe Alley, MLB Daily Dish, JSOnline and ESPN
RELATED:
Adam Kilgore / Nationals Journal:
Nationals ‘aggressively pursuing’ trade for Zack Greinke and Matt Garza; but can they make it happen? — Once Cliff Lee signs — we can all only hope it happens before the next presidential election — the rest of this offseason's starting pitching dominoes can start to fall.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
Fox Sports:
Report: Matsui to join A's on Tuesday — NewsCore — The Oakland Athletics have agreed to a deal with designated hitter Hideki Matsui and will unveil the Japanese star at a news conference Tuesday, the Oakland Tribune reported Monday citing a source. — The 36-year-old will undergo …
Discussion:
NoMaas.org
RELATED:
Greg Johns / MLB.com:
A's sign right-hander McCarthy — Starter could bolster rotation if his shoulder is healthy — If Brandon McCarthy's shoulder is as healthy as he says, the Oakland A's landed another potential starter for their rotation Monday with the agreement on a one-year deal for the free-agent pitcher.
Discussion:
Texas Rangers
Joe Eskenazi / The Snitch:
Will Hideki Matsui Bring Porn Collection to Oakland?
Discussion:
Can't Stop The Bleeding
Susan Slusser / SFGate:
Matsui signing could come Monday, press conference Tuesday
Discussion:
HardballTalk, MLB Daily Dish, Fanhouse MLB Blog, MLB Rumors and NESN.com
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:
Faith and Fear in Flushing, MetsMinorLeagueBlog.com and Yahoo! Sports
RELATED:
Randy Medina / The Apple:
Several Mets Show Up Months Early For Spring Training After …
Discussion:
New York Mets Fan Blog, Mets Fever and Kranepool Society
Ken Gurnick / MLB.com:
Dodgers add three on Minor League deals — LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers on Monday announced the signings of three veterans to Minor League contracts with invitations to Major League camp. — Infielder Juan Castro, catcher JD Closser and utilityman Eugenio Velez have signed on …
Discussion:
MLB Rumors and Mike Scioscia's tragic illness
RELATED:
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.
Discussion:
Boston Herald and Associated Press
RELATED:
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.
