Top News:
Dan Shaughnessy / The Boston Globe:
A Hall of Fame ballot without a whiff of PED usage — Curt Schilling tipped his cap to the Fenway crowd on Oct. 25, 2007, after leaving Game 2 of the World Series. He is on the Hall of Fame ballot this year. — The poison ballot remained on my desk, unopened until Dec. 31. — I knew what was in there.
RELATED:
Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com:
Biggio tops vote but no one elected to Hall — Former Astros star finishes 39 votes shy, trailed by Morris, Bagwell, Piazza — NEW YORK — The most highly debated election for entry into the National Baseball Hall of Fame ended Wednesday without a new inductee.
Discussion:
Metsblog
Craig Calcaterra / HardballTalk:
Ken Burns on Bonds, Clemens, Piazza: “Those motherf***ers should suffer for a while” — I had a good conversation with my friend Norm Wamer of 106.5 The Ticket in Toledo yesterday. We talked about how, as a fan, it's OK to feel anger and resentment any any other number of complicated emotions about baseball players who cheat.
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, Amazin' Avenue and Hit & Run
Howard Bryant / MLB:
Drawing a blank on a HOF ballot — PEDs left no room for a comfort zone, so one voter returned a blank ballot — As it turned out, I sent my 2013 Hall of Fame ballot in blank. This wasn't science. It wasn't a clever attack in the three-front culture war among the players, the SABR s and the BBWAAs.
Discussion:
ESPN, Baseball Nation and HardballTalk
Jayson Stark / ESPN:
My (overstuffed) Hall of Fame ballot — After much debate, a 10-man Cooperstown ticket that includes Bonds and Clemens — Somewhere out there, I'm sure there's somebody in our beautiful land who has this 2013 Hall of Fame ballot fiasco all figured out. — Somebody who knows exactly …
Discussion:
Baseball Prospectus, Phillies Nation and ESPN
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Suspicion of Steroid Use Could Keep Bagwell and Piazza Out of Hall — Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, eligible to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame for the first time, will almost certainly not be named when the next choices for Cooperstown are announced on Wednesday.
Discussion:
Phillies Nation, Camden Chat, Viva El Birdos, HardballTalk, Awful Announcing and Joe Blogs
Tom Verducci / Sports Illustrated:
Why I'll never vote for known 'roid users
Discussion:
Boston Globe, Sports on Earth Writers, Over the Monster, HardballTalk, New York Times and Beyond the Box Score
NY Daily News:
Yankees reportedly working on bringing Washington Nationals' Michael Morse to the Bronx in exchange for Boone Logan — Morse became possible trade bait when Washington re-signed first baseman Adam LaRoche. The Nationals already have a core outfield of Bryce Harper, Jayson Werth and Denard Span.
Discussion:
Boston Globe, Bombers Beat, MLB.com and Sporting News Feed RSS
RELATED:
Fox Sports:
Morse strongly opposes being a DH — There is a problem for any American League team that intends to acquire Nationals left fielder Mike Morse and use him often as a designated hitter. — Morse strongly opposes being a DH, according to major-league sources. — The issue, sources say, will carry weight for some AL clubs.
Amanda Comak / Washington Times:
Adam LaRoche, Nationals agree to 2-year deal, source says
Discussion:
MLB Rumors, FanGraphs Baseball, Federal Baseball, Beyond the Box Score and MLB Daily Dish
Adam Kilgore / Nationals Journal:
Adam LaRoche, Nationals agree to terms (Updated)
Discussion:
Baseball Prospectus and MLB Rumors
Michael Baron / Metsblog:
Nationals re-sign Adam LaRoche, what does that mean for Michael Morse?
Discussion:
Red Reporter, Lookout Landing and U.S.S. Mariner
Mike Axisa / MLB Rumors:
Pirates Acquire Jeanmar Gomez — The Pirates have acquired Jeanmar Gomez from the Indians in exchange for Quincy Latimore, reports ESPN's Keith Law (on Twitter). Cleveland had designated the right-hander for assignment last week. — Gomez, 24, pitched to a 5.96 ERA with 4.7 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 …
Discussion:
HardballTalk, Bucs Dugout and MLB Daily Dish
Bryan Hoch / MLB.com:
A-Rod still on track for January hip surgery — NEW YORK — Alex Rodriguez is scheduled to have his left hip surgically repaired on Jan. 16, and the Yankees are hopeful that he will be able to return to the big leagues around the All-Star break. — In a conference call with reporters on Tuesday …
Discussion:
MLB Daily Dish
RELATED:
Troy E. Renck / Denver Post:
Rockies' Tulowitzki plans to play for Team USA in WBC tournament — There was a point last summer in his painfully slow recovery process that Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki couldn't lift his leg to tie his shoe. — Surgery to remove scar tissue irritating a nerve in his left groin went …
Discussion:
Sporting News Feed RSS
Darren Rovell / ESPN:
MLB dugouts to have cellphones — Phone calls between the dugout and bullpen will be made using cellphones this season as part of T-Mobile becoming the official wireless partner of Major League Baseball. — “Everyone wanted to make this deal happen,” said Tim Brosnan, MLB's executive vice president of business.
