A-Rod not planning to retire  —  A message to the New York Yankees and their fans from Alex Rodriguez: I'm not going anywhere.  —  “Alex has no plans at all to retire,” one source with close personal ties to the embattled third baseman told ESPNNewYork.com on Thursday.

Red Sox, Lyle Overbay agree to deal  —  The Boston Red Sox on Thursday agreed to a minor league deal with first baseman Lyle Overbay, including an invitation to spring training, a team official confirmed.  —  The Red Sox are thin at the position, with newly signed Mike Napoli …

Minor League Transactions: Jan. 21-28  —  Official minor league transactions, conveyed to us by Major League Baseball, for the period Jan. 21-28.  —  Arizona Diamondbacks  —  Signed: RHP Mike DeMark (re-signed), 3B Chris Nowak (York (Atlantic))  —  Traded: 3B Chris Johnson and OF Justin Upton …

Rolen Question unanswered  —  I'm back from vacation.  The skiing was good.  I was thinking maybe that the Scott Rolen Question would be answered while I was gone — after all Walt Jocketty has been saying “we hope to have solved in the next week” since Christmas.  —  It wasn't resolved.

Caribbean Series Set To Begin In New Park  —  HERMOSILLO, MEXICO—The 2013 Caribbean Series will be played in a new ballpark with a new whole competition system.  But it will be played with the same passion that has made the event one of the highlights of the offseason.

Pirates Avoid Arbitration With McDonald, Walker  —  The Pirates have agreed to new contracts with right-hander James McDonald and second baseman Neil Walker, avoiding arbitration with the two players, MLB.com's Tom Singer reports (Twitter link).  Both players were arb-eligible …

Report: Cubs' Marmol accused of abuse in Dominican  —  Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Marmol has been accused of abuse by lawyers for a 24-year-old woman, according to a report in the Dominican Republic.  —  Miledys Mejia Cepeda filed a criminal complaint against Marmol, according to the Dominican newspaper website ListinDiario.com.

Yankees on the verge of deal with Hafner  —  The Yankees are close enough to a deal with Travis Hafner that it could be announced later today or tomorrow.  Sources have indicated that the deal is in place, just waiting for the contract language to be agreed upon.

Rangers RF Nelson Cruz denies reported involvement with PEDs  —  The attorneys for right fielder Nelson Cruz have issued a statement saying that any allegations that Cruz used performance-enhancing drugs, as reported by the Miami New Times earlier this week, are false.

Prado, D-backs agree to 4-year, $40M contract  —  PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks have agreed to a $40 million, four-year contract with Martin Prado just a week after acquiring the former All-Star infielder in a trade that sent Justin Upton to Atlanta.  —  Prado

Sandoval celebrates second championship, MVP award … Pablo Sandoval has a triple crown in mind, a different one but no less meaningful to him than the one attained by countryman Miguel Cabrera.  —  Sandoval is two-thirds of the way there, and both times he has been rewarded with MVP honors.

Inbox: Are the Rangers overlooking Gentry?  —  Beat reporter T.R. Sullivan answers fans' questions  —  Please explain to me why Leonys Martin gets most of the talk about the center-field position.  Craig Gentry, in my opinion, has done nothing but prove himself over and over again.

Agent: Rodney extension story result of a “misunderstanding” with writer  —  Fernando Rodney's agent said inaccurate reports of a contract extension with the Rays were the result of a “misunderstanding” between the closer and a reporter from the Dominican Republic newspaper that published the story.