Rockies willing to listen to offers for Carlos Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki  —  For the first time, the Colorado Rockies sound willing to trade shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and/or outfielder Carlos Gonzalez.  —  The Rockies are telling clubs they are keeping their “eyes and ears open” …

Geeks inherit the Earth, or at least the Dodgers front office  —  The nerds have officially taken over the world.  Just give into it.  All those guys who used to sit in the back of the classroom with their black horn-rimmed classes, pocket calculators and clothes their mommies picked out?

MAKING THE CASE FOR A YOENIS CESPEDES-JOHNNY CUETO TRADE  —  The Boston Red Sox goal this offseason is pretty simple: upgrade the rotation.  After trading away every member of their Opening Day rotation besides Clay Buchholz, Boston is in need of several quality starting pitchers.

Sources: A's adamant about keeping Donaldson, will listen on pitchers  —  First things first: The Oakland Athletics do not plan to trade third baseman Josh Donaldson, according to major-league sources.  —  The A's would listen if teams inquired on pitchers such as right-hander Jeff Samardzija and lefty Scott Kazmir.

Alex Rodriguez's DEA confession: Yes, I used steroids from fake Miami doctor  —  ›  —  ‹  —  For 21 tumultuous months, New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez has defiantly maintained he never used banned substances from a Coral Gables anti-aging clinic …

Source: Mets leaning toward trade for outfield bat rather than free agents … Baseball  —  Ranking MLB's free agent position players … Mets  —  5 questions facing the Mets this offseason

Former pitcher Brad Halsey, 33, dies in climbing accident  —  Former major league pitcher Brad Halsey died Friday in a recreational climbing accident near his New Braunfels, Texas home, according to a person close to Halsey's family.  —  The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition …

Prospect seeking reliable option to accompany cutting fastball, curve  —  2014 MLB.com Top Prospects: C.J. Edwards possesses a pair of hard breaking balls in his curveball and his slider  —  MESA, Ariz. — The Cubs' best hope for a front-line starter from their farm system is right-hander C.J. Edwards …

Livan interested in working for Nationals full-time  —  Right-hander Livan Hernandez made the first start in Nationals history in 2005.  —  WASHINGTON — Livan Hernandez said recently he would like to become a full-time employee for the Nationals.  He is known as an ambassador for the club and was last seen at Nationals Park in July.

10 Things I Believe About Baseball Without Evidence  —  Well, here we are.  The Giants won another World Series, while the A's flopped in the playoffs yet again.  I'm not one of those A's fans who hate the Giants, but it's starting to annoy the crap out of even me to see the Giants always succeed …

Right fielder gets overall honor; Simmons tabbed for shortstops  —  Braves outfielder Jason Heyward wins the overall award for the Defensive Player of the Year  —  ATLANTA — Braves fans were not happy when Andrelton Simmons was not named the 2013 Wilson Defensive Player of the Year.