Chase Headley: I Turned Down Bigger Offer To Sign With The Yankees  —  NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — Chase Headley is staying with the Yankees, a sign New York is not counting on Alex Rodriguez to play third base regularly.  —  Headley and the Yankees have agreed on a $52 million, four-year contract.

Padres, Mariners, Giants, Royals have shown interest in slugging outfielder  —  Major trades ahead for Braves?  —  Mark Bowman discusses the likelihood that Atlanta could deal a star player such as Justin Upton or Evan Gattis  —  SAN DIEGO — Though some anxious fans might have been disappointed …

Royals To Sign Alex Rios  —  The Royals have agreed to a one-year, $11MM deal with outfielder Alex Rios, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter.  Rios, a Boras Corporation client, joins Kendrys Morales as veteran additions to the defending American League champs.

Astros Sign Jed Lowrie To Three-Year Deal  —  The Astros announced that they have signed infielder Jed Lowrie to a three-year contract that runs through the 2018 season.  Lowrie's contract reportedly guarantee him $23MM: $8MM in 2015, $7.5MM in 2016 and $6.5MM in 2017 with a $6MM club option ($1MM buyout) for 2018.

Left-hander excited to be in Chicago after rave reviews from Hammel, Samardzija  —  Cubs president of baseball ops Theo Epstein introduces new ace Jon Lester after agreeing to a six-year deal to bring the lefty to Chicago  —  CHICAGO — The Cubs formally introduced Jon Lester on Monday …

With more free agents off the board, SF could be forced to deal pitching prospects  —  Giants manager Bruce Bochy checks in at the Winter Meetings to discuss the team's offseason misses while looking forward to the 2015 season  —  SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants might have to engineer a trade …

The Astros and unsigned draftee Jacob Nix have quietly and confidentially come to a monetary settlement over the team's decision not to follow through on an agreed-upon $1.5-million deal that was negotiated but never signed following last June's first-year player draft.

Cubs To Sign Jason Motte  —  6:44pm: The deal comes with $2.5MM in achievable bonuses, Levine tweets.  —  5:32pm: Motte gets a $4.5MM guarantee, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports (Twitter links).  Motte has incentives based on games finished, Passan adds.

Cox led efforts toward player development en route to 14 consecutive first-place finishes  —  With John Schuerholz in the front office and Bobby Cox in the dugout, the Braves built a long-term success story.  (AP)  —  When “Moneyball” was published, the “in” thing among Major League teams …

Souza, Taylor, Barrett, Treinen got a taste of Majors in 2014, set to take next step  —  9/26/14: Steven Souza Jr. blasts a solo home run to deep left-center off Andrew Heaney to give the Nationals a 4-2 lead in the 3rd inning  —  Two of the Nationals' youngest players already are two of their best …

Dodgers To Sign Brett Anderson  —  6:49pm: Anderson would earn the full $4MM in incentives if he reaches 200 innings, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times tweets.  —  4:53pm: The incentives kick in at 150 innings pitched, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets.