Colby Rasmus To Accept Astros' Qualifying Offer  —  Outfielder Colby Rasmus will become the first player ever to accept a qualifying offer, as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that he'll take the one-year, $15.8MM deal extended to him by the Astros.  —  Houston GM Jeff Luhnow said recently …

Angels To Acquire Andrelton Simmons  —  6:16pm: Los Angeles will also add a young catcher — likely Jose Briceno — in the trade, Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports reports (Twitter links).  Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times confirms that Briceno is in the deal, on Twitter.

Inside Baseball: The needs of 14 big spenders; more from GM meetings  —  BOCA RATON, Fla. — One agent was overheard to say there are a lot of “lowball” offers flying around the baseball GM meetings.  But that shouldn't be taken to mean teams are low on cash.

Body found in car pulled from Byron pond; car roof seen from lift … BYRON CENTER, Mich. — A person's body was found Tuesday after a car was pulled from a pond in Byron Center.  —  A dive team was called to a pond in the 2000 block of 84th Street SW near Byron Center Manor at about 10:45 a.m. …

'There's Nothing You Can Do?'  —  Ohio State QB J.T. Barrett tried to go the Reese Witherspoon route during his drunk driving arrest — asking the officer for special treatment because, “I'm the quarterback of Ohio State!”  —  TMZ Sports obtained the dash cam footage from the October 31 incident …

GM MEETINGS NOTEBOOK: WILL INDIANS SOLVE RED SOX PITCHING CONUNDRUM?  —  BOCA RATON, Fla. — It's about that time to start figuring this thing out.  —  While it still might be a bit before we get to uncover which pitcher becomes that top of the rotation piece Dave Dombrowski has prioritized bringing …

Nationals Notes: Strasburg, Zobrist, Ramos, Desmond  —  Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg had a non-cancerous growth surgically removed from his back shortly after the season ended, agent Scott Boras told reporters, including James Wagner of the Washington Post, at today's GM Meetings.

Five days in free agency: Inside the courtship of LaMarcus Aldridge  —  LaMarcus Aldridge walked out of the lobby doors of the Montage Beverly Hills in early July and found a familiar face in a most familiar repose: Gregg Popovich busting chops.  In the hotel's valet lane …

Mariners Acquire Joaquin Benoit  —  The Mariners announced that they've acquired right-hander Joaquin Benoit from the Padres in exchange for minor league right-hander Enyel De Los Santos and infielder Nelson Ward.  —  The 38-year-old Benoit, presumably, will serve as a ninth-inning option for rookie manager Scott Servais in Seattle.

Willis shoots down report: 'Haven't thought twice about' returning  —  Editor's note: The above video is from March 17, 2015.  —  Former 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis is remaining a former 49ers linebacker, after all.  —  Willis responded Thursday morning to a report from Jason Cole of Bleacher Report …

Larry Bird still loves you and he loves your teams  —  Memo to Boston fans: Larry Bird still loves you and he loves your teams.  Even from his home state of Indiana, the Heartland of Deflategate Hate.  —  “I never root against the Boston teams,” Bird said in a phone interview …