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.

Braves Listening On Andrelton Simmons  —  8:58am: The Mets checked in on Simmons this morning and were met with the asking price of Jacob deGrom or Matt Harvey, tweets Sherman, which is steeper than New York would care to pay.  —  NOV. 12, 7:09am: Joel Sherman of the New York Post hears …

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 …

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 …

Target Facing Backlash Over ‘Obsessive Christmas Disorder’ Sweater  —  The “OCD” sweater is currently on sale at Target stores  —  Target is marketing one of this season's Christmas sweaters as “ugly” and some customers agree—but perhaps not for the reason the retail giant had hoped.

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 …

Braves To Re-Sign A.J. Pierzynski  —  7:33pm: Pierzynski gets a $1MM signing bonus, a $2MM base salary and another $1MM worth of incentives, tweets Rosenthal, who also adds that the veteran catcher had a more lucrative offer but chose to return to Atlanta instead.

Mariners Sign Franklin Gutierrez for 2016 Season  —  Given a chance to sign a veteran outfielder who can play both corner outfield spots, produce off the bench, mentor younger players and has proven to be on the upswing following a battle with illness, Jerry Dipoto didn't hesitate.

DeMarcus Cousins Cursed Out George Karl in Front of the Team, and Vlade Divac Did Nothing  —  After Sacramento was hammered at home by San Antonio Monday night, the Kings' star, DeMarcus Cousins, stormed into the locker room and cursed out head coach George Karl with a torrent of obscenities …

The Blue Jays are talking to right-hander Marco Estrada about a multi-year contract in advance of Friday's deadline for free agents to decide on qualifying offers, according to major-league sources.  —  Estrada, 32, could accept the one-year, $15.8 million qualifying offer …

Inside Baseball: Dodgers eye Greinke, Price, Murphy, Utley; more MLB notes  —  BOCA RATON, Fla. — The Dodgers are targeting their own free agent Zack Greinke as their top starting pitching target, with David Price viewed as a very close second choice, a worthy fallback option indeed who could get $200 million, or more.