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.  —  Rasmus, 29, slashed a productive .238/.314/.475 …

Angels Acquire Andrelton Simmons  —  The Angels have officially agreed to acquire shortstop Andrelton Simmons from the Braves, along with catcher Jose Briceno.  Lefty Sean Newcomb and righty Chris Ellis are going to Atlanta in return, along with long-time Halos shortstop Erick Aybar.

Red Sox have ‘great interest’ in Reds closer Aroldis Chapman  —  BOCA RATON, Fla. — Dave Dombrowski walked out of the general manager meetings on Thursday morning not having made any trades or signed any free agents.  But that may not be the case for much longer.

Don Mattingly tips his hat to Mets  —  NEW YORK — The last game of Don Mattingly's tenure as Dodgers manager came in a loss against the Mets in the NLDS, and as he takes over as the Marlins manager he's not looking forward to 19 games each season against the Mets and their vaunted pitching rotation.

Still waiting for a tryout, Monte Gaddis meets with Cleveland Browns GM Ray Farmer, supplies team with game tape  —  Monte Gaddis stands outside of the Browns' facility, hoping for a tryout.  (Courtesy of Gaddis' Instagram account, @MonteGaddis)  —  Zack Meisel, cleveland.com By Zack Meisel, cleveland.com

'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 …

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.

Arenado hit an NL-high 42 home runs, with Gonzalez right behind with a career-high 40  —  The Denver Post  —  Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, left, talks with third baseman Nolan Arenado in the dugout at Coors Field on September 27, 2015 in Denver, Colorado.  It was the last game of the season.

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 …

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.