Free-agent righty a model of durability over past 4 seasons  —  MLB.com Tigers reporter Jason Beck discusses the Tigers reportedly agreeing to a five-year deal with Jordan Zimmermann  —  DETROIT — Al Avila's first offseason as Tigers general manager is about to feature baseball's …

Hunt for starter has Diamondbacks chasing Johnny Cueto  —  Though they've been saying all offseason they wouldn't be able to afford the top tier of free-agent pitchers, that hasn't stopped the Diamondbacks from pursuing one of them.  —  General Manager Dave Stewart said he met …

Will the Red Sox meet the asking Price for David?  —  The Red Sox are prohibitive favorites, at least in the eyes of the media and a few baseball executives, to land free agent David Price for two reasons: president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski's relationship with the lefthander …

Cardinals Sign Brayan Pena To Two-Year Deal  —  3:37pm: Pena's $5MM guarantee will be spread out evenly, paying him $2.5MM in each season of the contract, MLBTR has learned.  —  3:35pm: Pena's contract guarantees him a total of $5MM, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link).

Man charged in threat at University of Chicago linked to Laquan McDonald shooting  —  University of Chicago security officers patrol the Hyde Park campus quad on Nov. 30, 2015. … Federal officials charged a University of Illinois at Chicago engineering student with making the threat …

Braves Sign Jim Johnson  —  5:28pm: The deal is for $2.5MM guaranteed MLB.com's Mark Bowman tweets.  —  5:04pm: The Braves have signed righty Jim Johnson to a one-year deal, the club announced via press release.  Johnson, 32, is a client of Moye Sports Associates.

Red Sox, Chris Young Agree To Two-Year Deal  —  5:43pm: Young will receive a two-year guarantee, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets.  —  12:29pm: The Red Sox and outfielder Chris Young are in agreement on a multi-year contract, pending a physical, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link).

Mike Hessman: A true baseball life  —  OW  —  Usually, the retirement of a 37-year-old journeyman who spent the vast majority of his 20-year career in the minor leagues is not a cause for reflection by most fans of Major League Baseball.  A cause of wonderment, perhaps …

Tony LaCava, Ross Atkins are finalists for Blue Jays GM job  —  Indians executive Ross Atkins and Blue Jays interim general manager Tony LaCava are finalists for Toronto's GM job, sources familiar with the situation said.  —  It isn't known for certain that they are the only two finalists for the job …

Nearing deal with Minnesota Twins, S. Korean slugger Park Byung-ho departs for U.S.  —  Nearing his first big league deal with the Minnesota Twins, South Korean slugger Park Byung-ho departed for the United States on Sunday, saying he's hoping for “a positive result.”

Barry Bonds is under consideration to be a Marlins hitting coach  —  In what promises to be a bombshell move, if executed, all-time great slugger Barry Bonds is under consideration to become Marlins hitting coach.  —  Team higherups have quietly been discussing this possibility for weeks.

Organization Of The Year: Pirates Prove Building A Team Takes Blending  —  The Pittsburgh Pirates were not the most successful major league team in 2015.  —  The Kansas City Royals of course won the World Series.  For a second consecutive season, the Pirates failed to advance beyond the NL wild card game.

Young righthander Shelby Miller is creating quite a feeding frenzy on the trade market, and it's to the point it's got to be record interest for a pitcher who went 6-17.  —  Of course, by now we know pitchers' won-loss records aren't a very useful tool in deciphering a pitcher's value.

Phillies Claim Michael Mariot From Royals  —  The Phillies announced that they have claimed right-hander Michael Mariot off waivers from the Royals.  Mariot was designated for assignment 10 days ago when the Royals set their 40-man roster in advance of the Rule 5 Draft.