Sources: Phillies trade Jesse Biddle to Pirates  —  The Phillies have traded Jesse Biddle, the Germantown Friends product and former first-round pick, to the Pittsburgh Pirates, according to two sources.  —  Biddle, 24, had been designated for assignment Friday.  The Phillies had 10 days to trade, release or waive him.

Tired of waiting on MLB clubs, Jonny Gomes to play in Japan in 2016  —  Winner seeming everywhere he has played, 35-year-old free agent ready to pursue a different World Series  —  Jonny Gomes won championships in Triple-A, the Arizona Fall League, the Caribbean World Series and of course the major-league World Series.

Minor League Transactions: Jan. 21-29  —  Official minor league transactions, conveyed to Baseball America by Major League Baseball, for the period Jan. 21-29.  —  Atlanta Braves  —  Signed: C Blake Lalli  —  Baltimore Orioles  —  Signed: LHP Chris Dwyer

MLB's qualifying-offer system is stacked against low-revenue clubs  —  The qualifying-offer system doesn't only screw certain free agents.  It also screws certain teams.  —  The Rays should sign shortstop Ian Desmond.  The Indians should sign outfielder Dexter Fowler.

Denver Broncos' Ryan Murphy questioned in prostitution sting, will not play in Super Bowl 50  —  SANTA CLARA (KRON) — The Denver Broncos' Ryan Murphy has been questioned in a prostitution sting, and will not play in Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, according to Broncos coach Gary Kubiak.

First on CNN: Rick Santorum dropping presidential bid  —  (CNN)Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is ending his presidential bid, two Republican sources told CNN.  —  He is expected to make the announcement Wednesday night.

After years marked by tragedy, frustration, can Jean Segura blossom in desert?  —  Death of son, lack of long-term security in Milwaukee may tell even greater story of shortstop's struggles than do his stats  —  Look at the numbers — 2½ seasons of poor offensive numbers …

Orioles sign left-hander Hideki Okajima to minor league deal … The Orioles have signed Japanese left-handed reliever Hideki Okajima to a minor league deal, according to an industry source.  —  The deal with Okajima, who turned 40 in December, does not include a major league spring training invitation.

IRS Statement on Experiencing Systems Outage  —  The IRS experienced a hardware failure this afternoon affecting a number of tax processing systems, which are currently unavailable.  Several of our systems are not currently operating, including our modernized e-file system and a number of other related systems.

Students sent to hospital after Knox County school bus accident  —  KNOXVILLE (WATE) - Several children were taken to the hospital after a Knox County school bus was involved in an accident Wednesday in West Knoxville.  —  The crash was reported just after 3:30 p.m. on Cedar Bluff Road at Dutchtown Road involving bus 114.

Mets, Jeurys Familia Avoid Arbitration  —  While the majority of the 156 players that filed for salary arbitration have agreed to terms with their teams, either on a one-year deal for 2016 or on an extension, the cases of 17 players remained unresolved as of Wednesday morning.