Top News:
Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Cardinals go ‘over the top’ to catch Fowler — When outfielder Dexter Fowler stepped off his flight at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport on Thursday night, set to become the Cardinals' next center fielder, a Southwest Airlines employee greeted with him a bag of peanuts.
Discussion:
MLB Trade Rumors, ESPN, Viva El Birdos, Jays Journal, Sports on Earth Writers, FanGraphs Baseball and Sportsnet.ca
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Jon Heyman / FanRag Sports:
Heyman: Dexter Fowler agrees to deal with Cardinals — Dexter Fowler was one of the most sought-after outfielders on the free agent market, but MLB's Winter Meetings came and went without an agreement in place with the will-be-31-year-old center fielder. That changed not long after …
Discussion:
ESPN, Viva El Birdos, Lone Star Ball, Bleacher Nation and NESN.com
Tegna / KSDK-TV:
Dexter Fowler signs with the Cardinals — Former Cub Dexter Fowler is coming to St. Louis. … ST. LOUIS - The Cardinals now have the center fielder they have been looking for. — Frank Cusumano confirmed with a source in the Cardinals organization that Dexter Fowler was headed …
Discussion:
USA Today, Beyond the Box Score and Viva El Birdos
Kerouac Smith / Fox Sports:
Report: Dexter Fowler agrees to join St. Louis Cardinals — The team is expected to make an announcement Friday — Center fielder Dexter Fowler, fresh off a historic championship run with the Chicago Cubs, appears to be joining the rival St. Louis Cardinals.
Discussion:
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Bleed Cubbie Blue and Bleacher Nation
Jeff Todd / MLB Trade Rumors:
Cardinals Sign Dexter Fowler — DEC. 9: The Cardinals are introducing Fowler at a press conference right now. FOX's Ken Rosenthal reports that he receives a five-year, $82.5MM contract as well as a full no-trade clause (Twitter link). ESPN's Mark Saxon tweets that Fowler's contract pays him an evenly distributed $16.5MM per year.
Discussion:
Fox Sports, Viva El Birdos, Purple Row, NESN.com, Bleacher Nation, Phillies Nation and Bucs Dugout
Charlie Wilmoth / MLB Trade Rumors:
5 Key Stories: 12/3/16 - 12/9/16 — Here are the top stories from a week dominated by the Winter Meetings: — White Sox land huge bounties in Sale, Eaton trades. Usually, it's the teams acquiring veterans who receive the most attention and praise in the offseason, but that wasn't the case this week.
Discussion:
Purple Row, Pinstripe Alley and Kings of Kauffman
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Mark Feinsand / New York Daily News:
Yankees among Winter Meetings winners, accomplishing their two primary goals — and now we wait — OXON HILL, MD — As executives, agents, reporters and nearly everybody else scattered from the Gaylord National Resort Thursday afternoon to avoid the mayhem headed here with the opening …
Discussion:
MLB Daily Dish, Baseball Prospectus and Pinstripe Alley
Scott LauberESPN / ESPN:
Pablo Sandoval got ‘complacent’ with big Red Sox deal
Pablo Sandoval got ‘complacent’ with big Red Sox deal
Discussion:
The Good Phight, Union-News, Call to the Pen, Over the Monster, NESN.com and Boston
Dan Connolly / BaltimoreBaseball.com:
Welington Castillo emerges as the top catcher target for O's — Welington Castillo, a seven-year, major-league veteran who recently was non-tendered a contract by the Arizona Diamondbacks, has emerged as the Orioles' primary target at catcher. — According to industry sources …
Discussion:
Baltimore Sun, NBCSports.com, Camden Chat, MLB Trade Rumors and FanRag Sports
Jeff Todd / MLB Trade Rumors:
Phil Bickford Receives 50-Game Suspension For Drug Of Abuse — Brewers righty Phil Bickford has been hit with a 50-game suspension after testing positive for a drug of abuse for the second time, as Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Bickford reportedly tested positive for marijuana before being drafted in 2015.
Discussion:
NBCSports.com, Brew Crew Ball and Al's Ramblings
Rob Bradford / Full Count:
Sources: Former Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine being considered for United States Ambassador to Japan — Five years ago, Bobby Valentine was just about a week into his career as Red Sox manager. Now he may be on the verge of becoming a United States ambassador.
Discussion:
Faith and Fear in Flushing, New York Daily News, NESN.com, New York Post, USA Today, Halos Heaven and CBS New York
Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Cardinal expose lefty relievers, highly regarded infielder in Rule 5 draft — Photo by Chris Lee, clee@post-dispatch.com — NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. • Rising talent from the Cardinals' Latin America scouting and injuries to players like reliever Zach Duke have left the team unable …
Discussion:
Athletics Nation and Viva El Birdos
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Kyle Glaser / Baseball America:
Gadea Made Rays Move In Unusual Way - Rule 5 Draft Notebook
Gadea Made Rays Move In Unusual Way - Rule 5 Draft Notebook
Discussion:
DRaysBay and Minor League Ball
Steve Adams / MLB Trade Rumors:
2016 Rule 5 Draft Results
2016 Rule 5 Draft Results
Discussion:
FanGraphs Baseball, Halos Heaven, Twinkie Town and CBS Detroit
J.J. Cooper / Baseball America:
Padres Dominate Rule 5 Draft
Padres Dominate Rule 5 Draft
Discussion:
Brew Crew Ball, Steve Melewski, Bless You Boys, Detroit News, DRaysBay, Minor League Ball, Fish Stripes, The Crawfish Boxes and Lookout Landing
Mary Kay Cabot / Plain Dealer:
Browns' Joe Haden: 'We're the laughingstock of every joke; it's super tough' — Joe Haden hasn't been showing his face much during this 0-12 season. (Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com) — BEREA, Ohio - Joe Haden, Cleveland's man about town, has mostly been holing up inside his house during this 0-12 skid.
Discussion:
ProFootballTalk and FanRag Sports
Stefan Stevenson / Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
Rangers acquire two pitching prospects from Braves in exchange for one — The Rangers traded right-handed reliever Luke Jackson to the Atlanta Braves for two pitching prospects, right-hander Tyrell Jenkins and left-hander Brady Feigl. — Jenkins, 24, has replaced Jackson on the Rangers' 40-man roster.
Discussion:
Minor League Ball
Charlie Wilmoth / MLB Trade Rumors:
Cubs To Sign Koji Uehara — Righty reliever Koji Uehara has agreed to a one-year deal with the Cubs. Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald first tweeted the connection; Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweeted that a deal was done. A report from Nikkan Sports in Japan indicates that Uehara and the Cubs …
Discussion:
Full Count, FanRag Sports and MLB Daily Dish
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Mark Gonzales / Chicago Tribune:
All-Star closer Wade Davis important piece for Cubs' World Series defense
All-Star closer Wade Davis important piece for Cubs' World Series defense
Discussion:
Bleed Cubbie Blue, Royals Review and Phillies Nation