Danny Espinosa Unhappy With Nationals  —  On the heels of the Nationals' acquisition of center fielder Adam Eaton, shortstop Danny Espinosa skipped the team's annual Winterfest this weekend because he's unhappy with his likely relegation to a bench role, a source told Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post.

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.

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.

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 …

Twins minor league pitcher Yorman Landa dies in Venezuela  —  MINNEAPOLIS (AP) The Minnesota Twins say minor league pitcher Yorman Landa has died in Venezuela.  He was 22.  —  The club did not say how he died, but local media reports say it was in a car accident in the state of Miranda.

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.

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.

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.

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.