Travis d'Arnaud needs bounce-back season to show Mets are right to pass on Matt Wieters  —  Matt Wieters is still on the market as a free agent, and the price for signing him may be falling, but Mets people continue to say they're not interested.  —  “We're not spending our money on a catcher,” was the way one person put it this week.

Cincinnati Reds Top 10 Prospects  —  The State of the System: Cincinnati added a very nice name at the top with the second overall pick, but it was an up-and-down year for the rest of the system.  It lacks impact names past the top two, but it is a deep organization with some interesting 2017 breakout candidates.

Cubs want to host college football bowl game at Wrigley Field  —  Wrigley Field was transformed into a football stadium for the Nov. 20, 2010, game between Northwestern and Illinois.  —  Chicago Tribune  —  When New York Yankees officials announced the creation of the Pinstripe Bowl in 2010 …

New Stat for a Slugger: Back Page Appearances  —  Late in October, while the postseason was underway, two top Mets officials traveled to Manhattan to meet with Yoenis Cespedes's agents: Brodie Van Wagenen and Kyle Thousand.  —  Cespedes was about to become a free agent and the Mets wanted …

Alex Rodriguez will embrace ‘special advisor’ role with Yankees, not attempt return to baseball in 2017  —  It appears there will be no A-Rod baseball comeback in 2017.  —  Former Yankee Alex Rodriguez, who was unconditionally released by the Bombers last August, is not going to try to play …

A Letter to the Gator Nation  —  Three years ago, when my dreams finally came true and I arrived on campus at the University of Florida, something pretty strange happened.  —  The morning after my mom and stepfather moved me into my dorm room, said their goodbyes and flew home, I got sick.

Red Sox' power trio of pitchers not expected to play in WBC  —  A player agent yesterday recalled a conversation he had with a top baseball executive in advance of a prior World Baseball Classic.  —  The team could never say this publicly, the agent was told.

The J.M. Smucker Company Announces a Limited Voluntary Recall on Certain Lots of Canned Cat Food Due to Low Levels of Thiamine (Vitamin B1) … For Immediate Release  —  Orrville, OH - The J.M. Smucker Company today announced a limited voluntary recall on certain lots of 9LivesTM, EverPetTM …

LeBron James said the Cavs don't have a backup PG, but who's the remedy?  —  CLEVELAND, Ohio — LeBron James said the Cavs don't have a real backup point guard.  —  It's not a revelation.  James wasn't breaking any ground.  —  It's been the case since they let Matthew Dellavedova get away …

Blue Jays Sign Gavin Floyd To Minor League Deal  —  The Blue Jays announced that they've re-signed right-hander Gavin Floyd to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training.  —  Floyd, 34 later this month, spent the 2016 campaign with the Jays and pitched reasonably …

Three years later, Yankees letting Robinson Cano walk looks like mistake  —  Ex-Yankee Robinson Cano returned to dominance in 2016, belting a career-high 39 home runs, triple-slashing .298/.350/.533 and ranking sixth in all of baseball with an ESPN Wins Above Replacement of 7.3.

Rockies SP Chad Bettis feels ‘great’ after cancer surgery  —  Colorado Rockies pitcher Chad Bettis said Wednesday he is cancer-free after having surgery in November for testicular cancer.  —  “I feel great,” Bettis told SiriusXM MLB Network Radio.  “I got an early Christmas present the other day.

Arizona Diamondbacks sue Maricopa County to explore leaving Chase Field … The Superior Court lawsuit is the latest twist in a long-running conflict over which party is responsible for as much as $187 million in repairs and upgrades to Chase Field.  —  The Arizona Diamondbacks sued Maricopa County …