Heyman |  Yankees checking on Manny Machado again  —  The New York Yankees, apparently excited about the idea they could make their excellent winter even better and more star-studded, were back in contact with the Baltimore Orioles regarding Manny Machado this week, sources say.

For Kraft, Brady and Belichick, is this the beginning of the end?  —  THE PROBLEM WITH living your life under the spotlight is that the camera captures only the public eruption, not the months of silent anger.  On Dec. 3, when the New England Patriots played the Buffalo Bills …

Free-agent ace faceoff: Would you rather sign Yu Darvish or Jake Arrieta?  —  Ever play that game “Would You Rather”?  You know, you have to answer questions like, “Would you rather use someone else's toothbrush or be forced to watch every game of the 2004 Tigers season?”

Brewers To Sign Boone Logan  —  Lefty reliever Boone Logan has agreed to a one-year deal with the Brewers, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (Twitter links).  Logan will be guaranteed $2.5MM on the deal, which comes in the form of a $1.875MM base salary plus a $625K buyout on a $4.125MM option for the 2019 season.

Meet Trevor Oaks, the Royals' newest starting pitcher  —  Biola University, a small, private school in La Mirada, Calif., is no baseball factory.  Tucked 16 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, it has produced just two major-league players, brothers Todd and Tim Worrell.

White Sox help jump-start frozen hot stove with 3-team deal  —  Who does what for the White Sox?  A look at their organizational flowchart.  —  Chicago Tribune  —  The White Sox did their part to help thaw baseball's frozen hot stove league with their involvement in a three-team …

Dodgers and Rockies take different approaches to building a better bullpen  —  The Colorado Rockies have not been subtle about their winter game plan: dramatically improving their bullpen in order to challenge the Dodgers in the National League West.  —  If your intuition says that makes sense …

Duffy, Gordon, Perez, Butera on list of Royals expected to attend team's FanFest  —  Pitcher Danny Duffy, outfielder Alex Gordon, and catchers Salvador Perez and Drew Butera are among the Royals players expected to attend the team's annual FanFest on Jan. 26-27 at Bartle Hall.

Yankees To Sign Jace Peterson  —  The Yankees have agreed to a minors pact with infielder Jace Peterson, according to SB Nation's Chris Cotillo (via Twitter).  The 27-year-old will receive an invitation to MLB camp this spring and can earn at a $900K rate in the majors, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets.

Cubs Talk Podcast: Arrieta's market and the Cubs' shortstop controversy  —  Is the slow-moving market playing right into the Cubs' favor?  Should the Cubs extend themselves and give Jake Arrieta an extra year on a contract just to keep him from going to a rival?

U.S. economy added 2 million jobs in 2017  —  U.S. economy adds 148,000 jobs in December  —  The U.S. economy added 2 million jobs in 2017, another solid year of gains.  —  In December, the economy added 148,000 jobs, according to Labor Department figures released Friday.

Buster Olney's top 10 first basemen: Make way for a new generation of sluggers  —  You could make a case that the most inefficient long-term investments over the past decade have been made with first basemen, because of longstanding conventional wisdom that players at this position …