Robert Kraft Responds: Patriots' Owner Denies Report of Extended Meeting About QBs With Bill Belichick  — In a conversation with The MMQB's Peter King, Patriots' owner Robert Kraft disputed the ESPN report that he met for half a day with Bill Belichick during the season discussing the team's quarterbacks …

Blue Jays Acquire Yangervis Solarte  —  The Blue Jays have acquired infielder Yangervis Solarte from the Padres in exchange for two prospects - outfielder Edward Olivares and reliever Jared Carkuff - per announcements from both teams.  —  The 30-year-old Solarte is the second infielder …

Cardinals sign pitcher Guilmet to minor-league deal  —  New starter Miles Mikolas is not the only pitcher the Cardinals hope to see flourish after a return from playing oversees.  —  The Cardinals have agreed to a minor-league deal with pitcher Preston Guilmet, who last pitched in Tokyo.

Derek Jeter has extra financial incentive to make the Marlins profitable  —  Third in a five-part series on the new Marlins owners and their plans.  —  Marlins co-owner Derek Jeter eventually will make back his modest financial investment in the team merely through the salary he is being paid as the team's chief executive officer.

2018 ZiPS Projections - New York Yankees  —  After having typically appeared in the hallowed pages of Baseball Think Factory, Dan Szymborski's ZiPS projections have now been released at FanGraphs for half a decade.  The exercise continues this offseason.  Below are the projections for the New York Yankees.

Q&A: Mets' new manager Mickey Callaway is a big fan of Jerry Seinfeld  —  It's been a busy two months for Mickey Callaway, as the Mets' new manager has assembled his coaching staff and is now preparing for his first spring training as a major league manager.

Rangers begin multiyear baseball, business deal with Japan's Nippon Ham Fighters  —  ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers and Japan's Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters are starting a multiyear agreement this year that will involve baseball and business operations.

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.

Pittsburgh Pirates Sign a Pair of Right-Handed Pitchers to Minor League Deals  —  Pirates Prospects has learned that the Pittsburgh Pirates have signed right-handed pitchers Tyler Jones and Bo Schultz to minor league deals on Friday.  —  Schultz is a 32-year-old with parts of three seasons in the majors.

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 …

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.