Eduardo Nunez would give the Mets the speed and athleticism they need  —  During many an off-the-record chat at his locker, Alex Rodriguez loved to play fantasy GM and tell me what he'd do if he were in charge.  And the one guy he was always insisting should play more was Eduardo Nunez.

Wainwright heads into final year of contract with renewed fire  —  Back in St. Louis again for another Winter Warm-Up weekend, a staple of his offseason for more than a decade, Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright will sing some tunes for charity, will go way over his scheduled time signing autographs for fans …

What Brian Cashman can do to help Yankees' chances of landing Yu Darvish  —  If there is any way for the Yankees to sign Yu Darvish and still stay under the luxury-tax threshold, GM Brian Cashman made it obvious just how much he'd love to do it, heaping praise on the free-agent righthander on Thursday.

Detroit Tigers reach deal with James McCann, look to sign four others  —  The Detroit Tigers have a long-standing tradition of not letting their arbitration-eligible players get to that stage.  —  For the past 16 years since general manager Al Avila joined the organization …

REPORT |  Cleveland Indians had trade in place to send Jason Kipnis to New York Mets  —  The deal was reportedly nixed by the Mets due to concerns over Kipnis' contract.  —  CLEVELAND — Jay Bruce almost wasn't the only former member of the Cleveland Indians the New York Mets added on Wednesday.

Gibson says remarkable 1968 season had its painful moments  —  Fifty years ago — really, has it been that long?  — Cardinals Hall of Fame righthander Bob Gibson sashayed through the National League with a 22-9 record, 13 shutouts, 28 complete games, 268 strikeouts and a mind-numbing 1.12 earned-run average, best in the modern era.

Patrick Corbin, Diamondbacks reach $7.5M, one-year deal, avoid salary arbitration  —  PHOENIX — Left-hander Patrick Corbin and the Arizona Diamondbacks avoided salary arbitration by agreeing to a $7.5 million, one-year contract.  —  The 28-year-old was 14-13 with a 4.03 ERA last season and made $3.95 million.

Patriots notebook: The more practice the better for linebacker James Harrison  —  FOXBORO — The bye week helped linebacker James Harrison's integration, but it's not like he was able to stop time.  —  Harrison was honest yesterday while discussing his late-season acclimation process to the Patriots defense.

These Rangers could be off-season extension targets for Daniels  —  To go over the list of free agents the Texas Rangers have said they are not going to sign this off-season is probably unnecessary.  —  Anyone who was projected to make more than $10 million a year apparently is off limits for the Rangers.

Detroit Tigers shuffle minor league staff assignments for 2018  —  The Detroit Tigers announced the Minor League field staff and roving personnel assignments for the upcoming season Thursday.  —  While Doug Mientkiewicz is the new manager at Triple-A Toledo, the rest of the Mud Hens' coaching staff …

Manny Machado, Josh Donaldson among more than 170 headed for arbitration  —  NEW YORK — The hot corner figures to be sizzling Friday when players and teams swap proposed salaries in arbitration.  —  Toronto's Josh Donaldson, Baltimore's Manny Machado, Washington's Anthony Rendon …

LB Brandon Marshall on Broncos' QB options: “We played against a guy in Week 16 that was pretty good.”  —  Broncos players have been vocal about the upcoming decisions of the offseason … Ask Broncos veterans and they'll tell you that John Elway is primed for a free-agency splash this offseason.

White Sox Sign Miguel Gonzalez  —  The White Sox have officially agreed to a one-year deal with free agent righty Miguel Gonzalez, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported (via Twitter).  He'll receive a $4.75MM salary, the team announced (and as Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweeted).