Top 100 MLB Prospects 2018  —  Baseball America's Top 100 MLB Prospects is the natural demarcation between one season to another.  —  Countless conversations with scouts, coaches and team officials as well as many road trips over the past year lead to this list.

Yankees boast six prospects in Baseball America's top-100 ranking  —  The Yankees' farm system is still loaded.  —  The Bombers have six prospects in Baseball America's top-100 rankings, which were released Monday.  —  They included Gleyber Torres (No. 6), Estevan Florial (No. 38) …

Thank You, Pittsburgh  —  I forgot to say goodbye.  —  It's always funny, how you picture something happening in your head, versus how it happens in real life.  In my head, I pictured myself savoring every moment of my last game as a Pirate: This is my last time making that drive to the ballpark …

Cubs officially sign left-hander Brian Duensing to 2-year contract  —  Chicago Tribune  —  The Cubs on Monday made official the signing of left-handed pitcher Brian Duensing to a two-year contract.  —  The Tribune reported last week that Duensing, 34, will receive $7 million through 2019.

Efficiency is the goal for Cashman, Epstein and Friedman  —  When Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has an idea for a trade, one of his staffers related the other day, he will wait days before raising the concept with the other team.  In the interim, he and his staff will deliberate …

La Russa says reliever Leone ‘very useful’ when healthy  —  New Cardinals right-handed reliever Dominic Leone has had success at two previous stops in his career, Seattle and Toronto.  —  “The one place he didn't pitch very well was Arizona,” said John Mozeliak, the Cardinals' president …

Todd Frazier gives thumbs up to ‘Thumbs Down Guy’ as the two finally meet  —  Todd Frazier is still giving the thumbs down, this time with the guy who started the craze.  —  Frazier and Gary Dunaier, aka “Thumbs Down Guy,” finally met one another on Saturday at Steiner Sports …

Hall of Fame countdown: Chipper Jones a worthy addition to third base fraternity  —  USA TODAY Sports is counting down the top 24 candidates on the 2018 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, based on voting by our power rankings panel, which includes five Hall voters.  —  No. 2 Chipper Jones

Brewers Reportedly Close To Making Trade  —  There's “buzz” that the Brewers are closing in on a trade, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN reports.  Crasnick doesn't offer any details about an exact trade partner or players involved, though he notes that the Brewers have been discussing outfielders with multiple teams (Twitter link).

Arizona Cardinals likely going with Carolina Panthers' Steve Wilks as next head coach … CONNECT  —  The Cardinals are closing in on a deal to make Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks their next head coach, according to NFL sources.  —  The Cardinals had planned to conduct second interviews …