Column: As slow starts to baseball's hot stove league become the norm, are the winter meetings still necessary?  —  Chicago Tribune  —  Another year of baseball's winter meetings has come and gone, and most of the top free agents remain available.  —  In addition to the two competing …

Orioles looking to new manager Brandon Hyde to help lead rebuild  —  BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles hired Brandon Hyde to be their new manager Friday, hoping his experience as Cubs bench coach will help the team move forward while in rebuilding mode.  —  EDITOR'S PICKS

REPORT |  Cleveland Indians trade 1B Yonder Alonso to Chicago White Sox  —  The Indians are expected to receive outfield prospect Alex Call in return for the 31-year-old Alonso  —  A busy week of dealing for the Cleveland Indians continues on Friday evening as the Tribe reportedly has sent …

Why Todd Frazier will be in Peter Alonso's grill at Mets spring training  —  The Toddfather is living up to his nickname, and come spring training, the mentoring of Mets slugging prospect Peter Alonso will go into overdrive in Port St. Lucie, Fla.  —  Todd Frazier called equipment manager Kevin Kierst …

Now that the smoke has cleared, a look back at the Rangers' winter meetings  —  The MLB winter meetings are over, and that's always a good thing.  —  After five days and four nights, when many baseball people never leave the hotel hosting the event, it's time to see the sun and breathe the fresh air.

Will the Detroit Tigers' one-year deal with pitcher Tyson Ross pay off?  —  Who will start for the Detroit Tigers in 2019 after their offseason acquisitions  —  The Detroit Tigers agreed to a one-year deal with right-handed pitcher Tyson Ross at this week's Winter Meetings with the hope …

Molina recovering from knee surgery, back to training by New Year's  —  ST. LOUIS  • Before the clock strikes midnight on 2018, the Cardinals expect catcher Yadier Molina to return to his offseason workouts after recovering from knee surgery Thursday to remove a bone spur.

BenFred: Manfred's fight against shifts is commissioner's latest whiff  —  Ben Frederickson is a sports columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  You can follow him on Twitter (Ben_Fred), Instagram (benfredpd) and Facebook (BenFredPD).  —  There is new evidence to introduce to my argument …

Giants Winter Meetings buzz: Trade talks, a Scott Boras meeting and $7 cups of coffee  —  LAS VEGAS-The Winter Meetings are billed as the ultimate destination for baseball's deal-makers, a hub where executives and agents lock themselves in hotel rooms late into the night to negotiate, strategize and take care of business.

Texas lefty Mike Minor among top targets as Phillies close in on adding a relief pitcher  —  More than once over the past few weeks, Matt Klentak has taken aim at the Manny Machado and Bryce Harper camps by saying the Phillies “won't be held hostage by one or two players” in pursuit of other offseason business.