Top News:
Chicago Tribune:
Manny Machado's high school coach thinks he'll choose the White Sox — Photos of Manny Machado, one of the top free agents this season. — Chicago Tribune — Where will Manny Machado land? — His high school baseball coach says it'll be the White Sox.
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Brendan Kuty / New Jersey Online:
Why Manny Machado's HS coach thinks he'll pick White Sox, spurn Yankees; defends work ethic — UPDATE (Friday, 1:07 p.m.): The Yankees signed free-agent infielder DJ LeMahieu on Friday, perhaps signaling the end of their pursuit of Manny Machado. — Manny Machado's high school baseball coach knows …
Matt Ehalt / Daily Record:
Mets may have found their No. 2 hitter in free agent Jed Lowrie — Ed Kranepool (l) and Art Shamsky (r) discuss the 1969 title team — Brodie Van Wagenen's busy offseason continued Thursday night with the surprising development that Jed Lowrie agreed to a two-year, $20-million deal.
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New York Daily News:
Mets sign lefty reliever Luis Avilan to minor-league deal — Before making a bigger splash with the Jed Lowrie signing, though that one came with some questions, the Mets made a smaller move on Thursday to acquire a lefty arm for the bullpen. — They signed Luis Avilan to a minor league deal …
Discussion:
MLB Trade Rumors
Jeff Todd / MLB Trade Rumors:
Mets To Sign Jed Lowrie
Mets To Sign Jed Lowrie
Discussion:
MLB Daily Dish, Elite Sports NY, DRaysBay, Bleacher Nation and Lone Star Ball
Steve Adams / MLB Trade Rumors:
Mets Sign Luis Avilan To Minor League Deal
Mets Sign Luis Avilan To Minor League Deal
Discussion:
MLB Baseball News …
SNY:
Mets Arbitration Tracker: Jacob deGrom receives record raise — Friday is deadline to reach one-year deal before salary arbitration — Friday is the deadline for teams to exchange numbers with players who are arbitration-eligible. If a deal is not agreed upon they must schedule …
Discussion:
Amazin' Avenue
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Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Cards hope to complete one-year deals with Ozuna, Wacha before Friday's arbitration deadline — In an attempt to use a deadline to spur agreement or leave salaries in the hands of three arbiters, the Cardinals have adopted the popular “file-and-trial” approach to negotiations with arbitration-eligible players.
Craig Edwards / FanGraphs Baseball:
Nationals Gain Upside with Brian Dozier — While much of the focus of the Nationals' offseason has been the potential loss of Bryce Harper, the club has been one of the more active teams this winter. Their big move brought in Patrick Corbin. They also signed Anibal Sanchez and traded Tanner Roark.
Discussion:
Halos Heaven, Bucs Dugout, MLB Trade Rumors, baseballmusings.com and Sports Illustrated
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Steve Adams / MLB Trade Rumors:
Brewers In “Heavy” Pursuit Of Infield Upgrade
Brewers In “Heavy” Pursuit Of Infield Upgrade
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball, Brew Crew Ball and Bleacher Nation
Associated Press:
Source: Ex-Dodger Brian Dozier and the Nationals agree to $9-million, one-year deal
Steve Adams / MLB Trade Rumors:
Giants Showing Interest In DJ LeMahieu, Exploring Joe Panik Trades
Giants Showing Interest In DJ LeMahieu, Exploring Joe Panik Trades
Discussion:
Bleacher Report, McCovey Chronicles and NBCSports.com
Gabriel Burns / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Braves avoid arbitration with Foltynewicz, 3 others — The Braves avoided arbitration with starter Mike Foltynewicz ($5.475 million), reliever Arodys Vizcaino ($4.8 million), utilityman Charlie Culberson ($1.395 million) and outfielder Adam Duvall ($2.9 million) before the 1 p.m. Friday deadline.
Discussion:
Talking Chop
Steve Adams / MLB Trade Rumors:
Dodgers Acquire Russell Martin — 1:30pm: The Blue Jays have formally announced the trade. They'll send Martin and cash to Los Angeles in exchange for minor league shortstop Ronny Brito and minor league right-hander Andrew Sopko. — 1:12pm: The Dodgers have reached an agreement on a trade …
Discussion:
Bluebird Banter, True Blue LA and Sportsnet.ca
ESPN:
Blue Jays reach one-year deal with free-agent RHP David Phelps — The Toronto Blue Jays have agreed to a deal with free-agent right-hander David Phelps, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan on Thursday night. — The one-year deal is worth $2.5 million and includes a club option, sources said.
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Steve Adams / MLB Trade Rumors:
Yankees To Sign DJ LeMahieu — 11:43am: LeMahieu is heading to the Yankees, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. His contract is believed to be a two-year deal with a guarantee in the range of $24MM. — 11:40am: The Yankees are closing in on a two-year contract with free-agent second …
Discussion:
New Jersey Online, MLB Baseball News … and Elite Sports NY
Associated Press:
Steven Wright agrees with Red Sox on one-year contract — BOSTON — Knuckleballer Steven Wright and the Boston Red Sox agreed to a one-year contract for $1,375,000, a raise of $275,000, in a deal that avoided arbitration. — An All-Star in 2016, the 34-year-old right-hander started …
Discussion:
Over the Monster and Lone Star Ball
AJ Mass / ESPN:
Fantasy baseball free-agent and trade tracker — For even the most committed fantasy baseball managers, getting caught up on a lengthy offseason of wheeling and dealing and free agent signings can be complicated. — To that end, here's a brief snapshot of some of the higher-profile transactions …
Evan Grant / Dallas Morning News:
Rangers taking chance on rotation full of Tommy John patients in effort to get ‘bang for our buck’ — ARLINGTON - It seemed a little bit odd Thursday to see Rangers general manager Jon Daniels helping to introduce the announcement of an upcoming Billy Joel concert at Globe Life Park.
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball
Steve Adams / MLB Trade Rumors:
Alex Bregman Undergoes Arthroscopic Elbow Surgery — The Astros announced Friday that third baseman Alex Bregman underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies from his right elbow earlier today. Bregman is expected to be limited at the start of Spring Training but ready for full duty by Opening Day.
Discussion:
MLB Baseball News …