Top News:
Ken Rosenthal / Fox Sports:
Ramirez staying put after all — Rather than test free agency, third baseman Aramis Ramirez has decided to remain with the Chicago Cubs. — Ramirez, 28, has agreed to a five-year contract with a vesting option, FOXSports.com has learned. While exact terms of the deal were not immediately available …
Discussion:
Brew Crew Ball, Baseball Musings, 1060west, It's Outta Here!, BBTF's Baseball Primer …, MLB Trade Rumors and Lone Star Ball
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Paul Sullivan / Chicago Tribune:
Ramirez, Wood back with Cubs — The Cubs got a two-for-one special on Sunday, re-signing free agents Aramis Ramirez and Kerry Wood. — Ramirez agreed to a five-year deal on Sunday with a mutual option for 2012, ending a months-long saga about his future. Wood agreed to a one-year deal loaded with incentives.
Associated Press:
Cubs agree to new deals with Ramirez, Wood — CHICAGO — The Cubs agreed to a five-year contract with third baseman Aramis Ramirez and a one-year deal with pitcher Kerry Wood on Sunday — both returning to Chicago after becoming free agents. — Ramirez, who opted out of an initial four-year …
Ken Rosenthal / Fox Sports:
Hot stove notes from the winter meetings — NAPLES, Fla. - Notes from the general managers' meetings: — Third baseman Aramis Ramirez actually is guaranteed $75 million in his new five-year deal with the Cubs, not the $73 million that was initially reported.
Carrie Muskat / MLB.com:
Cubs ink deals with Ramirez, Wood — Infielder signs five-year contract; pitcher re-signs for one year — CHICAGO — Aramis Ramirez and Kerry Wood decided it was more important to stay with the Cubs than seek more money somewhere else. — The Cubs reached agreement Sunday on a five-year …
Discussion:
The Cub Reporter
NY Daily News:
Valentin options on rise — Yesterday was the final day that clubs had exclusive negotiating rights with their own free agents. The representative for Jose Valentin said he believed he had made "considerable progress" in the last few days with the Mets on a last-ditch deal that might keep …
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Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Despite the dollars, Red Sox' pursuit of Matsuzaka makes sense — NAPLES, Fla. — A plethora of no comments and no answers have been the norm the past few days when Red Sox personnel have been asked about Daisuke Matsuzaka, a possible sign that where there's smoke, there's fire …
Spencer Fordin / MLB.com:
O's finalize deal with Yanks for Wright — Baltimore receives additional $4 million as Britton heads to NY — BALTIMORE — The Orioles moved quickly to close a deal on Sunday, acquiring Jaret Wright from the Yankees hours before a deadline that may have made him a free agent.
Discussion:
Let's Go Tribe
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Bill Ladson / MLB.com:
Prospect of Acta has players excited — Patterson among those familiar with reported new skipper — WASHINGTON — Nationals right-hander John Patterson was pitching for the Licey Tigers in the Dominican Winter League in 2004, and he said to himself that his manager, Manny Acta …
Discussion:
The Musings and Prophecies …
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Dave Studeman / Hardball Times:
The Hardball Times Annual 2007 — The third Hardball Times Baseball Annual, this one covering the 2006 season, is just about wrapped up. I'm supposed to send it off to the printer on Monday, on schedule for shipping by the end of the month, which means we're in final panicky edit mode.
Mark Newman / MLB.com:
Writers ready to hand out hardware — Awards season kicks off Monday with Rookies of the Year — While millions of fans continue to vote through Dec. 8 for MLB.com's fifth annual This Year in Baseball Awards, it's time to start the gradual rollout of that major hardware dispersed by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Discussion:
A New Pirates Generation
John Perrotto / Beaver County Times & Allegheny Times:
Will Bucs make bold deal in hot-stove season? — The hot stove season is now officially under way. — Clubs can begin talking to free agents from other teams today, and the general managers will hold their annual meetings beginning Monday in Naples, Fla.
Morning Call:
It's the ... IRONPIGS — Lehigh Valley's minor league baseball team selects a nickname — By Daniel Patrick Sheehan Of The Morning Call — After 3,500 contest entries, 10,000 online votes, 10 focus groups and plenty of second-guessing, it came down to this: — The Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
Discussion:
Beerleaguer
Murray Chass / New York Times:
Surgery Makes John a Pitcher Few Will Forget — Tommy John agreed that he would have been smart to have established a proprietary interest in the phrase. "I should have trademarked the thing," he said. "I think Dr. Jobe did. I think there's a medical copyright."
Discussion:
The Feeding the Monster Blog
