Alou in, Glavine inches out  —  Moises Alou officially became a member of the Mets yesterday, but Tom Glavine may have moved a step closer to leaving Flushing and returning to the Braves.  —  In keeping with his transaction-a-day approach over the last week, Omar Minaya finally announced …

Source: Dodgers, CF Pierre agree to five-year deal … Free agent center fielder Juan Pierre has agreed to a five-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, a source told ESPN.com on Monday.  The deal is believed to be worth $44-45 million.  —  The deal will become complete when Pierre passes a physical exam, the source said.

Soriano says wanting to win led to exit  —  Former Nats slugger reiterates he enjoyed time in Washington  —  WASHINGTON — Left fielder Alfonso Soriano said on Monday that remaining with the Nationals was his top priority, but he decided to sign an eight-year, $136 million contract with the Cubs instead.

Bucs make 40-man roster adjustments  —  Three make first appearance for Rule 5 Draft protection  —  PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates announced their 40-man roster late on Monday night, just prior to the midnight ET deadline for rosters to be submitted.

SAY IT AIN'T CO  —  JETER MIGHT TIE MORNEAU FOR AL MVP  —  How close was the AL MVP voting that will be announced today?  Throughout baseball yesterday an unsubstantiated rumor buzzed the landscape that Derek Jeter and Twins first baseman Justin Morneau had tied for the award.

Ryan Howard named National League MVP  —  In just his second season, the Phillies first baseman led the majors with 58 home runs and 149 RBIs, while his surprisingly robust .313 batting average ranked eighth in the NL.  —  According to Baseball Reference, Howard's season was historically …

Pitcher gets taste of the US  —  Sox brass flies out to dine with Matsuzaka  —  From the team that made a working dinner out of Thanksgiving (Curt Schilling) and conducted high-wire negotiations on a Dominican airport tarmac (Pedro Martínez) comes news of another potentially portentous meeting …

Cards cut Bigbie, add 4 to roster  —  Outfielder Larry Bigbie's injury-riddled, frustrated and brief time with the Cardinals likely ended Monday as the team requested release waivers on him as part of a handful of moves.  Bigbie missed all but 25 at-bats of the season because of various injuries …

National Pastime Getting World Serious  —  On my desk, as a reminder of baseball's biggest trend, sits the hat of the team that could claim it was world champ this year.  The cap does not say "St. Louis."  It reads "Japan," the country that beat Cuba to win the World Baseball Classic in March.

Yankees, Mussina agree on two-year, $23M deal  —  NEW YORK — Mike Mussina and the New York Yankees reached a preliminary agreement Monday on a $23 million, two-year contract.  —  Mussina is scheduled to take a physical Tuesday that would allow the deal to be finalized.

Market favors a Ramírez deal  —  The list of possible trading partners for the Red Sox in a Manny Ramírez deal shrank by another team yesterday, even as an exploding market makes the remaining $38 million on Ramírez's contract appear a relative bargain.

The Y2K Interview: Julian Casablancas  —  As regular readers are probably aware, I'm a huge fan of The Strokes.  They're my musical orange and blue.  —  About a year ago, I was at their website, thestrokes.com, when I saw a little news item about how the guys in the band had gone to Shea Stadium …